For many young South African adults (often called ‘born frees’), who were born just before or just after the demise of political apartheid, the ongoing realities of poverty and inequality bring to light the question of whether they truly are ‘free’ in contemporary South Africa? Their lived experiences of poverty and inequality seem to be in conflict with theologically laden concepts that remain prominent in social and political life, such as reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and restitution. This leads to a bi‑directional process of contesting, and being contested, by such notions and discourses. Furthermore, in light of the double legacy of both the church and youth as resisting injustice, this publication seeks to explore the many perspectives from which the Christian faith, race and inequality amongst youth can be brought to light.

How did a country endowed with abundant resources and a Christian majority reach such a precarious precipice? Dethroning Race explores some of what’s gone wrong and contends for a way ahead. Through a journey that traverses South Africa’s historical milestones and personal accounts from #FeesMustFall, Saville unveils a clarion call for a nation in need of renewal. Serving as a rallying cry, the book calls for a united South Africa, urging a rediscovery of diversity guided by a vision for biblical social change. --- “Not merely an academic work, this book preaches and, if one is willing, grows the imagination of the reader toward reparative and faith-directed justice.” - Dr Christina Edmondson, author of Faithful Antiracism and co-host of the Truth’s Table podcast “Dethroning Race is timely reading for those intentional about living as though the neighbour is created in God’s image, whatever their skin colour.” - Moss Ntlha, General-Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa “This book should make you stop, make you think, make you reflect and make you pray.” - Andy McCullough, author of Global Humility and leader of the Unreached Network

For many young South African adults (often called ‘born frees’), who were born just before or just after the demise of political apartheid, the ongoing realities of poverty and inequality bring to light the question of whether they truly are ‘free’ in contemporary South Africa? Their lived experiences of poverty and inequality seem to be in conflict with theologically laden concepts that remain prominent in social and political life, such as reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and restitution. This leads to a bi‑directional process of contesting, and being contested, by such notions and discourses. Furthermore, in light of the double legacy of both the church and youth as resisting injustice, this publication seeks to explore the many perspectives from which the Christian faith, race and inequality amongst youth can be brought to light.

Race and inequality have always been sensitive topics in South African society due to its colonial past, diverse social composition and apartheid legacy of legal discrimination against people on the basis of their skin colour. Racial tensions seem to be escalating in South African society and disturbing racialised rhetoric and slogans are re-entering the political and social landscape. Another disturbing phenomenon has been violent incidents of xenophobia against African immigrants. The question probed by this book is: What perspectives can theology offer in addressing the roots of racism, inequality and xenophobia in South Africa and how can it and the church contribute to reconciliation and a sense of togetherness among South African citizens? Various methodologies and approaches are used to address this question. In chapter 1, Theuns Eloff employs a historical and socio-analytical approach to describe the social context that has given rise, and is still giving impetus to racism and other forms of intolerance in South African society. Nico Vorster approaches the issue of distorted racial identity constructions from a theological-anthropological perspective. Utilising various empirical studies, he attempts to provide conceptual clarity to the concepts of racism, nationalism, ethnocentrism and xenophobia, and maps the various racisms that we find in South Africa. His contribution concludes with a theological-anthropological discussion on ways in which theology can deconstruct distorted identities and contribute to the development of authentic identities. Koos Vorster provides a theological-ethical perspective on social stratification in South Africa. He identifies the patterns inherent to the institutionalisation of racist social structures and argues that many of these patterns are still present, albeit in a new disguise, in the South African social order. Jan du Rand provides in chapter 4 a semantic discussion of the notions of race and xenophobia. He argues that racist ideologies are not constructed on a factual basis, but that racial ideologies use semantic notions to construct social myths that enable them to attain power and justify the exploitation and oppression of the other. Du Rand’s second contribution in chapter 5 provides Reformed exegetical and hermeneutic perspectives on various passages and themes in the Bible that relate to anthropology, xenophobia and the imperative to xenophilia [love of the stranger]. Dirk Van der Merwe’s contribution analyses, evaluates, and compares both contemporary literature and ancient texts of the Bible to develop a model that can enable churches to promote reconciliation in society, while Ferdi Kruger investigates the various ways in which language can be used as a tool to disseminate hate speech. He offers an analytical description of hate language, provides normative perspectives on the duty to counter hate speech through truth speaking and phronesis (wisdom) and concludes with practical-theological perspectives that might enable us to address problematic praxis. Reggie Nel explores the Confessions of Belhar and the Declaration of Accra as theological lenses to provide markers for public witness in a postcolonial South African setting. The volume concludes with Riaan Rheeder’s Christian bioethical perspective on inequality in the health sector of sub-Sahara Africa. This book contains original research. No part was plagiarised or published elsewhere. The target audience are theologians, ministers and the Christian community, but social activists, social scientists, politicians, political theorists, sociologists and psychologists might also find the book applicable to their fields.

In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

What are the features of the school environment that make students' of color incorporation greater at some schools than at others? Prudence L. Carter seeks to answer this basic but bedeviling question through a rich comparative analysis of the organizational and group dynamics in eight schools located within four cities in the United States and South Africa - two nations rebounding from centuries of overt practices of racial and social inequality. Stubborn Roots provides insight into how school communities can better incorporate previously disadvantaged groups and engender equity by addressing socio-cultural contexts and promoting "cultural flexibility." It also raises important and timely questions about the social, political, and philosophical purposes of multiracial schooling that have been greatly ignored by many, and cautions against narrow approaches to education that merely focus on test-scores and resources.

The STIAS research theme on Being Human Today explores the interrelated questions: What does it mean to be human? And: What is the nature of the world in which we aspire to be human? In the context of post-apartheid South Africa race and racism remain key references in both these questions. Why is this so, considering that the biological basis of race thinking has been refuted? Templates of race and racialism remain at the core of state policy in South Africa, periodic gross incidents of racism surface in public, and notions of the existence of races remain central to everyday thinking and discourse. This book is the result of the work of a group of leading thinkers and their in-depth conversations at STIAS during the winter of 2015 on the effects of race. Convened by evolutionary anthropologist Nina Jablonski and sociologist Gerhard Mar‚, the group included Njabulo Ndebele, Chabani Manganyi, Barney Pityana, Crain Soudien, G”ran Therborn, Mikael Hjerm, Zimitri Erasmus and George Chaplin. The group reconvened annually through 2017. This is the first in a series of planned publications on the their work.

People's experiences of racial inequality in adulthood are well documented, but less attention is given to the racial inequalities that children and adolescents face. Growing Up in America provides a rich, first-hand account of the different social worlds that teens of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds experience. In their own words, these American teens describe, conflicts with parents, pressures from other teens, school experiences, and religious beliefs that drive their various understandings of the world. As the book reveals, teens' unequal experiences have a significant impact on their adult lives and their potential for social mobility. Directly confronting the constellation of advantages and disadvantages white, black, Hispanic, and Asian teens face today, this work provides a framework for understanding the relationship between socialization in adolescence and social inequality in adulthood. By uncovering the role racial and ethnic differences play early on, we can better understand the sources of inequality in American life.

This is the third and final group of essays emerging from the discussions of the Effects of Race Project at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) that occurred in 2016 and 2017. The authors consider the biological and social understandings of race, and how new information from both the biological and social sciences is changing our perspective on the nature of the human condition, including the association of biological and social phenomena with “race”. They also look at global events or movements which influence these processes in South Africa and the costs of a racialised world order to humans and humanity. Phenomena are examined through the lenses of many disciplines: sociology, history, geography, anthropology and writing.