Wired for Racism? How Evolution and Faith Move Us to Challenge Racial Idolatry

Why is there so much racism in America, when most of us claim we are not racists? Drawing on evolutionary insights, the latest research on the human brain, and wisdom from religious traditions Mark Ellingsen and James Woodall explore this question with a unique perspective. They detail the ways in which we are in some ways “wired for racism”, but they also show how the elasticity of the brain enables genuine progress, particularly when aided by religious practices and best practices of the civil rights movement. If you are looking for a way to challenge the racial idolatry and race-based thinking that characterizes many of the social, legal, and economic structures in our world today, this is the book for you.

James Woodall currently serves as Public Policy Associate of the Southern Center for Human Rights, Founder/CEO of The Major Wish Group LLC, and former State President of Georgia NAACP. James is also an Associate Minister at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia and served as an Intelligence Analyst in the U.S. Army. Mark Ellingsen is a Lutheran pastor serving as Professor of Church History on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, the largest historic Black accredited seminary in the nation. With a Yale Ph.D. along with significant international ecumenical work experience, he is the author of 27 books and hundreds of published articles.