White Americans, not Africans, occupy the role of Cain

Evidence

In the reflections of these glass jars of dirt dug from lynching site grounds, however, a different understanding materializes, one that inverts the traditional white interpretation of this story. I’ll be blunt: it is white Americans who have murdered our black and brown brothers and sisters. After the genocide and forced removal of Native Americans, the enslavement of millions of Africans, and the lynching of more than 4,400 of their surviving descendants, it is white Americans who have used our faith as a shield to justify our actions, deny our responsibility, and insist on our innocence. We, white Christian Americans, are Cain. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 664

Categorization

• STORYSTEM: The device of inverting a scripture’s villain-identification — dirt jars prompting ‘we are the murderous brother’ — is a potent model for narrative reframing.
• ADDENDUM: Related to the ‘On Sacrifice’ essay’s theme of how communities re-read sacred texts/practices to re-place blame and guilt.
• XREF: connects to: The mark of Cain justified white supremacy alongside the curse of Ham — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 663