Includes bibliographical references and index.

What is racism? -- An explanation of terms -- Prelude and context: the election of an African American President -- The browning of America and racial resistance -- Racism and culture -- To what end?: the justification of white privilege -- A history of Catholic social teaching on racism -- Prologue: a context for the discussion -- Discrimination and the Christian conscience -- The national race crisis -- Brothers and sisters to us -- Critical observations concerning Catholic social teaching on racism -- A concluding Black Catholic reflection: sometimes I feel like a motherless child -- Toward a more adequate Catholic engagement -- The challenge of racial reconciliation -- Other resources in the Catholic faith tradition -- Compassion and intentional cross-racial solidarity -- Church practices that facilitate racial solidarity -- Concluding reflection: a confession of faith -- A dream deferred : meditations on Arican American understandings of justice and hope -- The fundamental principle or norm: universal inclusion -- The unstated vision: the welcome table and the beloved community -- An excursus on a theoretical implication of this vision -- A dream deferred: the importance of hope in the pursuit of justice -- The vocation of the Black Catholic theologian and the struggle of the Black Catholic community: speaking truth to and from two traditions -- The vocation of the Black scholar -- The vocation of the Catholic theologian -- The vocation of the Black Catholic theologian -- The challenges of the Black Catholic theological vocation -- The struggles of being a Black Catholic theologian -- The joy of being a Black Catholic theologian -- The significance of the Black Catholic theological vocation.