by Sandy » Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:25 am
Apparently racial diversity on seminary faculties isn't a high priority for moderate Baptists, either. In some cases, like BTSR and Wake Forest, the faculties are so small, the African American on the staff raises the total percentage, but it seems like they have just as much of a preference for older white men as the SBC schools do. How un-diverse it was of Bill Leonard, who is himself and old white man, to hire James Dunn or Frank Tupper, also old white men, instead of a person of color.
Nor does it appear CBF has, at the core of its values system, racial diversity when it comes to the coordinating council. There is certainly a long-sustained and deliberate effort at choosing laypeople, mandated by bylaw quotas by the way, and to make sure that a high percentage of the council is female, but it doesn't appear there is a concerted effort to have people of color represented in anywhere near the percentages they can be found in the churches, or in the culture at large. What's there certainly doesn't look like a deliberate effort, as Blake suggests. And it still seems that the preference is for older, white men. Interesting, too, is the fact that one of the older white men on the coordinating council happens to be married to the newly nominated executive coordinator, and is a close friend of the old white man who chaired the search committee.
Do you mean to tell me that CBF is choosing (*gasp*) someone they think is the best person for the job rather than make a statement about who they are by picking a person of color?