Panel: THE SACRAMENTALITY OF SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF THE RELIGIOUS IMAGINATION FOR PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE TRANSFORMATION



154.5 - WHITENESS AND SACRAMENTAL SYMBOL: CHAUVET, LACOSTE, AND THE SACRAMENTAL DISMANTLING OF WHITE SUPREMACY?

AUTHORS:
Nuelle J. (Loyola University Chicago ~ Chicago ~ United States of America)
Text:
Calls to dismantle white supremacy have gained prominence, particularly as social media amplifies racial injustices. While these calls often target systemic issues, what about addressing white supremacy at the individual level? This paper explores the theological and philosophical potential to challenge white supremacy through sacramental experience, especially Eucharistic communion. Shifting sacramental theology from metaphysical categories to experiential focus offers a path forward. Louis-Marie Chauvet emphasizes symbol as central to transcending metaphysics in sacramental practice. But does this transcendence also disrupt metaphysical constructs of belonging, such as race and whiteness? This question is addressed in three parts. First, whiteness is analyzed as an ontological construct through George Yancy, Sara Ahmed, and Ruth Frankenberg. Though socially constructed, whiteness has acquired metaphysical weight. Ahmed calls it "real, material, and lived," while Frankenberg argues it shapes history, culture, and identity. Yancy identifies it as a "transcendental norm" measuring all other racial identities, granting whiteness metaphysical significance through its pervasive influence, affecting both white and non-white subjects. Second, Chauvet's sacramental theology replaces causality with symbolic performativity, reorienting subjectivity toward communion. Sacraments, as "effective symbolic expressions," reshape relationships, creating a covenantal reality that transcends metaphysical constructs. Finally, Jean-Yves Lacoste's liturgical reduction is explored in light of Chauvet's symbolic transformation. Lacoste's liturgy, as a "space where appropriation loses importance," offers a means to transcend systems of belonging, including whiteness. This sacramental space challenges racial othering, celebrating difference without reinforcing racist hierarchies, enabling radical communion across all boundaries.