Undoing the Knots

December 1, 2021
Theologian and Christian-ethics associate professor O'Connell explores her family history of Irish Catholics and how her experiences shaped her views on social justice. Her willingness to examine her actions while coming to the realization that, while her intentions have always been good, they do not address the problem, is incredibly refreshing. O'Connell discusses growing up in Philadelphia, including witnessing the MOVE standoff in 1985, and unflinchingly recalls the Catholic Church's silence about it. She continues discussing choices her parents made--for example, moving out of her childhood home when Black families moved into the neighborhood, instead of staying and embracing integration--and how that all shaped the way she confronted racism. Silent no more, O'Connell encourages everyone to untangle their knots surrounding racism. She never shies away from explaining the church's involvement with anti-Black policy in the United States, educating readers without influencing opinion, but despite this she is determined to make a positive change in her Catholic community. Though the material may be uncomfortable to digest, it is an absolutely necessary read to foster antiracism.

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January 1, 2022

The premise of this book is that Irish Catholic immigrants and their descendants absorbed anti-Black attitudes and practices in an effort to be accepted by the WASP establishment and prove that they were real Americans since they too were considered outsiders. O'Connell (Christian ethics, Lasalle Univ.; If These Walls Could Talk) identifies the "knots" of the title as ignorance, false innocence, isolation, guilt, shame, and fear. Using history, theology and critical race theory, she demonstrates the role of white Catholic identity in creating and maintaining economic and social structures inimical to Black Americans. O'Connell personalizes her account by discussing five generations of her own white Irish Catholic family in greater Philadelphia in connection with local and national events. She examines the options her family had and shows their choices' impacts on themselves and Black Philadelphians. A key concept that O'Connell discusses is "racial mercy," the willingness to enter into the "chaos of racism" in one's own life, in the lives of others who are people of color, in one's neighborhood, and in Catholicism. VERDICT Recommended for readers interested in assimilation issues faced by Irish Catholic immigrants as well as the varied aspects of racism in the United States.--Denise J. Stankovics

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