How does Christian theology respond to the commodification of Black bodies in both sports and society? This paper integrates Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theological anthropology, James Cone’s Black liberation theology, and Gary Green II’s ethics of Black athleticism to argue that American sports culture reflects a distorted view of embodiment, labor, and personhood. While Bonhoeffer’s concept of the human being as “being-for-others” affirms relational dignity, Cone’s critique of white supremacy reveals how Black bodies have been systematically objectified, surveilled, and controlled. Green’s work (Playing the Game: Embodied Brilliance Beyond the Moral Limits of Race in Sport, Fortress Press, 2025)on Black athletic resistance, particularly his notion of embodied brilliance, points toward new models of human flourishing in sport. This paper offers a theological reimagination of athletics as a site of communion rather than commodification, where grace, play, and relationality replace exploitation as the foundation of human engagement.
This paper examines how Christian theology responds to the commodification of Black bodies in sports and society by integrating Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theological anthropology, James Cone’s Black liberation theology, and Gary Green II’s ethics of Black athleticism. Bonhoeffer’s concept of the human as “being-for-others” affirms relational dignity, while Cone’s critique of white supremacy exposes the systemic objectification and control of Black athletes. Green’s Playing the Game (2025) introduces “embodied brilliance” as a form of athletic resistance, offering a vision of Black personhood beyond commodification. Together, these perspectives critique American sports culture’s distorted views of embodiment, labor, and personhood, while reimagining athletics as a space of communion rather than exploitation. This paper argues for a theological vision where grace, play, and relationality define human engagement in sport, challenging structures that reduce Black bodies to mere instruments of entertainment and profit.