Critics from three major racial/ethnic minority communities in the United States—African American, Asian American, and Latino/a American—focus on the problematic of race and ethnicity in the Bible and in contemporary biblical interpretation. With keen eyes on both ancient text and contemporary context, contributors pay close attention to how racial/ethnic dynamics intersect with other differential relations of power such as gender, class, sexuality, and colonialism. In groundbreaking interaction, they also consider their readings alongside those of other racial/ethnic minority communities. The volume includes an introduction pointing out the crucial role of this work within minority criticism by looking at its historical trajectory, critical findings, and future directions. The contributors are Cheryl B. Anderson, Francisco O. García-Treto, Jean-Pierre Ruiz, Frank M. Yamada, Gale A. Yee, Jae-Won Lee, Gay L. Byron, Fernando F. Segovia, Randall C. Bailey, Tat-siong Benny Liew, Demetrius K. Williams, Mayra Rivera Rivera, Evelyn L. Parker, and James Kyung-Jin Lee.

This collection of essays exemplifies new directions being taken by biblical scholars using new literary, historical, and sociological critical tools to explore issues of concern to their communities and thus poses a challenge to others in the discipline to broaden the canons of interpretation and sources. The essays, from the generation of scholars following the writers of the historic Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation (Fortress, 1991), address issues of cultural criticism, utilization of Black religious sources such as the Negro spirituals and sermons, histories of struggles of Afro-diasporan peoples, and ideological criticism in interpreting the biblical text. This collection of essays exemplifies new directions being taken by biblical scholars using new literary, historical, and sociological critical tools to explore issues of concern to their communities and thus poses a challenge to others in the discipline to broaden the canons of interpretation and sources. The essays, from the generation of scholars following the writers of the historic Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation (Fortress, 1991), address issues of cultural criticism, utilization of Black religious sources such as the Negro spirituals and sermons, histories of struggles of Afro-diasporan peoples, and ideological criticism in interpreting the biblical text.