William R. Jones

William R. Jones (1933–2012) was an African American theologian, minister, and professor whose work left a strong mark on religious studies and Black theology. He studied at Howard University, earned a Master of Divinity from Harvard, and later completed a PhD in religious studies at Brown University. He also taught at Yale Divinity School before beginning the long stretch of his career at Florida State University.

At Florida State, he served as a professor of religion and helped found the university’s African American Studies program, becoming its first director. He remained at FSU for the rest of his academic life and was later named professor emeritus. Alongside his university work, he was also active in Unitarian Universalist circles as an ordained minister and community leader.

Jones is most widely remembered for Is God a White Racist?, a landmark book first published in 1973. In it, he examined how theology responds to oppression and suffering, and he pressed Black theology to confront those questions directly. The result was writing that was intellectually bold, deeply serious, and still discussed by readers interested in religion, ethics, and social change.