Wrestling with the Specter of Racism

Sadly, once again, our enduring national struggle with racism has reared its ugly head with the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. I’m deeply saddened by their senseless deaths and I grieve for these people who have lost their lives leaving behind loved ones who must deal with the anguish of their loss.

I’m sure I’m not alone in my struggle to express my consternation over the persistence of this relentless evil. Although I believe we’ve made progress since the days of segregation it is obvious that we’ve not stamped out this virulent strain of sin. As the Victor over sin, death and evil, Jesus is able to accomplish reconciliation across the deep divisions among human beings, which are at the heart of social hierarchies and racial injustices. In this hour we would be wise to turn to Him inviting His Spirit to train our hearts to love one another deeply, regardless of our differences, and seek to live justly until racism evaporates from our cultural milieu. We know that evil will never be fully eliminated until the return of Christ. However, this is no reason for Christ followers to withdraw from the struggle. We must do our part to end racism in all of its forms now.

So, how should we go about working to eliminate racism? Obviously, this is a complicated issue with no easy answers and it’s not my intention to write in a few paragraphs what requires an in-depth, extended plan of action accompanied with sober reflection and prayer. Instead, I want to offer three simple steps as a beginning point for consideration. 

These are minimal steps that can help us move in the right direction. They are: 1) Wake Up 2) Own Up and 3) Shake Up.

By “wake up” I mean that each of us can grow in awareness that racism extends beyond individual prejudice, which in itself is wrong. When a dominant race subtly or overtly assumes it is superior to other races that is racism and must be called out for what it is. In America the dominant form of racism is white-privilege which has its roots in slavery, and has morphed into a variety of forms even after institutional slavery was eliminated in our nation. Such racism is embedded deeply within our culture and the values it assumes manifest themselves in a variety of practices destructive of people of color.

The Jim Crow laws of the Deep South during the 1900s are concrete examples of what I mean by this. Segregation perpetuated white dominance after slavery’s end. As a result of the civil rights movement of the 1960s these laws were upended with the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This legislation ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Without protests and demonstrations our national body would never have passed this watershed legislation along with the additional laws that followed. Society had to wake up to the travesty of Jim Crow laws before they were overturned.

Racism, as rooted in society, is a systemic issue. Therefore, it is more difficult to detect and eradicate. If you are white, as I am, it takes a concerted effort to step out of one’s whiteness in order to understand how the system is slanted against people of color, especially African-American people, in a white- privileged society. As Drew Hart writes, “Most Christians tend to operate out of a naive and thin understanding of racism, which doesn’t factor in the depth and width of our racialized and hierarchical society.” Waking up starts with recognizing the scope and depth of systemic racism.

Waking up to systemic racism requires listening. Asking people of color to share their experiences with racism in America is a wise first move. We need to listen with open hearts, without defensiveness, and learn.

Part of listening also means being willing to read about racism from authors who have been on the receiving end of its evil. If you’ve not read anything along these lines I recommend starting with Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism by Drew Hart (quoted earlier). Here’s a great quote to whet your appetite. It underscores what I’m trying to say in this article: “White American Christians in our society must do something seemingly absurd and unnatural, yet very Christian in orientation: they must move decisively toward a counterintuitive solidarity with those on the margins. They must allow the eyes of the violated of the land to lead and guide them, seeking to have renewed minds no longer conformed to the patterns of our world.”

Through careful listening and study we can wake up to the reality of systemic racism and its pervasive evil amongst us. It’s a good first step.

The second action I recommend is “own up”. Each of us needs to own our individual complicity with racism. As with all sin, we each participate in the broken condition of humanity in varying degrees, racism not withstanding. Our own participation in racism can run the gamut from personal prejudices to passive support of unjust government policies that discriminate against people of color. Owning up is a more difficult step than waking up because we struggle to see the “plank” in our own eye for looking at the specks in the eyes of others (Matthew 7:3).

By nature we look at sins such as racism as someone else’s bad behavior rather than something we participate in, no matter how subtle. One way I try to own up to my own complicity with racism is to take note of my own internal response when I hear people of color express their pain, grief, anger and outrage over the murder of people such as George Floyd, Ahmaud Aubrey and Breonna Taylor. I ask myself: Do I empathize with their anger, outrage and grief? Or do I find myself closing out their voices? Worse yet, do I entertain secret dismissive thoughts such as “maybe this person had it coming”, or “they were probably up to no good”?

In the book of James we are admonished to not just listen to the Word but to do what it is says, otherwise we are like a man who looks in the mirror and fails to correct blemishes he sees (James 1:22-24). As a white person I need to “own up” by looking in the mirror and come clean with my own complicity with racism, and through God’s power do what I can to overcome racism first in myself and then within our society. Then I will be in a better position to live out what Scripture commands: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.” (Zech 7:9)

As we own up we will be more motivated to take on the third action, which is “shake up.” We must be willing to engage in actions that will attain justice in our culture and our nation. Yes, this is a tall order. It will require a long obedience in the same direction.
The national protests are one form of shaking up the status quo. These serve an important purpose. They focus our attention. They raise our corporate consciousness. Protests can lead to concerted action within communities along with changes in civil laws that lead to a more just society. Let’s join our voices in solidarity with outcries against injustice. Let’s shake up the status quo and take action where we find opportunity to make constructive changes in our communities for the benefit of people of color.

As a teenager, and a child of the south, I recall the peaceful protests of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. They awakened me, and sensitized me, to the injustices of our nation. Although I was not yet voting age, I grew to appreciate the changes that were enacted by our government in those days, which were the result of years of protest.

That was then, this is today. There is more to be done, much more to be done. We can work in our local communities to improve race relations. We can advocate as citizens for just policies and laws. We can reach out to people of color with friendship and genuine empathy. Our churches can become multi- ethnic communities of acceptance and blessing for all people. There is so much we can do if we wake up, own up and be willing to shake up our world through the transforming power of Jesus Christ. May we unite together in our efforts to eradicate racism.

Most importantly we can pray that the Father’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. He is a God of justice, mercy and reconciliation for all people. In the coming days I ask you to join with me in praying for our nation, and for ourselves, that justice, truth and peace will prevail in our land for the glory of God.