Breaking News; Racism is STILL a problem in America

The definition of racism is as follows:

1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.

2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

Recent headlines have reminded us again how volatile the issue of racism is in America. Most of understand that racism is an issue in this nation, but most of us don't believe that we are actually part of the problem. I fear that many of us have fooled ourselves into believing that we have risen above racism and are somehow better than the generations which came before us. In some small ways our country has made progress but we are still a nation which struggles with the sin of racism. I say that it's a sin because if we are going to obey Jesus, we must “love our neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31) You cannot follow this commandment and be a racist.

We are all too familiar with the historical tension between whites and blacks. I would highly recommend that you read John Piper's book called Bloodlines.  If you read it with an open mind, you will likely realize (as I did) that you too have some racist tendencies.  It is not something I realized about myself and it is something which troubled me.   With me, it was more about sterotypes than anything else.  They may not be overt and many of these tendencies come from ignorance and just plain stupidity. May I suggest that neither of which is a good excuse? John Piper grew up in South Carolina during the civil rights era so his book primarily discusses racial tensions between whites and blacks.  However, I believe that many of the ideas discussed in his book apply to how we interact with every other race.  We can easily overlook the fact that racial issues also extend to Hispanics, Asian and almost every other racial group in this country, including the Native American Indians whose ancestors were in North America before many of our ancestors were. For example, Irish immigrants in the early 19th century were the subjected to idiotic stereotypes and were essentially treated as "white negroes". This was a cruel irony for the Irish immigrants because one of the reasons they left Ireland was because they were treated as lower class citizens by the British. They were relegated to demeaning jobs, had their land stolen from them and were generally oppressd by the English. They left their country in the hope for a better life and would find many of the same issues here. Also, throughout the early period of the West, the Chinese were exploited and segregated, simply because of their race. The transcontinental railway system was built on the backs of immigrants, one of which were Chinese immigrants. California's Chinese immigrants became the objects of discriminatory laws and racial violence. According to Digital History, "California barred these immigrants from appearing as witnesses in court, prohibited them from voting or becoming naturalized citizens, and placed their children in segregated school. The state imposed special taxes on "foreign" miners and Chinese fishermen." In our "melting pot" today, there are many whites who are racist towards Hispanics and assume that most are here illegally and are only looking for free health care. Also, in our present day and thanks in large part to the reaction of the events on 9/11, racism is often veiled as enthusiastic patriotism. Many believe that it's ok to discriminate against anyone wearing a burqa or turbin. Fear is oftentimes intertwined with racism. We fear a certain group of people because we think they want to hurt us or steal from us. In an attempt to stop vicious crime brought on by racism, our government has enacted Hate Crime legislation. Their belief is that if certain crimes can merit harsher punishments, then there will be a deterrent. However, where many of these laws miss the mark is that the term "hate crime", when it's used in reference to violent crime, is redundant in most cases.  A crime does not need to be committed against somebody of a different race to be considered a crime of hate.

There are many whites who cringe when they see white on black crime. Sadly for most, I doubt their reaction is simply because a crime was committed. It's because they know that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton will be on TV for the next several days. When Jackson and Sharpton start speaking out against a crime against blacks, many of these whites are questioning where these men were when a black committed crimes against non-whites. Over the past several weeks, I have heard the comments again. It's almost as if their non-presence when the victim is white negates the importance of Trayvon Martin. Sadly, the people complaining don't even realize that they are guilty of the same thing. They don't speak up when it's the other way around. In the aftermath of Zimmerman/Martin, some people started asking why the mainstream media didn't seem to care when a group of blacks gruesomely tortured and murdered a white couple in 2007. I don't know why it wasn't reported on as much as Trayvon's death. I don't recall which news stories were being followed by the mainstream media after these murders occurred. You can always go back and forth and ask why this story or that story wasn't more important to the media. Regardless, these type of comments are oftentimes counterproductive, especially when they are said out of anger. In the events of Trayvon Martin's death, if race was not a factor it most certainly has been a factor in the discussion since his death. This is a major reason why I firmly believe that this nation is still struggling with racism. There are still many, many unanswered questions and I don't know which account is correct. However, I do know that George Zimmerman was told to stop following Trayvon by the 911 operator. If Zimmerman would have heeded those commands, Trayvon would still be alive today. I also know that an armed man followed an unarmed teenager and I know that the unarmed and dead teenager cannot give his side of the story. The bullet from George Zimmerman's gun guaranteed that. I also have a feeling there is more to be learned about this story. I also found the number of unnecessary and irrelevant anonymous leaks from the Sanford police department interesting. One has to wonder why they were releasing this information? These just add fuel to the already unstable powder keg. As is often the case in high profile situations like this, some of the responses have been irresponsible and are out of control. I have listened to Geraldo's hoodie comments and I kind of can see where he is coming from, although I don't agree with him that Trayvon would be alive if he left his hoodie at home. Right or wrong, people make assumptions based on how people look and many times those assumptions are not correct. Ultimately, Zimmerman's assumption, based off an incorrect profile, that Trayvon was about to steal something was incorrect. Zimmerman says he is not racist and I don't know if that is true or not, but much of the rhetoric since the death of Trayvon has been littered with racism and many people on both sides of this issue are to blame.


Let's be honest with ourselves, we've all heard (and even laughed at a few times) the jokes that go like this: "How many __________ does it take to ___ ___ ___?" Typically, these types of jokes are racist and they use a broad brush to essentially call a race or group of people idiots. These are often "white" on "white" jokes. My Uncle Tom's family was Finnish and lived in Hancock Michigan during the 1940's. His father had felt the effects of racism towards him. As a result, when my Uncle was born in 1943, his father decided to give his son a different last name. His father's last name was Linja, which is distinctly Finnish, and he hoped that his son would have better shot at assimilating into American society if he had a more American sounding name. So, he wrote his last name as "Line" on his birth certificate. When my uncle's brother was born, the hospital wouldn't let him change his name so it remained Linja. People figured it out and there was no quantifiable difference in how my Uncle Tom was treated growing up. We need to remember that racism takes on many forms and can be directed towards any other people group. It is arrogant to believe that any of us are better than another. When we allow ourselves to believe that we are somehow better than another simply because of their race, we are racist. When we use racist terms to describe another group of people, we are racist. When we treat one race of people differently than another, we are racist. When we mock another race because we want to make ourselves feel better, we are racist. We may not want to acknowledge this but it is something we must come to grips with and we must repent of it. It is not how Jesus wants us to live.

We must remember that racism does not need to look like the KKK or Nazi Germany. It does not need to have white hoods, a burning cross and a rope. It does not need to be blatant or overt. It can be something which we are ashamed of and try to bury deep in our thoughts. No matter how hard we try to bury our feelings, they will often be revealed by how we act. It may be revealed when we go out of our way to walk on the other side of the street when to avoid passing somebody of another color. It may be displayed when we automatically get protective when we are around somebody of another race. We may reveal it when we patronize somebody of another race because we think they have lower intelligence than we do. Jesus said that the condition of our heart is revealed by what comes out of our mouth. (Matt 12:34) It may be how we treat someone who does not speak English very well. Do you get upset with immigrants and demand that since they are in America, they need to speak English? It is extremely arrogant to believe that a person's ability to speak English somehow relates to their value as a person. I know people who are ok with people of other races as long as they act white. How wicked is that? At its heart, racism comes from a belief that I am better than somebody else simply because of my skin color or culture. The Bible tells us that man was created in the image of God. Christ came to this earth and gave His perfect, sinless life on the cross as a ransom for those who would believe on Him. He died for white, black, brown, yellow, tan, red or any other shade of skin which any man, woman or child may have. Racism, in all its forms, is a sin and I would dare say that we have all been guilty of it at one time or another. We need to repent of and continuously fight against this vile sin.
 

Ultimately, racism does not look at the individual for who he or she is.  One of the bitter fruits of racism is that we often lose the opportunity to make solid, Christ honoring friendships when we stupidly refuse to get past some external, such as skin color, nationality or culture.  I am not suggesting that we be color blind. Quite the contrary! We should embrace the differences in color, race and language because there will be a time when people from every race, tribe and tongue will be standing and singing praises in the presence of Jesus. (Rev 5:9)