How Is A Christian To Approach Racism?

	On March 21, 1997, a young black boy, Lenard Clark, and a couple of his 
friends walk home from school playing, laughing, simply acting like kids.  This 
young 13 year old and his friends, were oblivious of what was lurking in their 
near future as they entered the predominately white neighborhood of Bridgeport on 
Chicago's south side.
	While these three kids were walking, three white men between the ages of 
17 and 19 jumped out of nowhere to attack the kids.  Two of Clark's friends got 
away, but Clark was left as victim to the beating that the three men were 
attempting to distribute.  Dismissing the specifics, Clark's head was bashed into 
a hard surface, along with many other sources of injury, leaving him laying in the 
middle of the street bleeding to death.
	Clark was taken to the hospital when his friends told authorities where 
their friend was, and the next day, the men were charged with the hate crime, 
blaming the act on racism.  With the men, Frank Caruso, Victor Jasas and Mike 
Kwidzinski, being charged, Clark's mother remained calm and collective in sharing 
her views and opinions to the media, displaying a quite assertive attitude. 
	Shortly, she publicly proclaimed that the situation is in the hands of her 
God, and that she believes that, though her son was clinging to life by a thread, 
God would restore her son.  The latest updates show that Clark, even though he 
possesses amnesia and much brain damage, is walking about and is functioning much 
better than was expected (Chicago Tribune).
	The questions that come to mind are, why would someone do such a violent, 
cruel act of hate?  Why would a victim's mother show no hate or bitterness towards 
her son's offenders?  Most of all, how does a Christian approach racism, and stop 
the cycle of hate and the reactions hate produces?  Are we to look in ourselves or 
others for this answer?  What is the apparent view that God takes when it comes to 
situations such as these, or at least the root of these crimes?  Allow us to 
explore this together.
	Racism is the act of judging, attacking, despising, doubting, 
categorizing, and assuming something about an individual or a group based on their 
ethnic background or skin color.  Racism is a form of prejudice, judging one and 
placing a certain trait upon an individual based on an irrational conclusion on 
all that "fit the description."
	Racism is no new thing to mankind, even though many would be liken to 
think as so.  Racism and ethnic prejudice goes back into biblical days, days even 
before Jesus, before the Prophets, and even before David and Saul.  In Moses' day, 
he was persecuted by two people for marrying a women of another color and ethnic 
group, a black Cushite woman from Egypt (Numbers 12:1).  From there, Ruth was 
persecuted for marrying Boaz (Ruth), and when Jesus walked the earth, he was 
persecuted for speaking with foreigners of other colors and ethnic backgrounds.
	Racism has been justified by many by many of reasons.  "Racist bigots seek 
to rationalize their beliefs through justification, even upon non-facts.  They use 
a 'fact' until it's proven false, then they'll fall onto another, then another, 
till they're faced with the fact that they possess no 'facts' at all, causing them 
to rethink their position (Bibby, 51)."  Racists would jump from one reason for 
their beliefs to another, too stubborn to change their view even though they know 
it's wrong and / or false.  "The prejudiced mind ignores the facts, however real 
and convincing, . . . spread and perpetuated through books, newspapers, movies, 
and speeches" (Mays, 33).
	It's much like one in a false religion, they would stand upon doctrine 
that they know is false and incorrect or incomplete, yet they remain on it for it 
fits their lifestyle.  Their religion is a religion they have developed, and they 
serve a god they had created in their own mind, and shaped according to their 
beliefs.  This is how cults are created so often -- people making up doctrine that 
shapes around their life, not the religion to shape their life itself.  Racism is 
much in parallel to this.  People feel it's convenient to believe what they 
believe for it fits how they wish to live.  These prejudiced "myths . . . do not 
need facts; they simply need supporters" (Evans, 8).
	However, racism isn't all from one's own mind choosing to rationalize, but 
rather the mind rationalizing without the individual's consent.  "Children are 
born without color prejudice, and adopt it from parental doctrine" (Mays, ix).  
Even when we look at a black and white child playing together not giving a care in 
the world about skin color, we see that prejudice for another's color is a learned 
behavior, just as habits and interests are.
	Depending on the child's environmental factors as they are growing up, 
they will learn to look down upon or in favor of certain things in life, some of 
it being rational, some quite irrational.  Usually, as the child reaches its teen 
years, society shapes the individual's thoughts and biases, them taking their 
society's views as their own.  This shapes a character's moral and sense of 
worth.  When a continual process of "training" several individuals with the same 
factor, a group forms with these biases, thus forming bigger and bigger groups, 
thus forming a society with similar morals and values.  This could be for the good 
or the bad of the society, but nonetheless it happens, and has happened.
	Along these lines, we must keep in mind that ". . . deep-seated prejudice 
cannot be quickly removed merely by factual evidence and logical argument; but 
this does not mean that facts and arguments are powerless" (Bibby, 51).  With the 
continual facts being presented, one is forced to reconsider their stand, no 
matter what the stand is.  The individual is forced to reconsider that the 
possibility is that he or she may very well indeed be in error, no matter how 
hard-hearted and stubborn one may be.  Many have felt this way throughout the 
years of slavery and the continual segregation era, when Christian churches who 
believed that racism was wrong repeatedly stressed how Scripture does not validate 
racism, but rather oppose it.
	Slavery was not only adopted by non-Christians who were simply selfish and 
wanted "cheap labor," but it was highly and primarily endorsed by the Christian 
Church due to several factors.  The Church at that time believed that ". . . 
slavery was the natural of the sin of the enslaved and that is was ordained by the 
judgment of God" (Buswell, 29).  They felt this because Negroes were supposedly 
cursed due to the story of Noah's child, Ham, and that because all Negroes were 
"heathens" due to this curse, it was the Church's duty to "Christianize" the 
Negroes (Buswell, 12).  They also felt they were "freeing" the slaves of spiritual 
captivity by doing so, for they'd be witness to the preached Gospel (Buswell, 
31).  It's sad that this, as well as many other events in history has been in the 
name of Jesus and of Christianity (Salley, 13), for Christ is nothing but "love," 
but some of what's done in the name of Jesus is nothing close to "love."
	Though slavery ended, segregation continued.  Blacks weren't allowed to 
marry whites, date whites, use the same urinal facilities as whites, drink from 
the same water fountains as whites, or even sit where whites were allowed to sit, 
such as in buses, benches, stadiums, etc.  If one violated these "laws," they were 
looked down upon, arrested, beat up, or even killed.  This was done in the name of 
Jesus -- even the Ku Klux Klan claim to be living according to Scripture in their 
crude activities.
	It was almost as if the God that whites worshiped was their God, and that 
blacks were to consider themselves privileged or lucky to worship their God.  
"Whites found it repulsive to think that blacks were equal in worshiping as a 
congregation" (Salley, 33).  Whites felt that they were more "godly" due to their 
". . . pure, virgin-like, colorless and set apart" (Bibby, 63) skin color as 
opposed to the blacks' "dirty and unclean" (Bibby, 63) skin color.
	Needless to say, blacks needed to find a House of Worship that would 
accept them, and where they'd be able to worship God with  no hindrance and 
comfortableness, so they headed north to the white churches there (Salley, 32).  
With the hostility and segregation in the north as well, the blacks ended up 
starting their own churches, which in turn developed into their own denominations 
(Salley, 33) because of their strong desire to reach the freedom thus talked about 
in the Bible, the first Book that they were introduced to (Evans, 64).  They felt 
much like the Israelites, in bondage.
	Though separation in the Church was becoming less and less an issue, 
interracial was and still is a big factor in racist's minds, even if they "okay" 
interracial relationships.  The act of a white and a black producing offspring is 
quite repulsive to many racists, and they highly look down upon the children as if 
they are less than human -- or at least, as outcasts.  Mingling is often seen as 
negative, just as a dairyman mixes water with his milk -- they are no longer 
'pure' in their own in their own specific race (Bibby, 63).  Some feel that when a 
black and a white have a child, the child is torn between two classifications, and 
has no claim of their own.  They see the child neither as "black" nor "white," but 
rather an "other," one that is its own breed.
	In technicality, the entire human population is a "mingled breed" and is 
far from "pure in their own blood,"(Hudson) for we all derive from the same 
ancestors, Adam and Eve (Mays, 10).  The reason for the various colors is due to 
the process of environmental adaptation (Bibby, 57).  Of the four different blood 
types, all races possess these and neither are lacking either, which in turn means 
that we all are brothers in practicality (Mays, 10).
	It is quite true, as well as quite obvious, that there are differences, 
and we'd be in the wrong to deny that there are differences between the races, but 
that doesn't mean that just because one possesses a specific skin color that they 
possess as well as specific trait.  "People may differ in all sorts of ways, but 
difference is one thing and superiority is another.  Red hair is different from 
black hair, but neither superior nor inferior to it (Bibby, 60)."  Both red and 
black hair are consisted of the same elements and serve the same purpose though 
they are different in some ways.
	 Slavery ended over 130 years ago, and legal segregation ended about 30 
years ago.  Does this mean that racism's over?  Many would like to pretend and say 
it is, but any open eye would see that racial issues are still rampant now as it 
was back years ago.  The only difference is that a few more people are attempting 
to solve this problem.  "We can no longer say that racism is no longer an issue 
for we've seen it open up like a wound right before our eyes" (Nicolson) with the 
1992 Los Angeles riots.  This woke us up to the fact of the hate, tension, hurt, 
etc. that our nations feels, both black and white (Nicolson).  The wound was once 
again opened during the O.J. Simpson trial, and the anticipation of the verdict. 	
Race and prejudice is worldwide, involving employment, politics, social life, 
education, and in the church and state (Mays, ix).  Too many, as with many 
problems, turn their heads and lie themselves into believing that there's no race 
issue anymore, for it died years ago.  I'm sorry to say, but this curse is far 
from dead, and is like a zombie refusing to die easily.
	"Unfortunately, the long history of racism in America testifies to either 
an ignorance of or refusal to acknowledge and obey God's unmistakenly clear 
commands.  If God meant what He said, then it is clear that racism is a sin 
(Cooper, 9)."  Continually, God has stressed the importance of racial harmony and 
even Reverend Steve Nicolson stated that he was "really surprised at how much the 
Bible had to say . . . about racial conflict and how to avoid it," and that he 
wasn't sure what not to use in his teaching series for their was so much biblical 
information (Nicolson).
	"Contrary to popular opinion, the future of the world is not necessarily 
in the hands of the nation possessing the largest number of billions in dollars, 
the nation with the most economic resources, nor even the nation with the most 
powerful air force and largest stockpile of thermonuclear weapons.  . . .History 
proves that a nation can become so corrupt, that [nothing] cannot save that 
nation, economic order, or race.  There are forces at work in the universe that 
are beyond the control of man." (Mays, 5)
There are big problems in our country, and when asked by a news anchor on what the 
biggest problem that faces our nation, Reverend Billy Graham said, without 
hesitation, racism (Nicolson).  It seems that all our issues in our country, as 
well as throughout all the history of mankind, race has played a big factor.
	Racism is nothing but self worship.  Why would I call it self worship?  It 
is because racists worship themselves in a way that they are placing their color 
above others, and despise those who aren't of their color.  He either, or both, 
sees himself as a superhuman or he sees the other as a subhuman.  Either way, this 
is error, for 1 Corinthians 12:13 and Galatians 3:28 speaks of all people in the 
Body of Christ as equal, with no hierarchy based on color, neither sex, age, 
culture, etc.
	If we try to be what we aren't, we could only expect the worst.  "If we 
attempt to be gods, we shall be miserable, and disaster will result" (Mays, 19).  
I remember growing up as short kid who was very inferior with himself.  I wanted 
to be big and tough, and be able to bully other kids around as I was 
occasionally.  I started to front a false characteristic of social burliness, but 
I was only mocked, laughed at, and beat up more.  I learned that trying to be what 
I wasn't only caused me to get chased home from school and jumped, not to mention 
affect how others viewed, treated, and thought of me.  "It might be added that a 
man's pride, his wanting to be what he is not and what he cannot become, is 
responsible for the sin in the world and for the terrible condition in which man 
finds himself today" (Mays, 19).  This is what happened at the Garden of Eden when 
man attempted to make him and herself like gods (Genesis 3:5), and we see a 
similar destruction from different races trying to make themselves gods, the 
majority seeming to be the whites.
	From racism, the Church has been more in effect than it should be, and is 
hindered from being the salt and light' it should be (Evans, 3).  Many people 
reject and detest Christianity due to the hypocracy' and inconsistency' within the 
Church.  One of these issues that they point out is our bigoted views of other 
races.  
	". . . The Word of the Lord is alive . . . today "as a 2-edged sword," but 
we have perhaps taken the edge off the sword by our short-sightedness and our 
complacency.  The Christian failure in American racial justice has been all too 
real, but it . . . is due . . . to the fact that so few Christians have been able 
to face the fact that non-violence comes very close to the heart of the Gospel 
ethic, and is perhaps essential to it." (Merton, 143)
From this curse of prejudice, we are turning people away from God as well as 
keeping them away from God, for we are giving them the assumption that we serve a 
God of division and of hate and of hierarchial favor.  People aren't ignorant and 
they know fallacy when they see it, and I'm sorry to say, but our racism makes our 
God look flawed and deceptive.
	Our nation needs to change its views on this subject, and that would come 
through education and religion (Mays, 61).  The Church cannot legislate our 
nation's hearts.  The nation's people need more than what they've been seeing and 
they need a motivator, the most effectively being the Christian Church (Nicolson).
	"The bottom line is that you are incomplete without knowing and accepting 
other men -- Asian, black, Indian, Hispanic, and white -- and they are incomplete 
without knowing you.  We need each other to be whole in our identity.  To put it 
another way, you cannot be all that God has called you to be without me, not can I 
without you.  1 Corinthians 12 points out that we are one body.  If one member of 
the body hurts, we all hurt." (Cooper, 16)
If our ways don't change, things are either going to get progressively worse, or 
feelings are going to be suppressed till they explode like a bomb.  Either way, 
"covering the rust on the car with Play-Doh®" isn't going to help the situation.  
We're going to have to directly attack it, and do so effectively.
	As all motivation is started, Christians are going to have to take the 
initiative to make the changes.  So far, many have, but the field is vast and 
there needs to be many more workers.  Those with their heart in the right place 
should step forward first with this effort, for "thieves don't convert thieves" 
(Mays, 31).
	To rid of the myths that racism produces and is based on, "we [blacks and 
whites] have to strive to relat[e] to each other about our strengths, based on the 
Bible" (Evans, 18).  Just as any relationship forms and / or is strengthened, we 
have to communicate and try to understand each other, where they're coming from as 
an individual and as a group, where they're at now, and where they'd like to reach 
or be.  We need to acknowledge that there are indeed differences, but we all can 
learn from each other for we have something to give to the only race, the human 
race (Acts 17:26).
	"If we are Christians that seek to honor Jesus Christ, we will recognize 
that all values, including those of the majority Anglo culture, at times conflict 
with heavenly values.  Your background . . . shapes your values and responses to 
events, but those events are rarely superior to the responses of others.  We must 
learn to respect and honor the group values of our brothers, which often differ 
from our own." (Cooper, 23)
	Many whites cannot and refuse to attempt to comprehend what the black race 
has gone through and are going through.  The only way to get even close to such a 
state, communication must be placed into motion.  Many blacks long to be accepted 
for their personal value -- nothing more, nothing less.  They also want to succeed 
and gain prosperity out of life not by others' pity or empathy, but rather out 
their own success and input -- as all humans (Harrison, 107).  Blacks really want 
nothing handed to them that they haven't earned, and earned justly, but all have 
to acknowledge that they also have a lot to give.  They are more than the 
stereotypical athletes and gospel singers, but they have just as much intellect as 
any other race and they offer much to society with this intellect, as well as 
every other trait of the black individual (Harrison, 103), just as all of God's 
human creations.
	There are many things whites should assume and not assume about blacks,
for doing so will only cause more problems, anger, or at the least embarrassment.  
Whites should assume that blacks have emotions, have a heritage they are proud of, 
value openness and authenticity, accept "whiteness," and want reconciliation.  
Whites should assume the fact that blacks are quite angry at daily, unacceptable, 
irrational racism and treatment.  Whites should also assume that though skin 
colors may be different, that's where the differences stop, and they should assume 
that as a white person, they indeed may be part of the racial friction problem 
(Cooper, 57).
	We all need to realize and / or accept that most minorities' experiences 
are inabilities to fit into the "white environment," have a lack of respect, 
possess low expectations, have identity problems, remain self-censored and silent, 
and have collective guilt (Cooper, 42).  Most of this is from the poor treatment 
that they were dealt to throughout their lives.  Many minorities would deny much 
of this, while whites would do so as well.  This is something that can be worked 
out together, but there are many things whites should not assume about blacks 
specifically.
	Whites shouldn't assume that color is unimportant in interracial 
relationships, because the differences is what builds off of each other, forming a 
tight, understanding relationship based on the absence of ignorance.  Whites 
should not assume that blacks will always welcome and appreciate inclusion in a 
"white society."  Whites have to be sensitive to the possibility that there may be 
bitterness stored up, and that the individual may not want to be open so quickly 
to an interracial relationship yet.  Whites should not assume at all that a white 
society is superior to a black society.  We all something that compensates the 
other, in which we would be able to strengthen each other.  Also as an important 
note, whites should not assume that blacks are oversensitive about their situation 
and / or feelings.  Whites should be very careful not to be too under sensitive 
(Cooper, 58).
	Liberation from this plague called racial prejudice is not only biblical, 
socially acceptable, morally correct, and sensible, but it's also possible.  Jesus 
highly endorses liberation in three ways: 1) He said that "a Christian's 
relationship with hid brother should be like his with God" (Evans, 69), pure and 
holy, without biased flaw, and continuously being sought out to grow.  2) "The 
love for God and the love for one's neighbor is the same kind of love" (1 John 
4:20), and that 3) "the love for a neighbor comes out of a loving God" (Cooper, 
72).  As we grow as Christians and seek out God's face daily, there should be no 
reason why we would contain hate for another, for if God is in us and we in Him, 
and "God is love" (1 John 4:8).  If we possess hate or prejudice, there's either 
something wrong with our walk with Christ, or we don't know God at all (1 John 4:7).
	"If someone says, I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for 
the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he 
has not seen.  And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God 
should love his brother also." (1 John 4:20-21)
Claiming "Christian" means you're claiming not only as the Lord Jesus as Christ 
and Savior, but you also claim His Word to be the inerrant, infallible, 
indestructible Truth, and should strive to live accordingly as best as your flesh 
allows you to.  Claiming Christian, you are claiming yourself as a member of the 
Body of Christ, and whether one likes it or not, the Body consists of people of 
all nationalities, cultures, time periods, and you will spend eternity with them 
(John 17:20-23, Ephesians 4:15-16, Revelation 7:9).  If one cannot accept the 
whole Body, they must reject It, for the Body of Christ is united (Ephesians 
2:14-16) with followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Head of the Body (1 
Corinthians 12:24-26).
	Besides conversing and trying to understand each other's past, present and 
future, reconciliation needs the Holy Spirit over all else.  The Holy Spirit 
guides us with everything as Christians, and He will guide us by shining on our 
heart where we are in error or ignorance.  He will help you be more understanding 
and more apt to accepting variety.  The Holy Spirit will also help you become more 
compassionate for the feelings the other race is feeling, both good and bad -- 
cheer each other on, and cry on each other's shoulders (Nicolson).  Jesus will 
give you His eyes and heart if one initiates it.
	Next is repentance.  Though we may feel justified in our feelings and 
actions, we are wrong.  The Bible makes it very clear that division as such within 
the Church breaks His heart.  Then, we are to flush out false theology that 
supports segregation and prejudice (Harrison, 147), and make a commitment to 
reconcile, stopping the racial slurs, as well as the biased, stereotyped thought 
patterns (Hudson).
	Next, we should take a jump from our private healing and preparations to 
doing it outwardly by talking to others, without interrupting and openness in 
listening.  We should demonstrate an interest, working through difficult 
situations (Cooper, 58), examining our motives for what we do.  We need to invite 
each other into our homes and churches, opening our doors in metaphor, opening up 
ourselves and being vulnerable(Harrison, 149).  Also, we could pressure our 
Christian churches, schools, and other organizations into adopting true doctrine, 
the doctrine of racial harmony.  When a few start, a tidal wave of followers will 
arise (Harrison, 150).
	As we engage in helping an interracial society grow, we should pray for 
our land and our leaders in this area, for our country needs God's help terribly 
(Nicolson).  God will not heal this plague unless we humbly ask Him to.  Judgment 
starts in the Christian Church (1 Peter 1:7).  If Christians want to be more 
effective in our ministry, we need to obey God's wishes for us.  God is not a 
vending machine in which we could get what we want when we want it.  We have to 
continue to develop a relationship with Him, as well His Church, otherwise our 
effectiveness will be vague and our prayers most likely unanswered (John 15:7).  
By our love for each other, others will know our love (John 13:34), and not only 
do others benefit, but so do we.
	God is love, and as we are in Him and He in us, we should possess the 
likeness of such love.  "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to 
dwell together in unity" (Psalm 133:1).