Racism's Ugly Shadow

Faith in the Public Square
Lompoc Record
October 14, 2007

Like many, I don't have all the facts about the recent events in the small Louisiana town of Jena. The story continues to evolve, and there's no end in sight. What I do know is this: Racism is alive and well in the United States. It may be more subtle than a generation ago, but it's still with us.

The story of Jena begins with a tree on school property, which apparently was reserved for white students only. One day an African-American student got permission from the principal to sit there; that he needed permission to sit there suggests the systemic nature of racism. Later, after the student sat beneath the “white's only” tree, three nooses appeared as a sign of white displeasure with this breach of “etiquette.”

In the days that followed, a group of African-American students, unfortunately, turned to violence and responded by beating up a couple of the offending students. The local district attorney chose to charge these students in adult court, first with charges of attempted murder, and later with assault. While the conviction of one student was recently overturned because he was convicted in the wrong venue, the events of Jena, La., have uncovered, much like Katrina, the realities of racism in our country.

My purpose here is not to delve into the charges or the counter charges of the Jena case, because the issues are too complex to get into here. But this series of events in a small Southern town gives us the opportunity to reflect on the shadow that racism continues to cast across our land.

We don't like to see ourselves as being racist, because we believe we've moved beyond that kind of activity and belief system. Jim Crow and the Klan, whites only restrooms and lunch counters - all these reside in the dustbin of history. Unfortunately, racism remains with us four decades after the heyday of the civil rights movement. And racism isn't simply a Southern phenomenon - it infects the nation as a whole. It colors the immigration debate, national security, education, business, and even religion.

We use a number of terms interchangeably - terms like prejudice, discrimination, and racism. These words are related but not exactly the same. Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is an action; racism takes both a step further. Racism has been defined by some as discriminatory acts based on ethnic or racial differences taken by people who have the power to exclude others.

The key here is the “power to exclude.” Racism isn't just individual attitudes, it's systemic. It's like a virus that invades the body, and which is therefore difficult to eradicate. Jim Crow may be dead, but his legacy remains - it is deeply embedded in our institutions and our government policies. Because it's systemic, it can perpetuate itself without our even recognizing it.

Sadly, racism is present in our religious institutions. If it weren't, then my denomination wouldn't find it necessary to address it from within. We recognize that while racism is a social evil, it is also a spiritual and theological problem. Racism denies the principle that we're all part of God's creation and reflect God's image - whether we're of Asian, African, European, Native American, Pacific Islander, or of mixed descent. We're all different in culture and ethnicity, but ultimately we're one family (and I say this as one who believes in evolution).
My denomination has called us as a church to be “anti-racist and pro-reconciling.” The first calling is to root out all aspects of systemic racism in our churches - including that which infects our attitudes, our language, and our policies. In a sense, this is the attempt to get rid of the log in our own eyes before removing the splinter in our neighbor's eye (Matthew 7:3). This will likely be an ongoing project.

From here we're called to become part of the solution - to seek reconciliation wherever possible in the broader community. We're called to raise our voices to defend the defenseless, to call into question injustice, and to bring people together. Ultimately, I've found that attitudes only change once we get to know each other better. That breaks down stereotypes, and when the stereotypes are removed, we see people as they really are: speaking theologically for a moment - God's children.
Dr. Bob Cornwall is pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Lompoc (www.lompocdisciples.org). He blogs at http://pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com and may be contacted at lompocdisciples@impulse.net or c/o First Christian Church, P.O. Box 1056, Lompoc, CA 93438.
October 14, 2007

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