Racism has raised its ugly head even as America celebrates the 50th anniversary of the march of Selma. A University of Oklahoma fraternity has been asked to leave the campus because of a video showing members of that fraternity singing a racist and ugly song.
What is racism and what is the biblical answer to such hatred, hatred to the point of singing of violence against a group of people simply because of the heritage they bear?
race (rās): A group of people identified as distinct from other groups because of supposed physical or genetic traits shared by the group. Most biologists and anthropologists do not recognize race as a biologically valid classification, in part because there is more genetic variation within groups than between them. -The Free Dictionary
Human beings are a selfish lot from birth. While we find great beauty in children, anyone woken by a screaming infant at two in the morning knows they are a bit focused on self. They want their needs met.
At it’s heart, racism is about the self interest. It is not limited to white Americans or black Americans, it is universal. To think that we have overcome it to the point it will never be an issue is foolishness.
From a biblical viewpoint there is only one race, the human race. I could quote a plethora of scripture to prove my point but the over ridding principle is this;
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. -Genesis 1:27
God did not create races of human beings, He only created a male and a female, from these two people came all of the humans we now see. The pigment of the skin the shapes of the faces all are rooted in those two.
As a light brown individual, I have fascinating experiences in regard to race. I moved to New Mexico when I was 12 years old, so many of the people that surrounded me were of a similar or slightly darker skin tone, but of a variety of European heritage.
It was often entertaining to hear native New Mexicans defend their heritage by claiming that they were directly from Spain or northern Spain. This was implying that theirs was a better heritage than Spaniards that mingled with other races.
When researching my heritage and my wife’s I found that we are both a mix of several so called races and could not claim a heritage other than that of a melting pot.
Growing up in Albuquerque, African Americans were often an anomaly. Early into our marriage, my wife and I really enjoyed attending a mixed raced church with a black pastor. We volunteered to help at his father’s church in Denver and that is when I discovered that racism is not just a white man’s problem.
There are many people who hold deep resentment for how they and their fore bearers were treated and a type of racism develops when those things are not released and forgiven. This is a biblical command that we must all obey, to forgive others. If forgiveness is not given often an entire group of people are blamed for the sins committed by some.
A few year later, as a member of the US Air Force, I was stationed in Japan. Half way around the world there was racism. It turns out that racism was not just an American white or black problem, xenophobia is universal. I would attempt to enter a restaurant or other type of store that had a sign reading “Nipon only” or Japanese only.
What I learned from these experiences is that people are similar everywhere you go. We identify with the people we resemble and behave like, that is why we have the saying, “birds of a feather, flock together”.
There is nothing quite like walking into a room full of people that are completely different from you. By the same token there is something comforting about hanging out with people that are like you, both in appearance and behavior.
This goes back to the self centered nature of humans. We are the center of our own universe, we want to be a part of the winning team, the winning country or state. We desire to be better than others. Sin leads us to put ourselves above others when the bible teaches us to put others first.
The truth of racism is that every human suffers from this ugly condition to some degree, but can we hope to eradicate racism so that there is never another incident like the video from the University of Oklahoma?
Not as long as sin is in the world.
What is the answer? More sensitivity training? I’m afraid not. The answer is found in a changed heart, changed by Jesus Christ. When we are subject to His Holy Spirit, we can love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Love cannot be forced or mandated, and neither can forgiveness.
The world will continue to see the murderous capacity of every human without the Lord.
