In a workshop on medical ethics, we were discussing various scenarios focusing on some of the hard questions. One scenario went like this: “Your 25-year-old sister, happily married with two children, is raped by a drug addict of another race. She’s concerned that she might be pregnant.” My knee-jerk reaction was to question what the issue of race had to do with anything, only to be told by others in the workshop that it was quite relevant because the child would be a constant reminder, not only to the woman herself but also to everyone who sees the child, of the violent act that caused its conception.

Of course they were right; race was relevant, and I was left trying to figure out why I reacted as I did. While I understand that the race of the rapist contributes to the dilemma outlined in the scenario, I continue to believe that it also perpetuated stereotypical notions about the profile of a rapist. This was a scenario being used in an all-white group; I wondered how many immediately pictured the rapist as black, thus reinforcing white fears of black men. It also seemed to demean a bi-racial child. And it was a clear example of how we are still dealing with issues of race in our culture, in spite of all the apparent progress of the last 50 years.

I don’t believe that there was anything intentionally racist in the workshop discussion that day, but I know I left with the clear impression that we have not yet reached the model suggested by Galatians 3:28 of “neither Jew nor Greek.” Whether we like to admit it or not, racism and prejudice are still very much a part of our world, even in the Christian community.

Definitions and evidences of racism

Racism has been defined as “prejudice plus power.” In 1990 a “Statement on Prejudice and Racism” was adopted by a Consultation on Racism jointly sponsored by the National Black Association of Evangelicals and the National Association of Evangelicals. According to that statement, prejudice is a mark of the sin nature, and “rather than allowing celebration of diversity of one humanity, causes the holders of prejudice to view those who are different as inferior. When one ethnic group is in a majority of power position, its group prejudices against those are minorities or out of power are often manifested as racism. Racism is prejudice plus power. Racism is, therefore, and institutionalized expression of a controlling group’s prejudices.”1

In North America, those in control have been whites of European ancestry. Woven throughout the history of the United States especially has been a “pattern of racism by the white-dominated society that involved the displacement and destruction of one race, the Native Americans, and the enslavement of yet another, the Africans. . . . Racism has enslaved, impoverished, and oppressed people of color in the United States.”2 Jim Wallis of the Sojourners Community in Washington, D.C., says that “while there are instances of black racial prejudices against whites in the United States today (often in reaction to white racism), there is no such thing as black racism. Black people in America do not have the power to enforce that prejudice.”3

The results of continuing racism in American life are evident in a number of areas: unemployment figures, economic conditions, housing patterns, prison statistics, attitudes and behaviors of law enforcement officials, the exclusion or under-representation of non-whites in positions of control in the leadership of institutions, and the resurgence of hate groups like the neo-Nazis and “skin heads.”4 Wallis says:

The cold economic savagery of racism has led to further declines in every area of the quality of life in the black community—health, infant mortality, family breakdown, drug and alcohol abuse, and crime. The majority of black children are now born to single mothers; a primary cause of death for young black men today is homicide; and nearly half of all prison inmates in the United States now are black males.5

In the church, despite our conscious intentions, racism also persists. The Sunday morning hour of worship has been described as the most segregated hour of the week. While some argue that the existence of all black and all white churches is simply the result of different preferences in worship styles, others claim otherwise. Catherine Meeks, an instructor in Afro-American studies, says:

The fundamental attitudes of superiority, that whiteness is better than blackness, continue to prevail, as is evidenced by the way in which whites with power use it and abuse it. Even in religious communities attempting to strive for some kind of racial adherence to the message of Jesus, there remains a tendency to judge as inferior the ways that blacks operate in the world because they seem inefficient and less productive than the ways of whites. . . . The inability of whites and blacks to come together as a unified worshiping community has far less to do with diversity in worship styles than has been accepted in the past. The problem lies in the unwillingness of blacks to be treated as children and of whites to share their power. . . .

In the midst of this reality of separation, how do we find a way to respond? . . . The separation between white and black church people cannot continue to be justified as the way of God. The work of racial healing and reconciliation lies on the doorsteps of the church.6

Biblical perspectives

Racism is sin; it “negates the reason for which Christ died—the reconciling work of the cross. It denies the purpose of the church: to bring together, in Christ, those who have been divided from one another. . . .”7 From the example of Jesus in his life and teachings through to the firsthand experience of the early church, the Bible speaks clearly against racial hostilities that divide the body of Christ.

1. The Unity Principle: In his prayer for all believers before his death, Jesus prayed that “they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23). Paul in his letter to churches in Galatia and Colosse specifically applies this complete unity to cultural and racial differences: “There is neither Jew nor Greek . . . for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28), and “Here there is no Greek or Jew, . . . but Christ is all, and is in all” (Col. 3:11). John’s revelation about “What must soon take place” tells about the “saints from every tribe and language and people and nation” being made “to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:9–10 NRSV).

Paul is even more specific in Ephesians 2 when he reminds the Gentiles (and we should remember that anyone other than Jews in included in the “Gentile” designation) that they were at one time “separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise” (2:12). But now, he continues, Christ has “destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (2:14). The clear message for us is that if Christ has reconciled Jews and Gentiles—two groups traditionally at odds with each other and very diverse culturally—how can we continue to tolerate enmity between the different cultural and racial groups in our time?

2. Illustrating the Principle: Jesus’ theological conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 and his use of a Samaritan man to explain neighborliness in Luke 10 demonstrate convincingly Jesus’ ability to cross cultural lines and affirm the worth of other cultural heritages. A Samaritan woman was entrusted with telling her whole village about Jesus, and the Jews listening to the parable of the Good Samaritan learned that all people are neighbors, even those considered less worthy because of their ethnic background. Jesus’ command to “go into all the world” means crossing all ethnic, social, cultural, and racial lines, which was first of all demonstrated vividly among the “God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven” in Acts 2 and then with the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8.

Peter learned this lesson in a new way in Acts 10 and 11 when he had a vision on the rooftop in Joppa and was shortly thereafter summoned to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile centurion in Caesarea. As he reflected on what had happened, first to Cornelius himself and then to the church in Jerusalem, he confessed, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who loves him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34–35, NRSV), and rhetorically asked, “If then God gave them the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” (11:17, NRSV).

Apparently, however, Peter was not always consistent in his behavior after that because there is a fascinating account in Galatians 2 of Paul confronting Peter for “not acting in line with the truth of the gospel.” Paul’s displeasures with Peter seemed to stem from Peter’s hypocrisy; he mingled with uncircumcised Gentiles, but as soon as the Christian Jews who opposed the Gentiles showed up, he pulled back from his Gentile friends (Gal. 2:11–14). A number of things may have been going on here, but at least one possible implication is that Peter was like many people today whose friendships and associations are more determined by racial and cultural issues and by the opinions of others rather than by what they know to be right.

The Brethren in Christ and race

It is hard to assess the degree of racism in the Brethren in Christ Church because it is not something we discuss very easily or often. I am convinced that most of us not intentionally racist, but instead sincerely believe the gospel principle that “God is no respecter of persons.” But because as white person we are part of a system that has been and is racist, we need to acknowledge our role in helping to perpetuate racism. Catherine Meeks says it well:

When white people say, “I’m not a racist,” they think of themselves not as somebody who wants to abuse and misuse somebody else because of the color of the skin. The way the average white person participates in racism, even if they’re not somebody who would condone it, is by enjoying the gains that have come in a society that is built on the backs of black people and by enjoying the economic and political power that has come to them because of the color of their skin. By accepting that power as a birthright, white people enjoy the benefits and rewards of what their racist forefathers left for them, even if they don’t use their power to exploit other people.8

By and large, that description is, I think, accurate for the Brethren in Christ in 1992.

Yet, while acknowledging the accuracy of that perspective, it is important to remember that the Brethren in Christ have historically opposed racism. There is evidence of opposition to slavery; in 1938 the Visitor editor wrote an editorial on “The Race Problem,” expressing his strong disapproval of inequities which blacks experienced. Generally, however, according to Carlton Wittlinger, the church showed little interest in [the issue of race] until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.9 In 1963, a statement on race relations was adopted by General Conference. The Commission on Peace and Social Concerns distributed a brochure on “The Christian View of Race” which, after tracing the history of slavery and prejudice and outlining scriptural principles against racism, asks:

What is our responsibility toward the racial injustice of today? The Christian accepts the law of love as the basis for human relationships. Here is a great opportunity to demonstrate Christian love in attitudes that will make interracial relationships possible. . . . This is the time to eradicate prejudice in ourselves and others, not only by what we say but also by what we do.10

Wittlinger also notes that while the Brethren in Christ supported the goals of the Civil Rights movement, they were uneasy with the accompanying social activism. Further, they were “vague about specific ways by which the brotherhood could implement” their commitment to racial justice. Nonetheless, Wittlinger concludes, the church (especially by way of conference action in 1970 against some institutional racism) was “on record as opposed to racism in every form.”11

Today, in the last decade of the 20th century, we can rejoice that we have done well at reaching out to many nationalities around the world. Yet on any given Sunday morning in the United States and Canada, mostly white people of European descent gather together for worship in our churches. When we plant new churches we generally opt for locations which are primarily suburban middle class, which in effect usually means white. Current denominational leadership, while bi-national, is exclusively white. If we’re honest with ourselves and others, we’ll probably admit that we’re comfortable with the way things are. We might even admit that we harbor patronizing, prejudicial, and racist attitudes which prevent us from reaching out to and seeking experiences and relationships with people of other races and cultures. But are we satisfied that all this is the way we really want it to be?

Steps toward “undoing racism”

While we may be unintentional in our racism, acting out of lack of experience or ignorance, we will have to be intentional and deliberate in our efforts to undo racism and prejudice in our communities and churches. A first step in that process is becoming aware of and acknowledging the existence of racism in our lives.

Peggy McIntosh has outlined five phases of awareness regarding race: (1) seeing all white history as the norm (history is written and taught from a white European perspective); (2) accepting exceptional minority individuals in history (observing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day each year); (3) viewing minorities as problems or victims (acknowledging that the death penalty is meted out disproportionately to blacks or that slavery was a grievous wrong with long-term negative consequences for black Americans); (4) realizing that people of color constitute the main human history (white people are a minority worldwide, and are fast becoming a minority within North America); (5) redefining history to include everyone. This is not a completely chronological process, in that most people go back and forth between the five phases.12

Another way of looking at the process of undoing racism is to consider a spectrum of racist activities. Using a Christian college setting as an example, Jay McDermond identifies three point s on the spectrum: ignorance of another’s culture or social struggle; lack of desire to learn of another culture; acts of overt racism.13 If we accept this spectrum as accurate, then a basic place to start in undoing prejudice and racism is education, since prejudice by definition begins in ignorance. This process of education must be both personal and corporate—taking place in our homes and our churches. Consider the following concrete suggestions:

Read books by minority authors; form groups to discuss those books; subscribe to a minority magazine; view films; study the Scriptures relating to race.
Visit churches of other racial or ethnic heritages.
Hold a series of forums featuring local minority leaders.
Listen to minority members of your congregation describe their experiences and feelings as minorities.
Exchange services regularly with a church of another culture.
Celebrate holidays and festivals together.
Listen to the victims of racial violence in local communities.
Hold a worship service in another language.
Join in partnership with a church of another cultural heritage to address community needs.
Expand your circle of friends to include people from other races and cultures.
Consider living or working in a setting which stretches your intercultural skills.14

Some other issues

This chapter has mostly focused on racism as it relates to the relationship between white and black Americans. While this is a narrow view of racism, the focus has been a deliberate one because that’s where much of the racial tension and hostility in America has come from over the years and where significant healing and reconciliation needs to take place. In Canada, tension continues between the white majority and the Native Canadian population. Other groups, like Hispanics, Asians, and more recent immigrants to the United States and Canada have also suffered cruel and prejudicial treatment at the hands of the white majority. The fact is, however, that the increasing numbers of so-called minority people migrating to or seeking refuge in North America will before too many more years mean that white people of European ancestry are themselves a minority and that a number of other issues will assume increasing importance.

1. Multiculturalism: Do we use “melting pot,” “mosaic,” or “stew” language, or something else? How do we celebrate diversity and maintain ethnic identity and yet forge unified nations where cultural, racial, and ethnic differences are not important? In the process of rewriting history to include the contributions of people of color, is it right to downplay the significant contributions of European culture? What is the “truth” about history?

2. Affirmative action: This was born out of genuine desire and effort to provide opportunities for minorities who had been discriminated against in employment. Affirmative action helped to redress the inequities of the past. Many people have supported the concept, believing that in light of the many past injustices, advantages ought to be given to minority workers. Yet there is increasing dissatisfaction with affirmative action, coming not only from white who feel that they are now the victims of reverse discrimination but also from blacks and other minorities who see affirmative action as patronizing or reinforcing lower standards of excellence or achievement. Affirmative action has become a debate between “equality” and “quality.”

3. The perpetuation of stereotypes: The stereotypical profile of a rapist as being black, with which I began this chapter is just one of many negative images relating to race which are difficult to overcome. Unfortunately the media, particularly television, often contribute to the continuation of these stereotypes. For example, I’ve noticed that camera footage in news segments on poverty often features black children in urban areas, but the truth is (according to a June 1991 study by the Children’s Defense Fund) that most children living in poverty in the U.S. are not black.

4. Sexism and racism: Many minority women have experiences a kind of “double whammy.” Not only are they targets of racial prejudice and discrimination, but they are also victims of sexual discrimination and violence against women. Sexism is also the result of a controlling group’s biases and prejudices—in this care about women—institutionalized into oppression and dehumanization, and takes on an even uglier caste when mixed with racism.

Throughout the world, and especially in war, rape has been an instrument of racial conquest and oppression. Groups of men from one race have attacked women of races they deemed inferior. The toll has included Jewish women who were raped by German troops, Chinese women raped by Japanese soldiers, Bengali women ravished by Pakistani soldiers, Native-American women raped by white settlers, Afro-American women raped and terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan and other groups, and Vietnamese women raped by U.S. soldiers. These systematic attackes on women often included mutilation and murder, and they were part of a general pattern of terrorism against the population involved.15

Despite great strides made by the women’s movement, sexism still exists in many places in the world, quite apart from racism in many cases. Besides rape, sexism is expressed in the prostitution industry, pornography, sexual harassment, wife-beating, sexual abuse, economic inequities, and denial of opportunities for the full expression of gifts.

When sexism treats women as objects and discriminates against them, like racism it threatens the message of Scripture which also declares that in Christ there is “neither male nor female.” Gretchen Hull says that women around the world are asking: “If those who call themselves Christians condone systems that enslave women, turn blind eyes to violence against women, ignore injustices in the workplace and in the home, and offer women only second-class status in the church, why should we want your Savior?”16

Conclusion: a personal perspective

I spent my childhood on the African mission field in an era when the colonial mentality was more or less the norm. With no malice intended, white missionaries generally operated from a position of religious, educational, and economic superiority. I’ve often wondered but never quite figured out how much that period of my life has affected my current attitudes toward race.

For 17 years, our family has lived in an integrated urban community; our children have developed close friendship with blacks and have attended the public school where the population is about 70 percent black. As the result of a variety of experiences during these years, I’ve had ample reason to examine my own fears, prejudices, and beliefs concerning race. I know what’s right in principle (to me the Bible is clear about the sin of racism) and I try to live it, but I also know that the stereotypes and prejudices that are ingrained in our culture have not escaped me.

I suspect that I’m not very different from a lot of white Christians. Until we confront the racism—however unintended—that lurks within, exposing it and identifying its various facets, we will never be able to reach the scriptural ideal of “in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek.” It is not enough toe look forward to the day when the Lord gathers up people of every tribe and language and tongue and nation; our everyday actions now should demonstrate our desire to treat all people—regardless of race or ethnic background—with equal respect and care.

Harriet Sider Bicksler is a member of the Grantham, Pa. congregation. She edits Shalom!, a BIC publication devoted to the discussion of peace and social justice concerns. To read more about pursuing peace and other Brethren in Christ core values, see the book Focusing our Faith: Brethren in Christ Core Values,edited by Terry L. Brensinger.

For further reflection and action

Questions for thought and discussion:
1. How would you assess the state of race relations in your community? Give examples.
2. How do you feel about there being black churches, white churches, Asian churches, Hispanic churches, etc.? How can different ethnic groups preserve their own identity but still learn from and appreciate the customs and practices of others?
3. Have you contributed to or experienced racial, cultural, or gender bias? In what ways?
4. What are the obstacles to healthy relationships with people of different races and cultures?
5. What policies or structures in the church exclude or send negative messages to minorities?
6. What other parallels do you see between racism and sexism?
To do:
1. Choose one or two of the suggestions from the list on pages 111–112 and work on them this week.
2. Get together with a few other people in your church to talk about how you might work for greater racial harmony in your community.
A good book to read:

Joseph Barndt, Dismantling Racism (Augsburg Fortress, 1991).

ENDNOTES

“Statement on Prejudice and Racism,” National Association of Evangelicals’ Board of Administration,” March 7, 1990.
“Statement on Prejudice and Racism”
Jim Wallis, “The Legacy of Racism,” America’s Original Sin: A Study Guide on White Racism, by the editors of Sojourners, 1988, p. 9.
Hubert Brown, “Africans and African-Americans Confront Racism,” Mennonite World Conference, July 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Wallis, p. 9.
Catherine Meeks, “At the Door of the Church,” America’s Original Sin, p. 15.
Wallis, p. 8.
Catherine Meeks, “In the Middle: The Challenge of Racial Reconciliation,” America’s Original Sin, p. 46.
Carlton Wittlinger, Quest for Piety and Obedience: The Story of the Brethren in Christ (Evangel Press, 1978), pp. 533–536.
Isaac Kanode, “Christian View of Race,” Commission on Peace and Social Concerns, n.d.
Wittlinger, pp. 535–536.
Summarized in Dorothy Friesen, “Undoing Racism,” Synapses Messages, May/June 1991, p. 2; parentheses added.
Jay McDermond, “Racism’s Foundations and Facets: An Illustrated Guide,” Shalom!, Summer 1991, p. 9.
Ideas culled and adapted from America’s Original Sin, and study guide to Face to Face, a video from Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.
Liane Rozzell, “Double Jeopardy,” America’s Original Sin, p. 21.
Gretchen Hull, “Under the Yoke: Facing the Challenge of Global Oppression,” World Christian, Summer 1990, p. 18.

This chapter originally appeared in 1992 in the book Perspectives on Social Issues, and is reprinted with permission from Evangel Publishing House, Nappanee, IN.

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