We've Got Issues - Racism

This past midweek in our discussion series “We’ve Got Issues,” rbcstudents shared their thoughts on racism and how we relate to it as believers in our world today. All were in agreement that racism still exists. It manifests itself in many ways varying from seemingly “harmless” jokes to racial profiling at airports and other public locations. Most would recognize that racism is a negative idea, but as Christians we must see it in its truly disturbing light and then learn to respond in a holy and God-honoring way.

Racism doesn’t just promote inequality. It is a direct spit in the face of God who has made all peoples in His image and endowed them with value and worth. To carry a racially or ethnically superior mindset actually says: “I am valuable and good, and all of those people are worthless and wicked.” While we wouldn’t directly say something like this, the question we must ask is: In what ways do I consider myself superior to others based on something as simple as outward appearances?

Living in the Midwest, most of us are white. We rarely are on the receiving end of racial profiling or direct racism. We don’t know what it’s like to be followed in a department store because security thinks we’re going to steal, or stopped by a police officer because we don’t look like we should be walking through that particular neighborhood. So, for those of us who don’t experience racism, what should we do?

As Christ-followers, let’s learn to sympathize with those who have felt the sting. We can’t love someone if we ignore or belittle their concerns and experiences. Never assume someone is just “playing the race card.” There exists a “white privilege” that many aren’t even aware of because we receive the benefits of it and never have to think about our race affecting people’s perspectives of us. Finally, seek to understand them, and respect the fact that some of us live in different realities and have to endure different trials. Recognize though, that all of us ultimately have a God who is able to sympathize and meet us in those different trials and help us to overcome them.