Well, I’m certainly not racist!
The topic of racism is hardly a comfortable subject to discuss, probably because there are so many different viewpoints, and every person is convinced that his own approach to the issue is the right one. There is little doubt that relations between different races in the United States are not necessarily good, but diagnosing the root of the problem and formulating a solution has proved to be difficult. I’ve observed that most of the proposed solutions involve some sort of public policy, rather than any personal action. This points to the fact that, while many people want to see change happen, very few people are willing to make personal sacrifices to enact them.
I’ve heard people admit to being cowardly, or lustful, or even downright selfish, but I don’t recall ever hearing someone admit to being racist. I find this interesting, because elements of racism in our culture are obvious, but no one ever claims responsibility. No one, outside of a few extreme fringe groups, openly expresses a believe that one race is superior to another. Nearly everyone can explain why they personally are not part of the problem. Different races commonly point fingers at each other, while politicians argue about which side is actually the cause of the problem. Everyone has a solution, but no one ever seems to have a solution that involves personal change. Instead, we are all content to discuss what others could change, without seriously considering the possibility that we are even partially responsible for the conflict.
This problem can be boiled down to the single word “bias.” Bias is nothing more than the tendency that every human being has to judge others by a different standard than he judges himself. An individual can easily give reasons for why his own behavior is acceptable, while inwardly criticizing others for doing basically the same thing. He assumes that his own motives are pure, while being quick to question the motives of others. And, probably most significantly of all, most people are quick to point out why their own failures are really not very significant, especially in comparison to the problems everyone else has.
This “bias complex,” as I’ll call it, is a powerful deterrent to solving the issue of racism. Racism, unlike many other sins, such as murder or robbery, is extremely subtle. Racism is not necessarily a particular action (although it certainly can lead to specific actions). Rather, it is an attitude, and attitudes are often very difficult to self-identify. While racism occasionally manifests itself in vile forms such as hate crimes or open discrimination, the roots of racism are buried deep in thought patterns, feelings, and mentalities. These deep roots are hard to identify, and harder still to eliminate. So, rather than engage in the difficult and uncomfortable process of self-examination, it is far more convenient to blame others for the ills of society. Unfortunately, if the majority of people are content to assume their own innocence and focus on the faults of others, the possibility for real change and healing is virtually eliminated.
The Bible gives an excellent example of this tendency to overlook one’s own faults. In Malachi, God makes a series of accusations against the Jews. After each rebuke, the Jews respond by claiming ignorance, after which God quickly points out an obvious fault. First, God tells the priests that they have despised his name. The priests respond by asking “How have we despised your name (Malachi 1:6, ESV)?” God makes more accusations: You have wearied me, you have robbed me, you have spoken against me. In each case the Jews feign innocence, in spite of the fact that wrongdoings are completely apparent. God was angry with his people because they were not able, or willing, to recognize the evil in their nation.
This trend, or tendency toward a subtle ignorance of personal sin, continued long after God’s conversation with Malachi and the Jews. The Pharisees insisted that they did not have enough evidence to believe in Jesus as the Messiah, despite dozens of miracles and fulfilled prophecies. They later denied his Resurrection, even though the guards personally testified about it. Fifteen hundred years later, Catholics and Protestants murdered and tortured each other in the name of Christ. For two hundred years, Christians in the United States insisted that racially-based slavery was sanctioned by the Bible. And more recently, competing Christian groups in Rwanda carried out genocide against each other. These tragic examples should serve as a warning that any of us, you and me included, have the capacity to justify ungodly actions or attitudes simply because those actions or attitudes serve us well.
All of these examples lead us to today, where our nation grapples with the fundamental issue of racism and the symptoms that flow out of it. While the symptoms, such as bullying and hate speech, can be confronted (although they are rarely eliminated), the basic issue is far harder to fix. And this is where each of us enter the scene. Eradicating the seeds of racism must start with individual people who are willing to look inward and ask themselves hard questions. And so, I will ask you, the reader, this question: Are you willing to seriously consider the possibility that you, because of the bias complex that we all have, may be overlooking small traces of racism in your life? I’m assuming that nobody reading this blog is regularly engaging in overt racism. However, I am also confident that everyone reading this has an inherent sin nature, and is therefore at risk of overlooking personal faults. I’m not accusing you of intentionally looking down on people of another race. However, if you or I are not willing to honestly examine our lives and look hard for areas that we need to change, then we should not be confident that we are not blind to some particular fault, such as racism.
It’s not easy to identify racism in our lives, and we need to make sure that we aren’t simply imagining problems to fix. However, there are a few key questions that I have begun asking myself in an attempt to pinpoint attitudes that may be tainted with racism. These questions are far from perfect, and I’m not suggesting that you need to copy them. However, I’ll list them to give you some ideas for what questions you could ask yourself.
1. Do I look down on people, or treat people differently, who live life differently than I do? Because if I mistreat people who are different than I am, I will probably, at some point, treat someone differently because of their race.
2. Am I a “respecter of person (James 2)?” If I place more value on one person over another for any reason, I may, at some point, unintentionally value one person over another because of their race.
3. Do I try to see people the way that God sees them? God sees all of us, despite body size, intellectual capacity, giftedness, good or bad looks, nationality, or ethnicity, as being valuable and equal. If I don’t think of others the way the God does, I will not consistently treat others the way the God wants me to.
4. Am I more concerned with understanding a person’s story and background, or with judging a person’s motives and actions? Different races have been influenced by factors that are different from my own race. If I don’t try to understand the story and background of some particular race, I am likely to judge them for something that I see as a shortcoming.
As I stated before, these questions may not be the right questions for you to ask yourself. However, if you are really interested in being part of the solution, it is important to start by closely examining your own life. In fact, it is important to live a lifestyle of self-examination. The solution to the problem of racism is not more legislation or government programs. The solution is for people like ourselves to look openly and honestly at our lives without assuming that we are completely innocent.
I’ve wrestled with how to write about this issue, mostly because I know that there are areas in my life related to this subject that still need attention. I don’t profess to have the problems figured out, but I am convinced that a return to personal responsibility is the best place to start. Throughout my life, I’ve been blessed by people who treated far better than I deserved to be treated, and loved me far more than I deserved to be loved. And above anything, I’ve been forgiven far more by a God who had no obligation to forgive me in any way at all. Loving people, all people, is a small way to show my gratefulness to God for how He has blessed me.
