In the Image of God

Racism and its Diversion from Who God is: Love

Racism and justice have been topics that mankind has struggled with for thousands of years. It doesn’t just go back to the Holocaust, or when American’s wrongly imprisoned Japanese American citizens after Pearl Harbor, when America bought Africans as slaves, or when the Europeans drove the Native Americans out of their homeland. It goes all the way back to the Bible times, all the way back to when Abraham had slaves and slept with one. Racism is rooted in us because of sin, because of the broken people we are. Psalm 51 verse 5 says: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” We are all born broken in sinful because of the wrong choice Adam and Eve made in the garden. They turned their backs on God, and so we are born turned away from Him. And in that, we are blind to many important things, one of them being Imago Dei; the fact that we are all made in the Image of God. People have forgotten we are all made in God’s image, and because of that racism has been able to exist and stop us from loving each other and God, as we should.

Imago Dei is often forgotten because of our sin. It is covered up by our mistakes and struggles, but it is undeniable nonetheless. It is stated so simply and plainly in Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female he created them.” And in Imago Dei, we are made to love others and worship and love God above all else; “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37–39). Because of sin, we have turned our eyes from God and have focused on immoral things, and because our eyes are turned away from the Lord, we have forgotten Imago Dei, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Racism is the primary example of how we’ve forgotten to follow Jesus’s commandment. Many people have experienced racism, whether it was directly, indirectly, or the one handing it out. A little girl, Jamaica Kinkaid, who’s country was colonized by racists, grew up to become a bitter woman. She later wrote about what she went through, and published the story. There is a line from the article that describes so well how awful racism is, how ungodly it is, and shows us how sinful we are. She says: “For they so enjoyed behaving badly, as if there was pleasure immeasurable to be had from not acting like a human being.” And later in the article she writes about a racist doctor who had to treat her people. She says then that, “This man hated us so much that he would send his wife to inspect us before we were admitted into his presence, and she would make sure that we didn’t smell, that we didn’t have dirt under our fingernails, and that nothing else about us- apart from the color of our skin- would offend the doctor.” How ridiculous is that? That because of someone’s skin color they are treated so poorly, like scum of the earth, like rats crawling among the garbage. When we as people treat others poorly simply because of how they look, we forget Imago Dei. We forget to look inside at the beautiful person God has created, look at them for who we are. We forget this, and instead are stuck on the fact that we don’t like their skin color.

We have taken this racism and practiced it for centuries, clung to it like a drug, enslaving others and treating them less than human. Lately though we have tried to get better, we have tried to put racism behind us, to throw off the sins of our ancestors and move forward. But how can we do that when people still get so angry and bitter and can’t let go? Originally, the people being racist couldn’t let go of their hate for others. In America, while some were trying to put racism behind them, the majority of those being racist wouldn’t accept it. In the movie, 13th, it shows how many whites rioted against non-segregated schools, and even lynched many black people. One brave little girl was one of the first blacks to go to an all white school. “It felt as though we always had a white foot pressed against the backs of our necks.” She said. (Warriors don’t cry) How awful is it that you can’t live in freedom because of the racism and hate that ties you to the ground? Jewish people lived in great hardships too during World War 2. Hitler, who hated the Jewish people, started the Holocaust, a terrible project made to exterminate the Jewish people. One scholar of the holocaust said: “The German Nazis at last decreed: You have no right to live.” No human alive has a right to decree this, yet isn't that what racism does? Decree who is ‘good’ and who is ‘bad’? Who has the right to be on earth and who doesn’t? We have forgotten who God made us to be, it’s so clouded over and hidden that we can only ever focus on our hate.

Some people, in the aftermath of this hate, just can’t let go. We have tried to turn away from this hate, and for the most part have succeeded. There, of course, is still racism today, still hardships we need to overcome, but how can we ever overcome them if we hold onto our hate like a lifeline? After growing up in racism and losing her own heritage because of colonization, Jamaica Kinkaid said, “But nothing can erase my rage- not an apology, not a large sum of money, not the death of the criminal- for this wrong can never be made right, and only the impossible can make me still…” It is okay to be angry for what happened, for what happened never should have taken place. But if racism stems out of hate, are we any better to hate them back? Aren’t we just falling into the same trap that our accusers fell into? If we riot and kill and tear down the statues of our enemies because of the hate we bear for them, what makes us different from them when they rioted against us and tore down the statues of our homelands and killed us because they hated us? There is no way to fix hate with hate. It isn’t possible. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also… You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven… For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5:38–39 & 43–47). So we must fight others with love, knowing that we are all made in God’s image no matter our mistakes, and let go and forgive the hate we have toward others.

It is not too late to step out of this cycle we are in. It is not too late to be better. Anne Frank, a little girl who was killed during the Holocaust, illustrated it so perfectly in the midst of her hardships. “That’s the difficulty in these times: ideals, dreams, and cherished hopes rise within us, only to meet the horrible truth and be shattered. It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.” And as Melba Beals went through the struggles of attending a white school in the midst of the hate of segregation, her grandmother encouraged her with these words: “You’ll make this your last cry. You’re a warrior on the battlefield for your Lord. God’s warriors don’t cry, ’cause they trust that He’s always by their side.” God made us in His image. He loves us, and wants us to love others. In the midst of a world filled with hate, He calls us to rise up and stand against the normal. Not to retaliate and hate back, but to love our neighbors and our enemies amidst the hardships and struggles. We are called to be different and be rooted in love. To realize that each and every one of us is made in the Imago Dei. Then, and only then, will we be rid of the hate that has plagued us for centuries. It’s not too late to make a difference and change all of this. People have been filled with hate for so long, they’ve been so focused on bringing each other down, that when we stop and realize that we are all beautifully and wonderfully made in the Image of God, and decide to act upon it and make a difference, with God’s help, it will be a wonder to see the mountains we’ll move.