A shift happened in America following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, and with the uprising of Black Lives Matter. As racism in America was reaching headline news, corporations like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and so many others shifted to damage control, scrambling to create web pages dedicated to anti-racism. No company or business wanted to be associated or aligned as racist.
We began to hear words like, “white privilege”, “white supremacy” “critical race theory or CRT” and “intersectionality”. These words are part of our English vocabulary, but with the propulsion of race and racism in the media, they became part of the topic included with race.
We can't deny that racism does exist in America. But, can we say one race is more racist than another race? If we say yes, can we say one race will commit more crimes than another race? These are real issues facing us today, and as the opinions and data vary, the solutions tend to be more damaging.
Suggesting that whites are inherently racist, and by doing so causing a shift in our education system to the study of intersectionality and ethnic studies. In the process bringing awareness to our students concerning race and racism, in itself, creates, what I believe, more racism.
What is race, and how do we define it?
Depending on what sources you read, there are 3-5 major races in the world. They are white, black, Asian, American Indian, and Hispanic. (sources do differ)
"Sociologists define race as a concept that is used to signify different types of human bodies. While there is no biological basis for racial classification, sociologists recognize a long history of attempts to organize groups of people based on similar skin color and physical appearance."
Based on Open Education Sociology Dictionary, race is defined as “a socially created and poorly defined categorization of people into groups, based on real or perceived physical characteristics.”
There are two sides to every coin. If we believe whites are inherently racist, can we say blacks are inherently murderers? Absolutely not! Race is a concept, it is a general idea, an abstract. There is no biological basis for racial classification.
What does the bible say about race?
The bible says in Genesis, that God created male and female in His image. The Hebrew word for image is tselem. Meaning likeness, resemblance, or shade. We were created as it were in the “shadow of God.” Step outside on a sunny day, and look at your shadow. What do you see? It is the outline of your body, it is a likeness. Do you see the color of your skin in your shadow?
“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)
In the book of Galatians, it is even more specific. For those in Christ Jesus, there is no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, male or female. There is something so unique about Christ and His incomprehensible work in the life of a believer. It transcends all understanding, the wonderful and powerful transformation of the heart, mind, and soul of the believer. We may have the characteristics of a Jew or Greek, the bodily anatomy that distinguishes us from male or female, but in the spirit, to be one in Christ is supreme.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
As Christians how do we address racism?
I don't believe there is a one-way approach. But I do believe if, at all, it should start in the home. Specifically, with our children. Our kids watch and hear everything we parents, and adults say and do.
It was extremely important for my wife and me to raise our two daughters from an early age in a bible preaching and teaching church. They practically grew up in the church, and at the moment our youngest is in high school and our oldest is now in her second year of college.
As Christians, we are aware that going to church, reading your bible, and praying is not enough, and certainly not saying this is a means of perfection or absolving from sin; But it is a start. But ultimately it is about a relationship with Jesus and a desire for His Word.
As parents, we believe we had to live as an example for our kids, and by doing so we viewed people as one race. Just as the verses mentioned earlier, God created man and women in His image, there is no Jew or Greek, but all one in Christ Jesus. We understood any other way of thinking would be outside God's Word.
We didn't hide our kids from true racism, but we were clear in addressing so-called racism, so frequently seen in our media. By this, I mean arbitrary reporting of white-on-black altercations, and without justification assuming the altercation was based on racism.
Conclusion
Race is social and not a biological construct, its only means is to categorize groups of people according to physical characteristics. Race is a coined up word dating as far back as the 1700s by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus. The word race has been adopted in our language, it has been introduced in our education system and government. The concept of race and its effects in our country, and in the world for that matter is probably one of the most divisive and destructive.
My point with this article is to address that race is a superficial word being tossed around, but the core of its evil is racism, and that there is only one race, the human race.
In John 10:10 Jesus said “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” and this is exactly what has happened with racism in our nation. It has stolen our identity in Christ, it has killed the individual, degenerating and alienating the person from God, and it has destroyed what God proposed for mankind. To be the Bride of Christ.
Sin
Race and racism are the by-product of sin, just the means to destroy and kill what God has created; His image. At the time of the fall in the garden, Adam and Eve were exposed to their bodily anatomy, and so separated themselves from God, and each other. God provided skins in replacement for the fig leaves Adam and Eve had used to cover themselves. The skins represent the life that was taken to bring a temporary reconciliation with God.
Thousands of years later Jesus would die on the cross forever bringing atonement on our behalf. The only true solution to racism is the acceptance of Jesus Christ in our hearts, by doing so we become a new creation in Christ. Until then, racism will continue to divide us and our nation.
Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)
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Scripture reading:
Malachi 2:10 “Have we, not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?”
Acts 17:26 “And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.”
Romans 10:12-13 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Revelation 5:9-10“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood, you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.'”
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