Racism in America today

On Monday we celebrated the birthday of one of the greatest American heroes: Martin Luther King Jr. He led the greatest campaign in history against racism in America and yet here we are fifty years later and racism continues to be one of the main points of contention in politics, business, academia . . . well, just about everywhere.

Is there still racism in America today? Undoubtedly. There are elements of racism in every culture on the planet I’m sure. So first, I think it’s fitting to celebrate what we have achieved here in America. To be honest, with one exception, the only place I ever personally felt a victim to racism was at church (I grew up at a Korean church). At school I never felt racism, despite being of mixed ethnicities. That’s an amazing testimony to the lack of racism in our culture! When Obama was elected President I must confess that I was disappointed, being that he is in many ways my political opposite. And yet I couldn’t help but feel such great pride that our country could elect a black President. What amazing strides we’ve taken!

And yet the truth is that racism does still exist in our culture, and it remains a very crippling power to many. One can hardly read a newspaper or listen to any lecture at Berkeley without hearing about some form of racism. There are still many bitter people.

And therein lies the crux of the problem. Dr. King was amazing in that he led a movement against prejudice by refusing to give in to bitterness, hatred, and offense. He represented God’s path to true healing for the nation – through forgiveness and compassion. But even as the assassination of Dr. King drew closer in 1968, a strong current in the movement was already taking preeminence: bitterness. Best represented by Malcom X and the Black Panthers, a wave of bitterness and resentment began to sweep through the movement. Frustration at the slow progress, the continued persecution, the assassinations. All of it caused there to be placed a deep seed of resentment in the African American community. Because the truth was they had been wronged. For hundreds of years they had been wronged. And many were “sick and tired” of it.

This seed of bitterness was in fact racism. The reality of sin is that we become whatever we are wounded by. When an offense takes root in someone’s heart it can go one of two ways. It can be forgiven, in which case the heart will heal and end up stronger than it was before. The other way is that the offense can remain as unforgiveness, which when embraced blossoms into bitterness. This bitterness eventually causes you to become the very thing that wounded you. In this case, that was racist.

Today, race is a hot button topic, meaning that unless you are absurdly careful you *will* offend people when discussing it. And in our culture where there is no clear moral compass, where there is no agreed upon criteria for right and wrong, “right” is determined by whoever is most offended. This is the Spirit of Jezebel, and it is in a powerful position in our culture. “Political Correctness” is directly caused by this spirit.

I’ll put it this way. Often in our culture, whoever is most offended gets to have their way. The offended become “loud”. They complain through various channels. They “passionately” present their case. They seem to have a clear understanding that something is wrong. But the reality is that their seeing is distorted by the hurt they have suffered. And because we as a culture cannot discern right and wrong, and there is no clear voice for it, the offended rule the country.

Let’s use the example of Dr. Laura. A couple months ago Dr. Laura, a famous radio personality, used the word “nigger” on the radio several times. She wasn’t accusing anyone of being a nigger, but she was pointing out that the caller cannot let herself be offended just because someone uses the word, she must be able to discern the intentions of why the person is using the word. The problem was that she used the word very casually. She said it multiple times in a nonchalant way, and as anyone in Berkeley could guess, there was a national furor. The NAACP was going crazy. Angry callers were calling for her head. And she ended up stepping down.

Now did she wrong anyone?? No she didn’t. It’s not a sin to be insensitive to someone’s oversensitivity. But that’s the problem these days. In our hypersensitive racially charged culture, everyone must be hyper sensitive to the hypersensitive. If it’s wrong to offend, the most easily offended become the dictators of morality.

When I was a student I took a class on violence and we studied the case of a murder where the assailant’s crime was downgraded simply because the victim used the word “nigger”, which so provoked the assailant that his lawyers argued he should be held less responsible for his actions. Ridiculous. And yet the court upheld that sentiment.

These examples are just clues to a larger issue. White on black racism obviously still exists in our culture. But the racism that dominates the places of influence, the culture centers in academia, media and government, is at this point reverse racism. It’s the fear of racism that must be confronted in our time. It’s the accusation of racism where none exists. There must be forgiveness and a commitment to righteousness if our nation is going to heal. There must be a stand taken against the easily offended in our culture. The church must come out of its intimidation and be the light.

This is the same issue as when I say boldly that homosexuality is a sin. Immediately there are many who would label me a bigot and hater, which is certainly not the case. But I have made a commitment to speak the truth regardless of who’s offended. As Jesus once said, “blessed is the man who is not offended on my account.”

The truth is that this bitterness which has taken root in a large portion of the African American community is the very thing that is keeping large portions of it in poverty. The intellectual elite in our country pour over the problem of black poverty every day. Liberal policies advocate  a “helping hand” from the government to help amend past persecutions. But these policies are usually less “helping hand” and more “wheelchair” in nature and only exacerbate the problem. Black people do not need affirmative action. They don’t need lenient law. They don’t need favorable hiring. And they don’t need government aid. It’s one thing if a private entity makes it a goal to hire a diverse staff, or gives a scholarship to a minority. These are wonderful and noble actions. But if the government steps in and creates permanent crutches it sends a different message. It sends a message that black people need special help, and this belief is in fact a victim mentality that strips them of their most potent strength: their belief in themselves. God himself says that nothing is impossible to them that believe. When men decided to build a tower to heaven God didn’t say “those fools, they’ll never do it!” He said, “I better do something because they will accomplish whatever they put their mind to do.” (paraphrased scripture there)

The true issue that is afflicting the African American community is that there is a severe curse of fatherless on it. That curse is almost certainly derived from slavery and the forceful separation of families and it has had far reaching consequences. Fathers call out identity and destiny. They provide security and solidity. Many of the issues in black America can trace it’s root to this one issue. It’s not the government who can restore what was lost. Only the Lord can do that, and it must start through forgiveness. It’s the hearts of people that must be healed, and we need leaders who can inspire them to do it and to stop making excuses for sin. Sin leads to curses and obedience to blessings. We need leaders who won’t cater to the bitterness but will call people to righteousness so that they can be blessed!

I understand that to some all they will see in this post is condescension. But that is not where I’m coming from. I’m obviously not speaking about all black people. But I’m directly confronting a spiritual force which has taken hold on a large portion of the black population and therefore on the national agenda. I reject the notion that I must be black to truly understand. I’ve heard several wonderful insights from black pastors on faults in korean culture that were quite accurate. God help us and bless us all.