****What is Racism?

The Sins of Segregation, Racism, and Prejudice

(by Bill Stevenson, March 10, 2016)

I was recently told that a famous politician Barry Goldwater was a Segregationist. I don’t remember anything about what he was for and what he stated he believed when he was campaigning to become President of the United States in 1976. I became afraid of him when I saw a political ad showing a little girl picking flowers in a field and then an atom bomb explosion in the background. Back then I didn’t know about Segregation and about Racism, because my parents never talked about such and I went to schools and a church which only had Caucasians attending. I had seen news reports about racial violence in Alabama and Arkansas. I had never seen reports about prejudice against Negros (they didn’t become Blacks until the late 1960s). I didn’t even know about the Freedom Riders until I saw a documentary re-broadcasted for the 50th anniversary of their courageous action against racism. Recently I saw the 6-hour documentary movie about Martin Luther King, Jr. and thought is was very accurate about the leader against racism. Since 1978 during the first season of the Giants pro baseball team that had moved to San Francisco from New York, my favorite athlete was the Negro Willie Mays for obvious reasons, especially because of his joy in playing the game and his humbleness. Almost always I tried to see the good in people; I never looked for the bad. And Mercy and I have just seen people as members of the human race. I did have fear of those who made their exterior body look mean by the clothes they chose to wear and later others because of their tattoos and studs in strange locations, but such fear was rare until recently since such are so popular in the USA. I was surprised that such is not the case in Nigeria where I have been for 10 months during 5 trips. Instead most Negros wear very conservative clothes (women usually wear dresses), men either are bald or very short hair, and no tattoos and studs on anyone. But clothes, tattoos, and studs are preferences. Conservative physical appearances are also just preferences. But many have turned such into prejudice which is judgemental condemnation. I have hated such talk.

I didn’t learn about racism until I did research for a New College Experiment independent study in the fall of 1968. But I was also shocked that the first Slave Traders were Blacks in Africa; they sold members of tribes they had conquered. I was shocked about the unfair treatment injustices. Then I wrote a two part New College published report titled “Prejudice vs. Preference”. After reading the first part, minority students leader Jim Edwards was surprised and said that I was more Black than most of his “brothers” and “sisters” because I realized the real reasons for prejudice and racism and had the best solutions to those problems (even though I wasn’t a Bible student yet).Facts: No Negro has ever had pure black skin, just shades of brown skin and Caucasian “White” bottoms of feet and hand inside color. No Caucasian has ever had pure white skin, only light shades of very light tan or brown sun tan. Also no Native American has ever had red skin and no Asian has ever had yellow skin. Such labeling is Prejudice and has influenced Racism. But true Christians should eliminate such thinking and never condemn anyone. They should pray for those who do such for repentance to righteousness. A major theme in the Bible is to love as God loves, and He has manifested unselfish love (especially during Jesus Christ’s brief Earthly ministry before dying for mankind’s sins) in both soft and tough ways. What does that mean to you? Then how should you relate to others no matter what color of skin they have?

I was raised as a Democrat and thought that all Republicans were against poor people and Blacks. I didn’t discover that was wrong until 1979. Also, the cities with the most crime and racial problems have been under control of Democrat politicians for over 40 years. Towns, cities, and states governed by Republicans have prospered. The main difference between the current two main parties is one is for Socialism and the other is for Capitalism. But during the Obama administration “For Change” time in office, Black unemployment and crime has increased greatly. Also “reverse racism” too. The just mentioned means Blacks condemning Whites. But racism is any condemning of another race or culture. The sin of prejudice can be by any member of any race, I have witnessed many of the possibilities of such: a Black against Whites, a Native American against everyone else, an Asian arrogantly against others, and Mexicans against others. Racism is not just a White problem. Even if people lived the secular “Golden Rule” (which is in 21 main religions’ major book for spiritual study), there would not be racism, prejudice, or segregation. But such sins and selfishness and religious prejudices/condemning are greatly increasing. How can God remain patient with such? So what should true Christians begin doing about the sins indicated in this brief essay? What should be happening in the Human Race instead?

Racism, Prejudice, And Discrimination Are Sins We Should Avoid And Stand Against

(by Pastor Johan Lourens in South Africa)

The first thing to understand in this discussion is that there is only one race—the human race. Caucasians, Africans, Asians, Indians, Arabs, and Jews are not different races. Rather, they are different ethnicities of the human race. All human beings have the same physical characteristics (with minor variations, of course). More importantly, all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to lay down His life for us (John 3:16). The “world” obviously includes all ethnic groups.

God does not show partiality or favoritism (Deuteronomy 10:17; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9), and neither should we. James 2:4 describes those who discriminate as “judges with evil thoughts.” Instead, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves (James 2:8). In the Old Testament, God divided humanity into two “racial” groups: Jews and Gentiles. God’s intent was for the Jews to be a kingdom of priests, ministering to the Gentile nations. Instead, for the most part, the Jews became proud of their status and despised the Gentiles. Jesus Christ put an end to this, destroying the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14). All forms of racism, prejudice, and discrimination are affronts to the work of Christ on the cross.

Jesus commands us to love one another as He loves us (John 13:34). If God is impartial and loves us with impartiality, then we need to love others with that same high standard. Jesus teaches in Matthew 25 that whatever we do to the least of His brothers, we do to Him. If we treat a person with contempt, we are mistreating a person created in God’s image; we are hurting somebody whom God loves and for whom Jesus died.

Racism, in varying forms and to various degrees, has been a plague on humanity for thousands of years. Brothers and sisters of all ethnicities, this should not be. Victims of racism, prejudice, and discrimination need to forgive. Ephesians 4:32 declares, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Racists may not deserve your forgiveness, but we deserved God’s forgiveness far less. Those who practice racism, prejudice, and discrimination need to repent. “Present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:13). May Galatians 3:28 be completely realized, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”