Read. Listen. Understand.

I was hiking with a friend recently and we were discussing anti-racism related to an upcoming book discussion we would both be participating in and my question to her was, “How do we talk about race when everyone is in a different place with their work to understand racism?”

“It’s like running,” she said. “We’re all in different places when it comes to running. Some of us have never run before. Some of us have run several marathons. But whether you’re new to it or have been doing it for a long time, everyone can go a mile together. So just aim to go a mile together.”

This is not my first run. But I would maybe call this work I’ve been doing my first “marathon” in an attempt to become a lifelong “runner”. There are people that have been doing this work for decades, and those are the voices I pull from when I talk about race. My aim is to point to the voices of color that have made the sacrifice to take the time to educate others on racism and hope that you’ll dig further into their work. My other aim is to help those within my circle that might not otherwise have conversations about social justice understand why addressing racism is imperative and non-negotiable. This is me going a mile after thousands of miles have been run before me, and among a crowd of voices that are incredibly more experienced than me.

I’ll start with Jesus and Austin Channing Brown. I’m not sure how the Bible can be read without the understanding that God cares about justice for the oppressed. In her book, “I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness,” Austin Channing Brown describes serving “a God who experienced and expressed anger.” She writes, “One of the most meaningful passages of Scripture for me is found in the New Testament, where Jesus leads a one-man protest inside the Temple walls. Jesus shouts at the corrupt Temple officials, overturns furniture, sets animals free, blocks the doorways with his body, and carries a weapon - a whip - through the place. Jesus throws folks out the building, and in so doing creates space for the most marginalized to come in: the poor, the wounded, the children. I imagine the next day’s newspapers called Jesus’s anger destructive. But I think those without power would’ve said that his anger led to freedom - the freedom of belonging, the freedom of healing, and the freedom of participating as full member’s in God’s house.”

We read Channing Brown’s words and resonate with Jesus’s heart for the oppressed, but some still fail to realize how this relates to racism. In her foreward to Daniel Hill’s book, “White Awake,” Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil explains how Christians must directly confront racial difference. Salter McNeil states, “We must open our eyes to the uncomfortable racial hierarchy that has been the basis for the structure of our entire society. We must wake up to the ways that the narrative of racial difference played a major role in identify formation in the early days of our country, and to the ways it continues to play a dominant role in our sense of identity here and now.” As Salter McNeil continues to talk about the necessary work that white people must do, she warns that the only way to do the work is to understand “the degree to which they are also in bondage to the system of race.” She goes on to say, “I am convinced that until they go through a Holy Spirit-led process of awakening, they will remain in a state of blindness.” Once there is an understanding that a system of oppression exists, white privilege exists, and white supremacy exists, Christians will be able to read the Bible through a lens of justice, the way God meant for it to be read.

“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice. Reprove the ruthless. Defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Isaiah 1:16-17

“And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” John 9:39

“The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” Psalm 33:5

Once we see that God has a heart for the oppressed, and that His heart for the oppressed includes people of color, we must also examine why actively working against racism is imperative and non-negotiable. In her book, “Me and White Supremacy,” Layla F. Saad says that “if you are a person who believes in love, justice, and equity for all people, then you know that this work is nonnegotiable.” She also explains that, “The system of white supremacy was not created by anyone who is alive today. But it is maintained and upheld by everyone who holds white privilege - whether or not you want it or agree with it.” The format of Saad’s book is a four-week challenge that explains concepts related to white supremacy, white privilege, and racism with reflection questions at the end of each day. She states, “it is my desire that this book will help you to question, challenge, and dismantle this system that has hurt and killed so many Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).”

John 13:34 says “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” If we want to love one another, we must confront the ways in which people of color are not treated equally. We must choose to address, or “see,” the fact that whiteness gives us privilege, and how that privilege comes at the expense of people of color. We must examine how we benefit from that privilege, and we must actively seek ways to undo what we have at the cost of others. Read. Listen. Understand.

Lastly, this is an ongoing journey that will never stop. In “How to be an Antiracist,” Ibram X. Kendi says “Racist’ and ‘antiracist’ are like peelable name tags that are placed and replaced based on what someone is doing or not doing, supporting or expressing in each moment. These are not permanent tattoos. No one becomes racist or antiracist. We can only strive to be one or the other.” I have so much to learn. I have gotten it wrong before and I will get it wrong again. But Christian or not, we’re talking about people. Humans that deserve equality. So it’s worth it to me to get it wrong along the way, as long as I know that I’m on the path committed to justice and equality.

“Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.” Matthew 5:41

Other books I recommend: