Lesson 6: Systemic Racism

It has become evident that we are in the midst of a history-changing moment. Young people of all colors are demonstrating for Black Lives Matter. Adults are examining their naive belief that society has been improving steadily in spite of some minor setbacks.

Many are opening their dictionaries to find out what “systemic” means when they hear racism is built into the structures of American society. And happily, many find they agree that there has to be change, because white males still are granted advantage over all others. Sadly, on the other hand, another group fights back vigorously, maintaining we have only found a few bad apples and the changes being proposed will further destroy our Christian society.

Perhaps that division should not surprise us, because we have long suffered the same in the Church. Some Christians saw themselves victimized by the civil rights movement of the 1960s and immediately started their own private schools. This perspective has intensified to the present day, especially after the election of a pope from South America and a president from the African American community.

It is helpful to trace how this group of Christians has used freedom of religion to protect their privilege since the 1960s. That is not to imply they are the only ones to blame for where we find ourselves. After all, acknowledging this is systemic means the problem is much deeper than the actions of any one group or movement.

As already noted, very early on, freedom of religion was used to justify receiving government money to fund private Christian schools. Supposedly this granted freedom of choice in education. However, the choice often was to continue segregation and the effect weakened the public-school system.

Strangely, freedom of religion was also more and more associated with the freedom to bear arms. The gun culture that resulted forced communities to militarize their police forces in order to protect their citizens. And, of course, it is this kind of policing that has led to the murders that sparked the present crisis.

Eventually, affirmative action legislation was challenged in the courts for denying freedom to white men. The same argument was used by this group to oppose the Equal Rights Amendment. Things were turned upside down as the advantaged parties presented themselves as the victims. Obviously, fairness was being defined according to the laws written by the privileged.

Along these same lines, it is important for Christians to recognize that almost all of us think white European theologians are the only ones capable of being objective when interpreting Jesus’ words and actions. During the time period we have been examining, many of our leaders attacked feminist and black theologies as heretical, because they supposedly read Jesus subjectively from the perspective of a special interest group. In other words, being orthodox meant being against black lives matter.

The reaction of this Christian group to the recent supreme court decision protecting the LGBTQ community reinforced this reading of how freedom of religion has been used consciously or unconsciously to perpetuate the privilege of Western European white male society, not Christianity. All of those I read said very openly that the decision denied the freedom to discriminate against certain social groups. They decried this as a victory for secular humanists whom they contend want to close the churches. A number said it was the last nail needed to establish a pagan society.

Interestingly, many said justices whom they placed on the court betrayed them. I, at least, read this as indicating they supported Donald Trump knowing that MAGA meant Make America White Male Again.

Many of you constantly remind me that this kind of action has led you to give up the institutional church entirely. Those of us who choose to remain must find the courage to speak boldly in hopes that things might change.

Tags: Christian Response to Supreme Court support of the LGBTQ Community, Christianity and Black Lives Matter, Christianity and the American Gun Culture, Christianity in the Pandemic, Misuse of Freedom of Religion, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s “A Draft Social Message on Government and Civic Engagement: Discipleship in a Democracy”, What Christians Have Learned from the Pandemic, White Christianity and Segregation, White European Privilege in the Church, White European Theologians Claim Objectivity