My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. … But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by law as transgressors (James 2:1, 9)
Introduction
The discussion of race is frustrating because people rarely define the terms clearly. What is “racism?” What is “racial discrimination?” In the cases where people actually define their terms, they often give such a strange and unsubstantiated definition that the entire discussion is skewed because of their false premises. In other cases, their definition so often accomplishes little more than to create circular arguments.
In this article, I’ll contrast how two cultural movements, the Civil Rights Movement and the more modern Anti-Racism movement view and define “racism” and “racial discrimination” (as much as “movements” can define things). I’ll also reflect on the involvement of Christians in each. Is our alignment with anything that is labeled “anti-racist” always good? Before Christians jump on board the latest cause du jour, we must first examine closely what the leaders of that cause mean and then hold this up to the light of God’s Word. This approach may seem obvious, but it is not always followed. And the result is no matter of indifference.
Definitions
The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s was a movement that had a clear definition of the problem: discrimination against people based on the color of their skin. While the Civil Rights movement broadened beyond mere discrimination, “racism” and “racial discrimination” were very clearly defined this way because the evidence of it was grievously and glaringly obvious. Black people and other minorities (such as Latino, Asian, Italian, and Polish) were forced into segregated and inferior housing, healthcare, marriage and education; blacks were tortured, murdered and lynched without cause; they were barred from church membership in many churches; they were intentionally disenfranchised so that they couldn’t “vote with their feet” to change their situation. We have read and heard the stories of Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks and countless unnamed others. My own Italian grandmother, after marrying a black man (my grandfather) in Chicago in the 1940s was sometimes violently harassed by other whites in her neighborhood for her interracial marriage, and my grandfather was repeatedly beat up. Years later, my biracial mother was refused as a renter of an apartment because she was of mixed ethnicity and because of the two dark skinned little girls she had with her—me and my sister. These evidences needed the nonviolent Civil Rights Movement because the racial discrimination of that time period was obvious, systemic, and ubiquitous—especially in the South.
The fruit that was born of American citizens rising up in nonviolent protest to the extrajudicial killings and persecutions of minorities became the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is not a perfect piece of legislation, but it made discrimination based on someone’s race or ethnic identity an illegal act. The protesters set out with a clear definition of the kind of racial discrimination they were protesting against. This discrimination clearly violated the laws of God, who created all people in his image as one human race (Gen 1:26–27), who commanded people to love each other (Mark 12:31), and who prohibited murder in all its expressions (Matt. 5:21–22). Because the brutal level at which racial discrimination was exercised against black Americans went against God’s command to love thy neighbor, Christians could wholeheartedly join and support the toppling of racial discrimination. Unfortunately, not as many evangelical Christians were openly involved or supported the 1960s Civil Rights Movement as should have been.
Fight Racism with . . . Racism?
Contrast the above definition of racial discrimination and its resultant call to action with Ibram X. Kendi’s definition. Kendi is the author of How To Be An Anti-Racist, and a leading guru within what is now called the Anti-Racism movement (or Third Wave Antiracism). Kendi also agrees that “Definitions anchor us in principles.” However, his definitions illustrate my initial frustration with definitions that poison the well. For example, Kendi, defines racial discrimination as “treating, considering, or making a distinction in favor or against an individual based on that person’s race.” And Kendi considers this act as not inherently racist because it’s possible racial discrimination can produce a common good like equity. He goes on to say: “The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” Kendi would say that in order to produce equity (racial groups having the same beneficial outcomes in areas such as wealth, job placement, school admission, etc.) racial discrimination is a necessary good both now and in the future. But how does this square with God’s law?
Being Anti-Racist is Being Partial
There is a biblical word for Kendi’s definition of “racist discrimination” and it’s “partiality.” Biblically, James 2 shows us that partiality is giving unwarranted preferential treatment to some but not others. What Kendi’s words identify as a virtue, God’s Word identifies as a sin. James 2:1–4 reads,
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Showing greater attention to some persons due to wealth is merely one example of not loving one’s neighbor (James 2:8), and making preferential distinctions based on their skin color falls under the same prohibition. Kendi says that to combat unfavorable treatment because of race, you must give preferential treatment because of race. But God says if you do that, you are “committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:9). So, in reality, Christians should not seek to be “anti-racist” in the roundabout sense that is meant by the race hustlers of our day. Rather, we should do what Jesus Himself tells us to do in very simple words: “love your neighbor as yourself.” And of course, we can only do this rightly if we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Focusing on What’s Most Important
Sadly, the racism of the past continues to be dredged up to further a narrative of victimhood that produces personal and political gain. Yes, we have a racist history of white Europeans in this country treating black people and many others very badly, even horrifically. This is not unique to us; other countries have similar and even worse histories than ours. But by God’s grace, today buses are not segregated, schools are open to whites and blacks, and there are not two sets of laws for two different shades of skin.
If this is the case, then why do so many Christians remain fixated on race as the chief issue of our day? Might the answer perhaps lie in a tendency to accommodate the ideology of the age in which we live? I think it is. We have accommodated an ideology that cannot be justified by a straightforward reading of the Bible.
According to the teaching of Scripture, our main work as Christians is not to focus on the accidental characteristics of people, but on their spiritual condition before a holy God. Nor is our main work to right wrongs that don’t exist—white people are not guilty of racism for merely being white, and black people are not perpetual victims for merely being black. Rather, our work as Christians, while it is still called “Today,” is to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything [Jesus] has commanded” (Matt. 28:18–20). It is the Gospel and the Gospel alone that reconciles us to God and to one another (Eph. 2:11-22). For this reason, let’s turn our attention to our neighbor who lives next door and is in need, or our family member who is on the wrong path, or the people groups in Eastern Russia who have no Bible in their language. There is so much work to do, and the days are evil.
