Since the political Left believes the government needs to do more to advance racial equality, some using the language of systemic racism to support this notion, I want to see if we can have a conversation about that. Since we have common ground in believing all persons are equal, this difference between the political Left and Right is unfortunate but instructive of the difference between them both in terms of their view of America and their view of the role of government.
I wish the sentiments expressed by Ellis Cose in Newsweek, January 1, 2000, had been prophetic: The new century will see the end of race—the dawning of an era when skin color is of no consequence—but it will see a further erosion of racial walls. Instead, it has become progressive to the point of obsession to keep picking at the wound of racism. The wounds of racism and slavery, the birth defect of America, provide fertile ground for such picking. I do not know of anyone who wants to have a dishonest look at American history. This is a dog whistle. To say there is nothing redemptive in the life and thought of our ancestors and founders is an attempt to alienate Americans from their history and each other.
The national holiday Juneteenth could be a time to celebrate so much that black Americans have accomplished since the original Juneteenth liberated the last of some 4 million emancipated slaves. That joyous day arrived on June 19, 1865. Having vanquished the Confederacy that April, victorious Union Army soldiers reached Galveston, Texas. They encountered that final group of slaves who were unaware that the South had fallen. More important, the men in blue uniforms read General Order No. 3 to people who, until then, were private property: “All slaves are free.” Henceforth, these black men, women, and children belonged to themselves, not others (Derroy Murdoch).
All people are created in the image of God, giving a theological and biblical basis for the political idea of equal rights in the law. Public policy should reflect that fact. No person’s worth or loyalties can be judged by the shape of physical features, the color of skin, or the results of a lab test. The history of racialist ideology and oppression and its ongoing consequences require us to emphasize this truth. Condemning the use of state and private institutions to discriminate and divide us against one another based on race is necessary. This becomes a sound basis for conciliation and unity among diverse communities. This means, incidentally, that no one should receive special treatment at the expense of black, white, Asian, or Hispanic Americans.
Given the success of removing legal barriers to discrimination, I do not think anyone in this country is systemically a victim of oppression. Such changes could not occur if the country were systemically racist. One can be in oppressive situations in family or at work, but the system does not lend itself well to oppression. The reason is the legal structure and the broad appreciation for the gifts, talents, and passions of people, regardless of who they are. Human life has its challenges, both in recognizing the gifts one has and using them properly, and in facing the various walls and hurdles of accomplishing the goals one has. To a degree larger than most people will acknowledge, success in life is within your control.
I am concerned with living in a free and just society, I understand the need for change. We are creatures of time and therefore change is fundamental to who we are as individuals and as communities. To refuse change is to begin dying. I also understand that part of change is recognizing that society has not included persons who need to be included. Society has not respected the worth and dignity of groups of people whom it tended to push to the margins of society. The obvious examples in American history are slavery, racist laws represented by the Jim Cross laws, thereby denying to black Americans access to political and economic institutions and denying women political and economic access.
There will never be enough social justice, never enough equity, and never enough change, since some people are in pursuit of a utopia for themselves that is impossible to achieve and that for others is not desirable. Such persons already live in a society that is more inclusive and has institutions more open to change than any society on the planet. Hence, their anger has blocked them from seeing the inclusiveness of the society in which they already live.
Our past does not determine the choices we make today. Our past does not determine our destiny. In a Christian view, forgiveness of sin is prerequisite for a relationship with God. Even in our personal lives, a relationship cannot move toward something good if the aggrieved party does not extend forgiveness. Further, if the one asking for forgiveness has no intention of repentance, has the person even asked for forgiveness? If the person has no intention of change, asking for forgiveness becomes a cover for living life with no consequences or worse to have an abusive relationship. It takes faith, hope, and love to extend forgiveness. Suppose a nation has at its founding a birth defect. Let us call it slavery and racism. The aggrieved party, in this case, those of African descent, cannot have a rewarding and fulfilling experience of the nation without extending forgiveness. In the same way, of course, the nation needs to repent of its sin and correct the birth defect. One cannot truly repent without faith, hope, and love. As America keeps mending its flaws in this regard, it can become a Promised Land, a bright and shining city on a hill, for all people. The combination of repentance by the wrongdoer and forgiveness from the aggrieved party is essential for the relationship to move forward.
Imagined oppression, never-ending grievance, and perpetual anger is not a path toward a flourishing human life. Thus, I oppose BLM and other violent expressions. I find it strange that some schools have all-black dorms and all-black graduation ceremonies, such institutions claiming that such race-based activities are not racist while opposing such activities is racist.
When some says “everyone believes” that America is systemically racist; to do otherwise is to mark yourself as a bigot. I want us to think about that for a moment.
First, I offer an example of how this aspect of the understanding of what “everyone believes” plays out in popular culture. Jon Stewart, in an episode called The Problem With White People, said that America is a racist country and always has been; that white people, whether they admit it or not, whether they even know it or not, are either racists or at absolute least are co-conspirators in that they have white privilege; and because of that they enable racism every single minute of every single day in this country. Such an idea is not controversial for man on the political Left, but especially not for the progressive. One of his guests, a woman named Lisa Bond, said that “I do not care if we say we are abolitionists. I do not care if we say we are progressive. I do not care if we are members of the KKK. Every single white person upholds these systems and structures of white supremacy, and we must talk about it.”
I am sure she has not contemplated how absurd that sounds: there is no difference between an abolitionist fighting to free the slaves and a member of the Ku Klux Klan. They are all the same. They are equally bad. They are white and therefore they are racists. This view of white Americans as a single, undifferentiated blob of hate existing through the centuries as a force for the oppression of non-whites is simply the inverse of the old racism. It is replacing hatred of blacks with hatred of whites; it is replacing discrimination against blacks with discrimination against whites and Asians and others (Jonah Goldberg, referring to Andrew Sullivan).
Here is why everyone does not believe America is systemically racist. Such a view neglects a reality. Such a view tries to get us not to see what is before our eyes. It keeps up dust, and then complains that one cannot see. America today is the most multiracial, multicultural, tolerant, diverse melting pot that has ever existed on planet Earth, and there is no other place on Earth even like it. Many on the political Left like to point to Europe for positive examples. Countries like Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland can lead the way in World Happiness Report and receive praises, but they are also among the least racially diverse among western nations. They are white and Protestant Christian (or from a Protestant Christian background), and their citizens speak the same language. America, on the other hand, is by far the most radical experiment in racial, religious, and ethnic diversity. That is why 86 percent of our immigrants are non-white. They do not come because America white supremacy dominates it. Millions of black people have immigrated to America from Africa and the Caribbean. And tens of millions more would like to. Are all these people fools—choosing to move to a systemically racist country? Are they ignorant—unaware that America is systemically racist? I will suggest the reverse. They know how lucky they are to move to America—because this country is so tolerant and so overwhelmingly non-racist. People do not move to countries that hate them. No Jews moved to Germany in the 1930s.
We need to recover the goal of evaluating relationships upon the content of character rather than the color of skin. Color of skin, like color of hair or eyes, ought to be of no consequence as to how law or culture treats one.
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