Rhetoric Race and Religion
One memory that stands out from my time serving underneath Curtis May, who runs the Office of Reconciliation and Mediation associated with Grace Communion International, was when he had his two jobs of heading up that ministry and also working as a district superintendent of his denomination converge. One such day involved a group of mainly middle aged men, largely white but including some Hispanic, Asian American, and African American men, watch a movie together. Curtis liked regularly to have us watch a film on black history. He explained that, out of the ongoing misuse of Scripture to exclude people of color and the media’s ongoing blasting of us with images that create harsh stereotypes, it is important to show people that there are positive examples and messages. He would talk about how internalized racism could wreak havoc on people, as they began to believe the lie they were less than others because of the color of their skin. As Martin Luther King once said, “A man can’t ride your back unless it is bent”. A part of Christian ministry, Curtis would tell the gathered ministers there, is helping people learn to not bend their backs.
Last time, we spoke a little about the history of racism and slavery being justified in the south, and this approach to Scripture being what we call “slave-holder Christianity”. In later blogs, I want to talk a little more about the history of slave-holder Christianity and the ongoing legacy it leaves us beyond its influence on race.
However I think it is important to follow Curtis’ example, and think a little bit about what positive examples and messages exist toward people of color. And, while the video Curtis would play showed examples of figures in history like George Washington Carver, I think we can turn a little closer to home: to the very Scriptures and Christian traditions that were twisted by my slave-holding and Jim Crow-supporting ancestors. There are affirming messages within Scripture and tradition that show that, far from being justified by how God has worked in our history, in fact racism and discrimination go against the movement of God throughout human history.
A starting place is looking at the black presence in the Bible. Despite the one or two verses Christian racists used to quote to claim racist policies were justified, many more examples in Scripture clearly showed people of color being leaders in God’s work throughout history. A lot of people don’t realize that African people and people of African descent, who we would call “black” in America, were major figures in the Bible.
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