Thinking back to my college years, I can remember my political candidates being called racists. It really frustrated me because I thought they were genuine people. On one occasion, I asked a friend what grounds they have for calling my one candidate racist and all he could say is, ‘I know she is.’ It seemed like and still does that when a party or the media and the intelligentsia make a claim enough times the accusation sticks, true or not. In subsequent campaigns, I realized that accusations regarding race were not intended to address a serious societal issue but to advance political gain.
Now, it seems like the pendulum has swung the opposite direction. The public has become worn after 30+ years of the left making exaggerated claims of racism. People see conditions in inner city areas like Baltimore and Detroit, for example mostly inhabited by blacks and other minorities deplorable despite being run by Democrats for the past 50 years.
Without getting too much into policy measures that have contributed to failures in these cities, politicizing race only worsens matters. As someone who considers himself right of center, over the past two months, I have been inundated with emails regarding the latest liberal scheme known as Critical Race Theory. We are told this will destroy our country by polluting children’s minds thus leading them to being card carrying Marxists by the end of the 10th grade. While I do not mean to totally downplay the effects of CRT, on a personal note I applaud the publishers of children’s books called The Tuttle Twins which proactively instill lessons of free markets, individual rights, and respect. To me, taking the proactive approach to get these books into children’s hands rather than fear mongering goes much further to produce a positive agenda for children and our society.
With the finger pointing and various race agendas advanced, it seems the typical person cannot honestly answer if we truly have a race problem. Well, the resounding answer to that question is we certainly do, and I would venture to say it is worldwide. It is inconceivable to say otherwise. Due to the fallen corrupt nature of every human being who has ever existed on the face of the earth and our natural inclination to rebel against God, we fail to live in His economy. If we were, we would see each person as a byproduct of God’s creation made in His image for His purpose. This would change our view of the potential we place on each person. Not only that, but people would also be treated as individuals, rather than stereotyped and lumped into and identified as members of a group.
The various state governments across the country exploit the poor, many of whom are minorities including blacks living in inner city areas. For example, states are known for making concerted efforts to promote lottery games and establish casinos in areas of those who can least afford to lose. Not only that, the powers at be deprive opportunity to the disadvantaged by allowing students to graduate high school with fifth grade reading levels. Also, the advancement of the War on Drugs unfortunately gives our young people once again in poor areas more reason to live a life of crime rather than excel academically. Not only in the inner cities, but also in rural areas, there are people on Welfare whose families who have been on the program for generations. As a result, people have been kept out of the workforce, they have lost meaning in life, and have given an additional reason to turn to a life of crime. Other than Welfare, excessive Occupational Licensing measures have prevented the poor from breaking the cycle of poverty.
In respect to racism, people living in poverty and crime ridden areas are identified by the conditions they live. In fact, various parts of town are given reputations based on who occupies them. Often, people try to move to suburban areas for more opportunity and greater safety. While I do not suggest that these scenarios warrant expansion in public housing, the result that follows is more animosity amongst the races when the migration occurs. For example, in speaking to someone recently who remarked that a person or two of a particular race caused trouble in our neighborhood, he chose to use a derogatory name as if all people of that race can be counted on to cause disruption. This goes back to what I said before about misuse of group identity.
I believe many government policies oppress and deny opportunity to the poor and there is a strong possibility that there is an element of hate and disregard for people based on race and their socioeconomic background. We are also called to love our neighbor and those who are strangers in our land. In viewing people as God’s image bearers, we are more likely to love them rather than degrade them based on what other people in their racial background have done.
To conclude, I would like to point out that racism and other sins can be addressed in a proper fashion as Jesus taught in Matthew 18 which provides instructions on how to confront a brother. If the brother does not repent bring forth another brother to evaluate the situation. If the accused brother still does not acknowledge their wrongdoing, they are to be brought forth to a church body. If this is not a church related situation, methods of mediation can be used to avoid situations being tried before the court. Not only that, businesses should to take on the role to educate their workforce to prevent potential tension. The downside though, is that in doing so, the efforts often result in identifying people by group rather than as individuals. Either way, focusing on an issue, especially one as sensitive as race is best dealt with on an individual basis to avoid political gain and hysteria.
In His Image 