DIANE SINGER — “After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10)

Racists All

Evidently, I’m a racist. I’m sure that confession comes as a surprise to people who know me: to my friends, neighbors, colleagues, students, and the (literally) thousands of people I’ve ministered to in the U.S., Africa, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. You know, all the “brown skinned” ones who I’m supposed to care nothing about because … well, because I have white skin.

At least, that’s the mantra of the protestors at the University of Missouri who scream that only Black Lives Matter and who demand they be given a “safe space” away from us horrible white people. And then there’s the meme making its way about Facebook which claims that anyone who shows sympathy for the victims of the Paris terrorist attacks is racist because we don’t care about attacks against “brown skinned” people in places like Iraq and Nigeria — we only care when terrorists target white Europeans (News Flash: I have no idea what the racial makeup of the victims in Paris is, nor do I care. I only care about bringing their murderers to justice and preventing future attacks.)

You can probably tell by my tone that I’m more than a little fed up with the politics of race being inserted into every situation. I’m also fed up with the culture of perpetual victimhood where it becomes impossible for anyone to say “All lives matter” or “I’m praying for Paris” without being labeled a bigot, a racist or a cold-hearted recipient of “white privilege.” And if the polls are any indication, I’m not alone. Most Americans agree that race relations in America are deteriorating; and this fact is a source of great sorrow to those who lived through segregation and who rejoiced over the changes brought about by the Civil Rights Movement.

The Good Old Days

I was 14 years old when American schools were desegregated — old enough to remember the “Whites Only” and “Colored Only” drinking fountains in department stores, old enough to remember riding along with my father into “Colored Town” so we could help a needy family, old enough to remember when my father confronted a local car salesman who was trying to cheat one of dad’s black employees, and old enough to see my father stand against the bigots in our local church who objected to his allowing “colored people” to spend the night at the church camp he managed. Those were not the “good old days.”

I much prefer the world I’ve lived in ever since — one where I can study, teach, play, worship, serve and pray with people without any barrier of ethnic or national origin. For more than 50 years now, both here and abroad, the Lord has repeatedly given me a foretaste of heaven where people from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” will stand before His throne and worship Him together. I not only treasure those moments, I strive to live them out more fully in my everyday life, knowing that I am accountable to a God for whom there is “no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) That is why I am frustrated by — and sometimes downright angry about — what the race-baiters are doing to our country.

A Dream Betrayed

If you have ever listened to his “I Have a Dream” speech, or read his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” you know that the world Martin Luther King envisioned — and gave his life for — is one where the color of a person’s skin doesn’t matter. Though we have never achieved his ideal (and we never will given our sinful, fallen natures), we have nevertheless made tremendous strides since the 1960s toward creating a more equal and just society. More needs to be done, of course. Yet it’s easy to see that in the current climate — one where anarchy reigns — Dr. King’s dream is being betrayed. Were he still alive, I believe he would tell the proponents of this “new racism” that it’s just as wrong for blacks to hate whites because of the color of their skin, as it is for whites to hate blacks for the color of theirs. As my dad always said, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

The Right Path

So what will make it right? Frankly, we need to return to the Bible-based values which informed Dr. King’s non-violent protests: acknowledging that all of us have been created in God’s image and are worthy of respect, valuing justice and fair play, treating others the way we want to be treated, and courageously — but peacefully — standing up for those too weak to defend themselves. Despite all the hatred directed toward Dr. King, he never lost his conviction that there is an intrinsic decency in most people to which he could appeal. Sadly, the new racists have rejected the values he espoused, choosing instead to wallow in the worst of humanity — self-pity, bitterness, anger, jealousy, vindictiveness, incivility, and violence.

As citizens of this imperfect yet still great nation and, more importantly, as followers of Jesus, we can and must do better. We must reject the sins of the new racists while we simultaneously work to create communities where all citizens have the greatest chance to thrive. We can’t pretend that racism doesn’t still exist in America; but neither do we have to tolerate those who — by their hatred — seek to make the situation worse, not better.

NEXT STEPS

How often do you have meaningful contact with people from other racial groups, especially minorities in your community? In general, what problems are these minorities facing? How responsive are the elected officials and community leaders in addressing these issues? What more needs to be done? Is your church involved in solving these problems? If so, how? What can you do personally to bring about greater racial, educational, judicial, and economic equality in your hometown?

Originally published on ColsonCenter.org: Christian Worldview Journal, November 23, 2015

Re-published with permission of  The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview