(Note: This is a collection of three pieces I wrote in response to the tragic murder of Ahmaud Arbery, which happened in February 2020 but was not widely reported to the public until May 2020. I have included links in some places where I was writing in direct response to that. These are my observations on the racism still rampant in the world since sin is still rampant in the world and a Biblical response to it.)
I have been at least an occasional runner since first competing in cross country and track and field in high school. I have been running again more regularly lately since the weather got warmer. Thus, I would likely have gone for a run or walk today anyway.
In light of Ahmaud Arbery's birthday today (May 8), I thought it was only fitting to go for a run/walk in his honour and memory today. (As you can see in the link below, a lot of folks have also done just that.) I have read so many stories like his in recent years that have come to light (I'm sure there are many more that don't) and it is incredibly sad and disgusting and infuriating all at once. It reviled me to see the evil that sin brings about.
I find it crazy to think that while I as a white man have not ever had a random person stop me while I'm about and confront me with a gun because they suspected me of burglary- African-American citizens have had similar experiences far too often. (And once is one too many.) As I've said before, leave the law to law officers. If you have credible suspicions, report them. Don't make baseless accusations and don't confront and retain people against their will because you have no authority to do so. It's one thing to risk your life in trying to stop a crime or stop the perpetrators when you have concrete proof of both the crime and the lawbreakers. There is something to be said for selflessness and trying to help those in need- but that also constitutes vigilantism and one must be aware of the horrible consequences it can bring- which is why it's best to leave such matters to the police when it's a legitimate matter worthy of their attention. (Note: Running, playing golf, waiting for friends at a coffee shop, walking home at night, selling water as a fundraiser, falling asleep in your own commons room, babysitting kids, selling houses as a realtor, having a barbecue at a park, mowing lawns, and just going about daily life in general are not matters that need police intervention.) Take the time to lovingly and kindly talk with people and assume the best about them rather than assuming the worst. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
While I was out and about in the neighbourhood, I took time to pray for Mr. Arbery's family and for the McMichaels as well, that God would bring justice and comfort for the former and repentance for the latter. I also prayed that God would open our eyes to acknowledge the sin of hatred that continues to rear its ugly head so often in the form of racism- and to help us repent of it and truly show Jesus' love to all.
This is a Gospel issue. Jesus died and rose to pay for all our sins- and we are all equally guilty before Him. His intervention on our behalf is the grace and mercy of God that longs to not see us punished and eternally separated from Him, but forgiven and eternally reconciled to Him.
1 John 4:20 says we cannot love God Whom we haven't seen when we hate our brother whom we have seen. When we see injustice in the world, we are called to speak out against it. (Isaiah 1:17, Amos 5:24, Micah 6:8) Jesus' mission statement in Luke 4:16-21 speaks to this as well. He came to free the oppressed spiritually- and He uses us to help do that physically as well. The world will know we are Christians by our love. (John 13:35)
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/05/08/world/ahmaud-arbery-support-run-trnd/index.html
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https://www.augustachronicle.com/opinion/20200511/letter-black-racism-murdered-arbery?fbclid=IwAR1vkdUg1eCkX3XvET39sK1J9uxovZbKHJ150Ty5AHjYbv1rYj8RNxWWjvk
This letter was quite disturbing to read as well as very saddening. :-(
The takeaway I got from this is that, in the writer's point of view, apparently Mr. Arbery was "asking for it" because he and other African-Americans were getting too "uppity".
I'm glad he at least noted that it's unfortunate when any American citizen, whether white or black (by the way, there are more than two races in the US and the world but the distinction is understandable for the context of this letter), is murdered unnecessarily. (Evidently, there are times he deems murder to be necessary. Perhaps he meant to say "killed unnecessarily" here.)
It's ironic he mentions the existence of predominantly black colleges without acknowledging that segregation and racism against African-American people are largely the reasons why they exist.
Perhaps some overt racism on the part of the government has declined since the 1960s but that does not mean that more subtle systemic forms don't exist. And obviously overt racism on the part of individuals still exists. That was one of the biggest culture shocks for me coming from the country where I grew up as a minority among for the most part very loving and open people to coming to the Southern USA in a small town where I encountered a number of close-minded racist people.(Which is certainly not descriptive of everyone in that town or in the South or USA in general.) Sin still plagues our world and it continues to fill hearts with hate, sadly. That will continue as long as earth endures until Christ's return.
And I would ask this gentleman what he would do in regards to one of Christ's most famous commands. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31)
If you and your family were dark-skinned of African descent and you couldn't even trace all your ancestry back past a few generations because your ancestors were not considered to even be full human beings and thus records were not kept for them- and your ancestors had been kidnapped and brutally enslaved in horrific conditions at the hands of white colonialists- and then even after the country your family was brought to nearly split apart fighting a war largely for the right to own your great, great, great grandparents as property- and then after that, your ancestors endured substandard housing and schooling and economic job opportunities, along with a denial by the government of basic rights like voting- and continued to endure numerous taunts and being made to feel as second class citizens and suffered numerous acts of violence and murders at the hands of cowardly bullies who hid their faces behind sheets and twisted The Bible to somehow claim God was on their side- and to this day, you yourself continue to see those deleterious effects of this cumulative history along with the racist attitudes still prevalent in society, often fueled by the President himself, who seems to hold and enable many racist, sexist and xenophobic views and actions- how would you feel if a non-black person, particularly a white one, told you that you should quit whining about it and stop claiming that people are racist when evil acts of cruelty up to and including murder are performed against people of your skin colour, along with other non-white skin tones, still on an all-too-regular basis?
What would be the most loving thing to do for someone in that position? Instead of denying the reality of racism, we need to repent from it and let God change our hearts. That's precisely why Jesus came to die and rise- so all sins would be paid for and we could be restored by faith in Him to the loving people who He made us to be, who love God with their all and love their neighbours as themselves. You cannot say you love God, Whom you haven't seen, if you hate your brother whom you have seen. (1 John 4:20)
Remember too, if one is a follower of Christ, that Philippians 2 commands that we think of others before ourselves and as better than ourselves. That is the example Jesus gave when He humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross. That's why God raised Him up and gave Him the Name above all names that at His Name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I have no idea about where this letter writer stands in relation to Christ but I thought it particularly worth noting for one thing because so many have claimed Christ's Name, yet betrayed Him through hateful words and actions that do not reflect His heart in any way at all.
As Rev. Dr. King, Jr. said, hate cannot drive out hate- only love can do that. I pray God's Love will transform this man's heart and all those in need of His Love that makes enemies to be friends and brothers.
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I just wanted to offer this bit of insight as a white man who grew up as a minority in a country where the white population was about 0.5% who then came to live in the American South.
I have never thought of any neighbourhood as "belonging" to a particular race. I grew up in a multi-racial neighbourhood. My next door neighbours were of African descent. The neighbours across the street were of Indian descent. The neighbours down the street were of Chinese descent. I remember regularly going by their houses as a kid. All the neighbourhood kids got together on Saturdays for games of tag and "Police and tief". (The Trinidadian equivalent of "cops and robbers". :-))
Those adult neighbours were as aunty and uncle to me. In fact, that is what we called them, as that was the social, respectful custom there.
Imagine the culture shock of coming from growing up 10 years there to living in a largely white neighborhood in a small Southern town that unfortunately harbored a lot of racist, redneck attitudes. (No, that's not to say everyone was like that, of course. However, the grand dragon of the KKK did live in that town, so there's that.)
I have seen and heard a lot of racist attitudes and actions even from and sometimes especially from people in the church who claimed to love The Lord Jesus Whom they haven't seen yet hated their brother whom they have seen. (Check 1 John 4:20. That just doesn't work.)
I have seen NUMEROUS comments from people online who hold some very racist and xenophobic ideas about non-white people who are not from America originally.
I am so glad to have been able to serve in rural school districts serving some of the poorer people of the state, with a mixture of racial demographics. I have worked at a predominantly African-American populated school, both in students and faculty and staff. I have a similar balance at my current work place. I live in an apartment complex with many African-American and Indian neighbours, which feels like home to me. (Especially as I can often smell curry in the air in my building! :-))
Of course there are people who hold hateful views of others based on race, nationality, religion, sex and so forth. It sickens me to see it in the church as that flies in the face of The Gospel! The Bible says that God made all people in His image! Male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27)
Philippians 2 says I am to follow the example of Jesus Who humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross to pay for our sins and then rose again. That passage says I am to think of others as better than myself and to be concerned about their needs above my own!
I am to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and love my neighbour as myself. I am to do unto others as I would have them do unto me.
The church should be doing all these things and reaching out in love to all people. The church should also be standing against injustice! That's what Love does and it's what we are commanded to do too. (1 Corinthians 13:6, John 13:35, Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8, Amos 5:24)
In doing these things, we must also recognize the history of racism and pride and hatred and greed that has shaped America's history, along with so many other countries affected by colonialism. To point out the ways racism sure seems to be ingrained in the system of doing things is an acknowledgement of history and the sins of our forefathers.
We can't change what has been done but we can repent of any sin we have done and any sin of racist attitudes that still linger and lament over them.
If we as Christians are not loving all people of all races, we are not comporting to God's Word. It's fitting that I am scheduled to read Numbers 12 today in my daily quiet time with God, a passage where God punished Miriam and Aaron for defying Moses' authority and particularly for decrying his Cushite wife (i.e. darker skinned)
We better learn to love seeing a variety of skin colours because Revelation 5:9 says there will be some from every tribe, tongue and nation in Heaven all praising Jesus as one. Racial unity in the body of Christ is the model of Heaven. In fact, as Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11 tell us, there's no Jew or Greek, slave or free, nor male or female- we're all one in Christ Jesus.
May God truly help us live out that truth.
