Guest Editorial: Whites must take responsibility for racial reconciliation

On Independence Day, we celebrate our democracy while at the same time continuing to grieve over the shootings in Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. I believe we need to keep the two together. To have a healthy democracy depends on us coming to terms with racism and violence in this country.

Kyle ChildressVery few doubt something is terribly wrong with the white young man Dylann Roof, who allegedly shot and killed nine black people after sitting with them for an hour during their Wednesday-night Bible study in the church.

The challenge for our society, especially for those of us who are white, is not to dismiss this murder in church as simply the act of a single, deranged individual. Instead, the calling—and I believe it is a divine call—is to examine ourselves and ask how we contribute to such acts of racial violence.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel, a great spiritual leader of a generation ago, said: “We must continue to remind ourselves that in a free society, all are involved in what some are doing. … Not all are guilty, but all are responsible.” 

We live in a world of hyper-individualism, where we increasingly are isolated from each other and especially from others who think, look, act and believe differently than we do. After working a long day, a double-shift or overtime, we go home exhausted, plop ourselves down in front of the television and computer until bed and then do it again the next day. Rather than getting to know and listening to our neighbors, volunteering in our community alongside others and participating in the common life of democracy in our town, we live isolated virtual lives through social media.

Reinforcing our own prejudices

We read postings or news or blogs that reinforce what we already believe, only talk with those who agree with us and watch TV news with more opinion and commentary than news, all of which is marketed in a way that also reinforces our own prejudices and blindness. This keeps us from developing relationships across racial lines, which help us learn to think and act differently.

It’s not simply that white folks need to listen to the perspectives of black folks, which we do, but we whites need to do the hard work of building trust. Trust comes from showing up, being counted on and being willing to listen not just once, but time and time again. It comes from taking time with each other, and most of us don’t take the time, or we convince ourselves that we don’t have time. Given the racist shootings in Charleston and the police beatings and shootings of unarmed black young men around the country, we need to make the time.

The risk of change

In John 5, Jesus encounters a paralyzed man on a mat and asks him, “Do you want to be made well?” After 38 years of lying on that mat, the man might have hesitated before answering “yes” to Jesus. Sometimes, we prefer the comfort of what we know to the responsibility that comes with getting up off the mat and changing. 

Racism doesn’t really exist, we say, but we go along and laugh at the racist jokes, and we refuse to acknowledge politicians using racist code-language when they speak of “inner cities” and “states’ rights” and use welfare and food stamps stereotypes. Or we don’t want our white kids in “underperforming” schools, which happen to be predominantly black or Hispanic. We think of  “those people” or “them” instead of “our.”

We don’t acknowledge our privilege as white people who don’t have to explain why we got a certain job and don’t have to worry about clerks keeping an eye on us when we’re shopping in a store. We’ve not been pulled over by the police time and time again when we’ve done nothing wrong. And we do not have to be concerned about our kids being harassed or arrested at a pool party because their skin is the wrong color.

It is time for white people to take responsibility—to step up and be able to respond to God’s love and forgiveness with a humility that is willing to listen to unpleasant truths about racism in this country. To be responsible means to no longer be silent but to speak up and say we’re not putting up anymore with the jokes and the stereotypes, the code language and the white privilege, and we’re going to teach our children to stand against racism, too. 

Where to start

It means making the time to volunteer in our community alongside people of different colors and backgrounds. Volunteer on a Habitat for Humanity house, show up for the Martin Luther King worship service and march, get involved in ministries and service projects sponsored by African-American churches and community organizations. These are just some ideas of how to get started. It means making the time to show up at meetings and events where we white people are in the minority and where we learn to sit patiently and work humbly. 

When nine black church members are shot dead in church simply because of their skin color, the time for excuses is past. May God have mercy on us and give us the grace and courage to stand up and change.

Kyle Childress is pastor of Austin Heights Baptist Church in Nacogdoches. This column is reprinted with permission from the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel.