racism

The only lasting way forward for race relations

An intense conversation between a young black activist & a police officer in Selma, 1965. In early 1965, Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) made Selma, Alabama, the focus of its efforts to register black voters in the South.

In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a paper titled, "It is not enough to condemn black power." In it, he wrote that "the majority of Negroes want to share power to bring about a community in which neither power nor dignity will be colored black or white." His words were directed to a minority within the black community who used violence as a means of securing justice, which King roundly condemned. This clip of a young man using wisdom, reason, and love to seek peace and understanding, captures the spirit of King's noble aim. I was especially impressed with the unity in Christ which this young man placed above (not in denial of) differences of race. For what it's worth, I invite any of my brothers and sisters to pray with me, and I will pray for you, regardless of your color or culture.

The only lasting way forward is for individuals to be converted and transformed by their spiritual identity. There is "neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ" (Gal 3:28). United to Jesus, the Head of the Body, the white man must say of his black brother, “he is blood of my blood, my own flesh in Christ, created black for God's glory.” Likewise, the black Christian must say of his white brethren, “our eternal, fraternal union is defined by faith, not color.” The glory which shall be shared equally among races in the New Creation is revealed now in the equity of our love for one another. For that reason, I have more substantial commonality with persons of another race or even language, with whom I share the Spirit, than I would with an otherwise identical clone of myself if he were not converted.