Comments on: Jackie’s Giant Bat

By: Carolyn Ward

Carolyn Ward — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 23:49:22 +0000

Mr. Yancey,
I only now found this post, but felt I had to respond. I, too, watched the movie 42 with a lump in my throat. I grew up in Southern California in the 1970s. I didn’t know just how bad it was in the South in the 1940s. I, like the Robinsons, had never encountered that type of racism. As a Caucasian, it was never an issue, especially growing up in the West.
When I read articles that said the racism depicted in the movie was toned down, I was appalled. I had no idea what it was like for African-Americans then.
However, just as others have posted, I too have my prejudices, and “racist’ attitudes. Not toward other races, but toward other groups that are outside my common experience. I struggle to change those attitudes. The church I attend is very inclusive, and actively works to include those that some churches turn away. It is an exercise in becoming less prejudiced every Sunday when I attend services. God is working on me, and He is not done yet.
You are my favorite Christian author, and I often read your books with the feeling “Yes, exactly!”. You express my own feelings and struggles very often in your writings.
May God continue to bless you and your family, and may you continue to be a lamp on a lampstand, helping others to see The Way.

By: Paul Miller

Paul Miller — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:44:42 +0000

Throughout this period of nonviolent protest, the civil rights movement continued to suffer the effects of white violence. medgar evers, an NAACP leader who was organizing a black boycott in Jackson, was shot and killed outside his home in 1963. Three participants in Freedom Summer—James Chaney, an African American, and Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, both whites—were killed in Mississippi in June 1964. Events such as these murders outraged many in the nation and solidified popular support for the civil rights cause.

By: Cedric U. Sims

Cedric U. Sims — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 02:54:45 +0000

Black churches The leadership role of black churches in the movement was a natural extension of their structure and function. They offered members an opportunity to exercise roles denied them in society. Throughout history, the black church served not only as a place of worship but also as a community “bulletin board,” a credit union, a “people’s court” to solve disputes, a support group, and a center of political activism. These and other functions enhanced the importance of the minister. The most prominent clergyman in the civil rights movement was Martin Luther King, Jr. Time magazine’s 1964 “Man of the Year” was a man of the people. He joined as well as led protest demonstrations, and as comedian Dick Gregory put it, “he gave as many fingerprints as autographs.” King’s powerful oratory and persistent call for racial justice inspired sharecroppers and intellectuals alike. His tireless personal commitment to and strong leadership role in the black freedom struggle won him worldwide acclaim and the Nobel Peace Prize.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 03:56:47 +0000

Where do I begin?
My earliest memories of racism came about in an intensely personal way: my white, non-Christian, divorced mother gave birth to a half black baby. She did this in a rented house in Huntsville, Alabama, by herself, while a doctor talked her through the procedure over the phone. She knew what would have happened to her and the baby if she gave birth to him at a “white” hospital. This was in 1967. Of course my two older brothers and I (the only girl) were deemed “n—er lovers”. My mother, now having a baby and three other children to feed, but unable to work because of the baby, was forced to apply for assistance and this she did. I still remember Mom making us kids solemnly promise not to ever divulge the name of our baby brother’s probable father to any one at any time because of what might be done to him if we accidentally gave authorities his name.
We moved into the Sparkman Homes, rental houses, hotel rooms, trailer parks. We children were constantly hungry. ( To anyone who ever wonders if free lunches in schools are worth it, I would like to tell you, YES. Sometimes they were my only meal, especially if Mom was working at night). My mom was pretty enough that she always had boyfriends; they were all white. One of them left us kids one day when Mom got a job as a census taker. A neighbor called what today is known as the DHS, upon finding urchins knocking at her door and asking for food. We were all put into foster homes (praise God for the dear people that took us in) and we all eventually went to separate homes, although my baby brother (by now 4 almost 5) stayed with me in my first home.
At the second foster home, Jesus found me and I was born-again into God’s family. When my brother came for a visit, my foster mother realized he was black, and from that time on, despised me (I will say here that I was an emotional wreck by that time, so racism was not the only factor in the treatment I began to receive, I’m sure). But within a few weeks, I had a new foster home, and then another…and the fifth home. If I may say something from the bottom of my heart here – every single foster home that my brothers and I went to were Christian homes. This is such a testimony. Is someone reading this unsure about whether to help out at an inner city school, adopt a handicapped child, become a big brother or sister? Please don’t wait. I know Jesus Christ today because total strangers took me in.
My Mom…I think the word “indomitable” was invented to describe her – got three of her children out of foster care. It would have been so easy to let her troubled kids stay in the system and be cared for by others. But she met the most amazing man – my Dad for the past 42 years – and married him.
The Alabama authorities told Mom (and Dad – God bless the “Josephs” of our generation, who stand in the gap for not only the children they didn’t father, but for the women reviled by their “better” peers) that it was “better” if our baby brother stayed with a family of his own color. So he was put up for adoption. God being gracious to us, we would all meet again two decades later when my brother had his court records unsealed, and looked us up.
Racism is a hideous thing. I would like to tell you that I have never committed a racist deed, thought a racist thought, looked at black (and brown, and slanted eyed, etc.) people as “other”. But I have had my racist moments – the most painful one being when I found myself pregnant and unmarried and unsure what color my baby might be when born. Asked who the father of my baby was when I applied for residency at a halfway house for runaways and pregnant girls, I said I wasn’t sure. But: I had been raped by a black man, I told the questioner. So my baby might be half black.
The year was 1978.
Fast forward many years. In 2008 our first president of color is elected. I did not vote for him that year, but I prayerfully and happily did in 2012. I have suffered for my vote, too. In the United States of America, where the whole thing about us is that we are FREE to vote our God given consciences. My experiences in the U.S. since 2012 have given me quite an appreciation for what Christians in “closed” countries must go through.
I may live in a different southern state now, but I can tell you with no qualms that racism is alive and well in the deep south. Today, this very day, in our local newspaper, a letter to the editor backslaps the Confederacy with a wink by lauding the awesome folks who take care of “The Sons'” cemeteries…When Tiger Woods was caught in a sex scandal, I had to silence coworker’s jokes. Never heard a smidgen of a joke pertaining to David Petraus’ wrongdoing….One thing I know for sure – many “white” churches are missing the most amazing, God-given opportunity to work with and alongside people of color to truly transform our society and further the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amazing journey, whoever wrote this. It covers so many “issues,” but the story itself is what stands out. If your mother is indomitable, you got her genes. And now a good dose of God’s grace too. Thank you for taking the time to write this.
Philip

By: Erictb

Erictb — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 02:51:47 +0000

This is a great confession, and something that’s been needed for a long time. For generations the problem was ignore (while secretly opposing racial progress), and now, many diehard conservatives insist all of that doesn’t matter, and that the “anti-God” liberals are wrongly playing a “race card” on them, so that blacks can get “freebies”, and politicians get their votes. All of this rhetoric you can hear loudly, today.

Considering that many of these people are still alive, and it becomes clear that all the rabid hatred against Obama is more then mere “disagreement” as they insist (Christians used to say that one must respect and pray for our leaders; now it’s “he’s not my president”!), and that the “contemporary music debate” among old-liners in the Church (including BJU and others) is more than a concern for “holiness”.
Also, that the rejection of psychology by these same people is more than a concern for “Biblical means of counseling”; for it explains a lot of their behavior; particularly the fierce denial, and fingerpointing at others as trying to dominate and destroy them (projection).

Listening to all the anti-Obama rhetoric, cloaked under patriotism made me realize that the main problem is that people are trying so hard to defend the “honor” of the nation, and to do that, they can’t admit any of this stuff. They have to prove it was justified, and then then, not really that bad (“it improved their lives over tribal existence; you should be thankful” I was told on a Christian board once). Yet here you are coming from that background on the dominant side, confirming it was bad and worse.

So they have to not only justify or sweep under the rug these things, but also for a second barrel, continue to prove that blacks are the cause of all our financial, moral and cultural problems, and the ultimate judgment is that they just want to leech off of everyone instead of just improving their families and work ethic “like everyone else did”. So they compound the old racism with new racist sentiment.

The primary fundamental of the faith, what it’s all founded upon, is that the way to deal with sin and guilt is to confess and forsake it (Prov. 28:13), but the people who preach this the most; defend it against all “compromise” and unbelief, etc. just won’t do it themselves for that issue. They don’t seem to have a clue, that this is what is required of them (not the stuf they assume others are trying to get from them). They’d rather focus on other people’s sins, such as sex-related stuff or liberal policies.

So we really need more from within our ranks to call this stuff out.

By: John Kuypers

John Kuypers — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 02:32:11 +0000

Phillip, this is a moving and penitent summary of humanity’s root problem – the desire to judge others in order to make ourselves feel superior in some way. Thank you for blunt honesty and your wise connection of racism and all prejudices to Jesus’ teaching on the need for us to remove the plank in our eye so that we can see clearly the speck. The dramatic size and scope of the plank from your youth in Atlanta is stunning but all too common in the course of history. As you say, it is the culture, not Scripture, dictating these norms. This truth remains alive and well today with regard to gays and other issues that Christians famously attack. As Mother Teresa once said, “When you judge people, you have no time to love them.” May God continue to bless your work and your ministry. In peace, John Kuypers

By: Cathy Coon Bitikofer

Cathy Coon Bitikofer — Fri, 31 May 2013 15:33:40 +0000

I appreciate Glen’s comments, as well as Yancey’s essay. Bigotry is something everyone is prone to practice, however subtly. It is a symptom of the fallen world we live in. I like to say I was not raised to be “racist”, but the temptation to put others down to raise my own pride is always there. “They” or “He” or “She” may take a different form. Jesus is the only answer to this.

By: Judy Hales

Judy Hales — Fri, 31 May 2013 15:04:07 +0000

Thank you for putting into words the shame I have felt from growing up in the south and having lived those shameful times. I could have written that story. I have lived all over the world and know from experience the prejudice exist. I left Louisiana when I was 19 and moved into a society where my husbands boss was a man of a different race…. until that time I had never personally spoken to a black person. When you are away from the home you know and love you find out friends don’t have color they have relationships. Recently, I returned to Louisiana after being gone for 40 years and find for the most part there is still hidden and public prejudices. I was amazed and thrilled that the election of President Obama had stirred a confidence among the people here that I had not yet seen. If we as Christians could get ahold of the 2nd command that God gave us to love our neighbor as our self and the 1st to love God with all our heart, strength and mind….. everything else would fall into place. Thank you for this article which I will share.

By: Stephen Akinduro

Stephen Akinduro — Fri, 31 May 2013 14:42:36 +0000

Mr. Yancey, you are one of my favorite authors. Your books “Soul Survivor” and “What’s so Amazing about Grace” helped bring me back from a point of dissilusionment with God and Christianity. I admire your authentcity in your books and the way you bring the message of God’s love through Jesus out into the open so simply and in a refreshing manner. Thanks for your books. I also loved “Dissappintment with God – three questions no one asks out loud”.

By: Greg Denholm

Greg Denholm — Fri, 31 May 2013 07:21:06 +0000

Hi Philip,

Thanks for your passionate and honest article about racism.

My country, Australia, also has a racist past (and to a lesser extent, present). At one time there was a “White Australia” policy, and at another, Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from the homes of their parents and placed in institutions, some run by the church, in a misguided attempt to assimilate them to white culture. This gave rise to the “Stolen Generation”, to whom Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologized on February 13, 2008.

Racism is very topical here at the moment, in particular with regard to sport. During a recent Australian rules football match, a 13-year-old girl in the crowd called an opposing Aboriginal player an “ape”. The player heard the remark and reported her, and she subsequently apologized. Later, the President of the club she supports shocked everyone by suggesting in jest that the player who had been racially vilified should be used to promote a current stage production of King Kong. He is still trying to live that comment down, and will face a hearing over it.

Racism thrives in modern Australia: our national ethos of egalitarianism (“a fair go for all”) so easily morphs into legalized uniformity, or disapproval of anyone who is different. But like you say, Philip, it’s a universal issue.

Why is this so, I wonder? The massive scale and scope of the problem make me think that its source must be something that we all have in common. I can only think that it is the sinful nature: the “monster” within each of us that wants ruthlessly to be godlike—at the expense of others, if need be. And what more obvious way of categorizing people to facilitate our goal of self-aggrandizement than ranking people according to race? It allows us to elevate ourselves at the expense of those who don’t fit our particular brand of perfection, so bolstering our claim to inherent righteousness, even divinity.

If the sinful nature is at the heart of racism, the only solution to it is the one who came to defeat sin and its effects—Jesus. What do you think?