Does Racism Exist in Black Christians?

            When we consider the relationship between black and white Christians today, I think we can readily see that all is just not well. I recently came upon a “Blog’ by a black Christian preacher in the church of Christ. He had dozens of articles on-line which he implied were views of the black Christian community. He was a Christian black man in his 70’s.  His blog articles were all about how black people were treated when he was a boy and about how he was stopped by the police when he was a young man with his family in the car. He mentioned the “terrible way” black people are currently being treated by the police and he referenced George Floyd and the way he was treated by the police when they tried to arrest him. All of the blogs on this church of Christ web site were about “race” and the unfair treatment of black people in America. This man even expressed a belief that black people were not being allowed to properly vote in elections. In my opinion, this man is spreading “racist hatred” like a virus spreading through the black Christians of the church. Now this is just one example and I hope and pray that it is an exception among Christian people and not the normal. I do believe it is the normal among the general black population but I can only hope and pray it is not the case with Christian people.

            Here is a Bible example of “racism” among Christians in the early church.

Galatians 2:11-13 (NKJV)

                Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.  

            I would ask black Christians; does this sound familiar? For hundreds of years the Jews shunned the Gentiles and would not have contact socially with them. They would not intermarry with Gentiles and they even refused to eat at the same table with them.

            And then one day God told the Christian people that all men were equal in Christ and there was no difference in the Jew and the Gentile. But even good men were slow to endorse this new freedom for Christian people. Here in Galatians 2 we find the Apostle Peter being “racist” against Gentile Christians. And it was not just Peter alone. It was all those Christian Jews who came to Antioch from James. They refused to eat at the same table with any Gentiles. The Apostle Paul saw that this racism was wrong and he said, “Peter was to be blamed”.

            Now this very same thing has happened to black Christians in America. Many good white Christian men have treated black Christians wrong. And like Peter they are to be blamed. But like Peter, they were caught up in the long standing culture of the day and it took time for many white Christians to learn that “racism” was ungodly and wrong.

            Now let me ask you this; how should we feel about the Apostle Peter? And how should he be written up in the history books? Should we think hard and bad thoughts about him and write him in history books as an evil and racist “white man” because of what he did? Nothing in the Bible tells us that Peter repented for his “racism”. I think we can conclude that he learned better and did repent. And he went on to be a great man and he gave his life for the Gospel. Peter is to be honored and not condemned.

            There have been many white men who have made racist comments about black Christians. Some have gone on to become very respected Gospel preachers. During the course of their lives they understood their actions were racist and wrong and they have repented of what they did. Now, how should we remember them? Like Peter, they made a grave mistake. And like the Gentile Christians of Peter’s day, our duty is to forgive and to forget what they did in the past.

            Now this is how black and white Christians should treat each other. I don’t really think I need to explain this mindset but it doesn’t seem to be accepted in the general black population in the US. However the great majority of black America (just like white America) is not made up of Christians. I can only hope and pray that black Christians are not influenced to hold a grudge against white Christians who treated them like Peter did the Gentiles.

Carl O. Cooper