“Christian Responses” to the War on Young Black Men

I am appalled by the Zimmerman verdict, and how yet another young black male is bypassed justice due to him and his community. I mourn with my black brothers and sisters, and yes, I am angry.

Now, my agenda is twofold:

1. To cite some of the real-time responses I have heard from Christians – who believe that we shouldn’t see race as a problem in this verdict, and for some, how race shouldn’t even be an issue for our faith. I hope you will hear the inconsistency in this and be provoked to take a real – and perhaps for some of us – a new stance on faith & race. And that leads to the second:

2. To stir my own Korean-American community here in Houston to greater awareness of the intersection between race and our faith – AND to confront our own prejudices / discriminations (in a post following).

But first, hear some of the responses:

“The church needs to deal with people’s hearts, not social issues. The Gospel will cause social issues to change.”

“Peace and calm, PLEASE! Starting riots does not bring positive change, but rather it emboldens wrong stereotypes”

“Even though some people think this is racial, the end and true story is that two human beings and families have had their lives turned upside down for a very long time. God made us all the same color inside and loves each one of us the same- no more, no less.”

“Our justice system worked”

“When, oh when, will we begin to identify people by the color of their clothing or, much better, by the color of their personalities or the spirit of their hearts? When will people of European, African, Hispanic, Asian, or “whatever” descent move past old resentments, some transmitted generationally, and learn to openly relate simply as people? At what point will we realize that the actions of a few do not define the hearts and intentions of an entire group with a similar amount of melanin in their skin?”

“Our country is deeply divided right now. The majority of the black community and some whites see an injustice… The majority of conservative white America sees no problem.”

“why do you consistently post about race? As Christians can’t we see past color? If we constantly post about race we step backward”

“I say this to you again in a spirit of care. How does (raising this issue of race) edify the body of Christ? How does this facilitate unity? How does this honor Christ?”

Now I’m not lending legitimacy to trolls; these are actual opinions of well-meaning people, and I have heard much the same myself; so how does this make you feel? Can you agree with this? Does it not sound broken in some way? Does it not challenge us to an alternative vision of the kingdom of God?

Next post: “Korean Christian Responses” to the War on Young Black Men