Our Own Particular Brand of Racism

I am a part of Kairos Prison Ministry. Each Thursday night, a group of Kairos men travel to Pine Bluff Prison, to be present at a church service put on by inmates who have been through our Kairos program, primarily to show support for these mostly-new Christians. I gave this talk at that service recently.

     The subject for tonight is Racism. My name is Pat Gillum.  Kairos walk number 37.

      Not long ago, I was fortunate enough to live and work, for a time, at an orphanage in Kenya. I lived, ate, and worked with eighty African children up to ten years old. Some were taken into the orphanage as babies, while others had differing degrees of horrors in their background before arriving there, due to extreme poverty, disease, starvation, and tribal violence. But they all seemed to be totally pure in regard to this horror of the spirit that exists in the heart of many  Americans, our own particular brand of racism.

 They had only been exposed to whites in the form of missionaries, such as myself and my wife, who worked hard to insure that racial prejudice was never a part of their lives. Adult Africans who worked there joined us completely in this effort.

Kenya has only been free from British white colonialism for a relatively short time. Yet even the adults outside the orphanage seemed to be totally pure in regard to racism.

Why does black-white racism seem to be lessening much faster in Kenya than in America? Maybe the daily struggle to head off starvation. Maybe the fact that there are few white Africans. In any event, parents did not seem to train their children, openly or by their actions, to hold racism in their hearts.

To be exposed to a people who did not possess any sign of racism was a profound experience. The children, especially, so pure of heart in this regard, touched me greatly.

Babies are not born with prejudice. Adults pass it on to them eventually, in differing degrees, by their actions.  Until we totally stop training our children to be racists, we will never be free of this horrible thing that causes us to judge others by the color of their skin.

In this country, we have made much progress in this regard in my lifetime, and I can see much hope for the future in my grandchildren.

My grandson was placed on a new basketball team last year. After a week or two of practice sessions daily, the day of the first game arrived. When his parents arrived at the game, they were surprised to see he was the only white kid on the team. It had just not seemed important enough to my grandson to mention that.

My wife grew up in the deep delta, with racism just a part of everyday life. Yet she made the decision early on that she would never be a part of that. Where we live is no excuse for accepting and passing on racial prejudice. God has given us free thinking, and we can make the decision to stop this blight here and now, in our daily association with others, and in our offspring.

As Christians who read our bible, we see references regularly regarding God’s wishes for his people.

John 7:24 – Do not judge by appearance, but judge with right judgement.   

 Romans 10:12 – For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek – for the same lord is lord of all – bestowing his riches upon all who call on him.

Samuel 16:7- Man looks on the outward appearance, God looks at the heart.

Galations 3:26-28 – For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ.

Jesus loved everyone, and died for us all.

Look around you at this gathering – I think Heaven will look a lot like what we see here tonight.  Christians worshiping together, for the glory of our lord, who loved us all enough to die for us.

Question – When have I struggled with racism in my own life?

Question – How can I change?