Racism

The BLM movement has been on my mind lately, as I’m sure it has been for many of you. A song I learned in Sunday school has been running through my mind all day. It goes like this, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red, yellow, black or white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world”. Surely a few of you remember it too?

That song, a plethora of questions, memories from my childhood, and all the outside noise has been running around in my brain for days now. This is a conversation we Christians need to be having with one another. ALL Christians of every color need to start talking because, as The Church, we are not fairing so well.

Is Profiling Racist?

A Question I Need Answered For Myself

In my opinion, there is a difference between racial profiling and just profiling. To determine the character of an individual based solely on the color of their skin is racist. But is determining the character of an individual based on their appearance wrong?

Fashion choices can be described with many different synonyms and antonyms. Chic, hip, trendy, tasteful, cheesy, flashy, and tacky are just a few. There is one, in particular, that I find myself using when trying to size people up. I’m sure this is not the official name for it, but I call it criminal.

Let’s be honest. There are two types of people in this world. Good and bad. Those that will hurt you and those that won’t. Both types come in all shades of color. The good ones have to use some judgment of character to protect themselves from the bad ones. That God-given instinct to protect ourselves from harm should not be misconstrued as racist.

True enough, everyone deserves a chance to prove their true character, and true enough everyone deserves to be able to use their most basic instincts, self-preservation, without being labeled racist.

Also true, not all bad people look like criminals. Not only do they come in all colors, but they also have a varied sense of fashion. We should all take into account the statement we make to the world with how we present ourselves. If we don’t want to be instantly labeled a criminal, we shouldn’t dress or act like one, no matter the color of our skin.

Prison Population

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), at the end of 2017, federal and state prisons held 1,489,363 inmates. 475,900 were black, and 436,500 were white, a difference of 39,400. Ten years earlier, there were 592,900 black and 499,800 white, a difference of 93,100.

As of September 26, 2020, according to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Statistics, the percentage of races in prison are: Asian; 2,346, 1.5% / Black; 59,678, 38.5% / Native American; 3,660, 2.4% / Whites; 89,473, 53% / Females; 10,502, 6.8% / Males; 144,655, 93.2%

According to the NAACP web page, there are 3 million people in jail and prison today. Between 1980 and 2015, the number of people incarcerated increased from roughly 500,000 to 2.2 million.

Despite making up close to 5% of the global population, the U.S. has nearly 25% of the world’s prison population. States spent nearly $81 billion on corrections. A U.S. Department of Education report from July 7, 2016, says that state and local spending on prisons and jails has increased at triple the funding rate for public education for preschool through grade twelve in the last three decades.

7% of adults in the U.S. are under correctional supervision. That equates to 1 out of every 37 adults in the U.S. Since 1970 our incarcerated population has increased by 700%.

Since 1991 the rate of violent crime in the U.S. has fallen by about 20%, while the number of people in prison or jail has risen by 50%.

Penal Labor and Prison Industrial Complex

The term “prison-industrial complex (PIC), derived from the “military-industrial complex” of the 1950s. It is the term used to describe the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment to solve economic, social, and political problems.

To make money, corporate prisons are set up so that they need prisoners and lots of them. State governments sign contracts with the correctional corporations who agree to provide a certain number of prison beds and keep those beds filled or at least 90%.

An article I read on Malta Justice Initiative says prison labor in the United States is insourcing. Under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), employers receive a tax credit of $2,400 for every work-release inmate they employ as a reward for hiring “risky target groups.” The companies also don’t have to provide benefits or worry about unions, vacation time, raises, or family issues. You can do a Google search and find some major companies that benefit from penal labor. For-profit companies employ 7% of state prisoners and 18% of federal prisoners.

Wages are equivalent to less than $1 per hour in most penal labor programs with up to 12-hour workdays. The pay scale for federal prisoners is $.12 to $.40 per hour. In Texas, inmates are not paid for labor. The Texas penal labor system, managed by Texas Correctional Industries, is valued at $88.9 million in 2014. The estimated annual value of prison and jail industrial output is $2 billion.

Why Are So Many In Prison?

Offenses, bop.gov as of Saturday, September 26, 2020

1. Banking/Insurance, Counterfeit, Embezzlement…..272; 0.2% of inmates
2. Burglary, Larceny, Property Offenses…………………..7,432; 5.1%
3. Continuing Criminal Enterprise…………………………..299; 0.2%
4. Courts of Corrections…………………………………………..549; 0.4%
5. Drug Offenses…………………………………………………….67,689; 46.2%
6. Extortion, Fraud, Bribery…………………………………….8,033; 5.5%
7. Homicide, Aggravated Assault, Kidnapping…………..4,820; 3.3%
8. Immigration……………………………………………………….6,125; 4.2%
9. Miscellaneous……………………………………………………..920; 0.6%
10. National Security…………………………………………………44; 0.0%
11. Robbery………………………………………………………………5,031; 3.4%
12. Sex Offenses………………………………………………………..15,981; 10.9%
13. Weapons, Explosives, Arson………………………………….29,407; 20.1%

2.3 % of inmates received 0-1 year, 8.5% received 1-3 years, 10.6% received 3-5 years, 26.7% received a sentence of 5-10 years, 22.9% received 10-15, 12.4 received 15-20, 14.9% received 20 years or more, 2.9% received life.

Who’s Doing All Those Drugs?

One out of every three Black boys born today can expect to be sentenced to prison, compared to one out of six Latino boys; one out of seventeen white boys. 5% of illicit drug users are Black, yet blacks represent 29% of those arrested and 33% of those incarcerated for drug offenses.

In the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, about 17 million white people and 4 million Blacks reported using illicit drugs within the last month. Blacks and Whites use drugs at similar rates, but the Blacks’ imprisonment rate is almost 6 times that of whites.

Police Brutality

Source: Statista # of People Shot to Death (Numbers for 2020. are as of Sept.8)

2017: WHITES-457 / BLACKS-223 / HISPANICS-179 / OTHER- 44 / UNKNOWN-84

2018: WHITES-399 / BLACKS-209 / HISPANICS-148 / OTHER-36 / UNKNOWN-204

2019: WHITES-370 /BLACKS-235 / HISPANICS-158 / OTHER-39 / UNKNOWN-202

2020: WHITES-287 / BLACKS-142 / HISPANICS-96 / OTHER-17 / UNKNOWN-179

White people make up a little over 60% of the population; they make up about 41% of fatal police shootings. Black people makeup 13.4% of the population but make up 22% of fatal police shootings.

Fatal police violence is the 6th leading cause of death for men ages 25-29 across all racial groups. The lifetime risk of dying from police is at its highest from ages 20-35. This applies to men and women of all races.

What Does This Cost Us?

Many police brutality offenses and fatal police shootings are not prosecuted in criminal court. Victims and the families of victims have been able to pursue civil judgments. During the 2019 fiscal year, $175.9 million in civil judgments and claims for police-related lawsuits was paid by New York City.

$500 million was paid out by Chicago’s city between 2004 and 2014 for police misconduct-related lawsuits.

As of Feb. 6, 2020, there have been 2,674 exonerations of the wrongfully accused. 1,332 of the exonerated were Black. Black defendants are 22% more likely to have convictions involving police misconduct that eventually result in exoneration.

What Does The Bible Say?

Colossians 3:11; Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Jeremiah 13:23; Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil. Jeremiah used this proverb to warn God’s people (the Jews) they were stuck in their sinful nature and unable to change themselves. Therefore, the answer was not national reform, but national repentance and reliance upon God to change the human heart’s nature.

Evil, now fitting them like a glove, not only deep-dyed, was by now something they could not more change or wish to change than the color of their skin.

Derek Kidner

John 4:9: The Samaritan woman said to Him, “you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” ( For Jews do not associate with Samaritans).

The Jews thought Samaritans were demon possessed, John 8:48.

In Esther 3:8-10, Hamon plots to kill Jews because “their customs were different from all others”.

James 2:1-4, speaks on prejudice toward the poor.

In Acts 13:50 & 21:27-32, we see how prejudice led to intolerance and persecution.

When I set out to search the Bible for any advice it might hold for those who seek it; I really expected there to be more on this subject. I used the concordance and the topical index. I searched for racism, bigotry, bias, skin color, racial relations, and prejudice. This is the sum of that search. Not much. I asked God why there wasn’t more written on this topic. How could something that has caused this world such turmoil not be discussed in the Bible more than this? While studying the Bible alone, I’ve learned that when I ask God a question, He answers.

Who Is Our Neighbor?

Luke 10:25-37; On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the law?”, He replied. “How do you read it?” He answered: “‘Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your mind, and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “and who is my neighbor?’ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him’, he said, ‘ and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The lawyer replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

With these words, Jesus spoke all that ever needed to be said about racism, bigotry, or prejudice. As Christians, we are not to have any of it in our hearts. We are to love and care for everyone, no matter the color of their skin. That’s all there is to it. Simple enough. Or it should be.

Some Last Thoughts

My personal life experiences are by no means compared to others who have suffered horrible injustices because of the color of their skin. Personal experiences impact our perspective and how we can falsely perceive an entire group of people based on our experiences with just a few. I’ve learned bad people come in all colors but so do good people. Some bad people hold an office, but there are also some excellent ones.

That’s why it is so important if we are ever going to work this out to share our personal stories. When we hear stories of what other people have lived and experienced, it helps us become more compassionate.

Are We Letting Others Incite Us?

Acts 13:50; But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution…..

Acts 21:27; “…. the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people…vs.30; ….And all the city was moved, and the people ran together…”

Dear fellow Christians, no matter the color of your skin, if you are letting yourself be stirred up by “the Jews” or the “Pharisees” of this world, stop. Just stop, and turn from your wicked ways so that our land can be healed. The Bible has lots to say about love. Please turn off the TV, put down your phone, shut out any distraction, and read it. Because if we are ever to change this world, we must heal and change our own hearts first.

Not all white people are racist; not all black people are criminals; not all police officers are corrupt. I know this because I’ve experienced some good and bad from all of them. I can not change the world, and I know racism will never go away. But, is there anything I can do?

Doing Our Part As Christians

My Pledge

To my fellow Christians of color, I love you. I will not pass you by when I see you beaten and left for dead in the street. You are a child of God, and you are my neighbor. As a fellow child of God, I will stand with you when you want justice. I will vote for laws that bring equality for everyone, in the eyes of the law. Laws can and have changed certain things, a front seat on the bus, the right to sit in any restaurant, the right to vote, etc. But laws can not change the heart of the human.

Racism will always be here until Jesus comes to take us home. Here in this world, where evil exists, there can be no utopian society where it just disappears. But until then, I vow not to be a party to it, to stand up and speak up when I am a witness to it. But if you want me to bust up a Target and steal some lamps, that I will not do or condone. I’ve been told that it is a racist statement. But, no matter your color, if you’re a Christian, you know that is not what Jesus wants you to be doing.

Let’s ALL take a pledge to be better Christians and neighbors to each other. Let’s ALL be more like Jesus. Let’s ALL love each other because Jesus loves us ALL, red, yellow, black, or white. We may not be able to change the world, but we can at least try to change the little piece of it we each live in. As Christians, it’s our duty.