Can You Be A Christian and a Racist at the Same Time?

Can you be a Christian and a racist at the same time?  The answer is “no” unless you are part of something like the Christian Identity movement or any white supremacy group claiming to be Christian.  Society condemns this obvious contradiction with loud voices.  Even if the question of the validity of their Christianity doesn’t come up in conversation, true Christians don’t associate with them or lend them support of any kind.  Somehow in the minds of most Americans this seems to be an issue that is very easy to discern and sort out.

On the other hand if you are a Christian and subscribe to philosophies such as Black Liberation Theology or lend support to the likes of Jeremiah Wright, then the answer is “yes.”  We can also throw the shameful NAACP into this group since they have formally come out of the closet.  I have attended black churches where “us and them” was preached in terms of overcoming white suppression on a regular basis.

As a black American this mindset didn’t take hold in my thinking.  I enlisted in the Army in 1976 and discovered that the racist attitudes of America were declining at a fast pace.  As I ventured outside of my subculture, I got a chance to observe America from a perspective of being immersed in it verses looking at it from a distance.  Most of what was left by the mid 1980’s was a residue that was hardly worth mentioning.  I started a residential window cleaning business in Monterey, CA in 1987 and sold the business in 2001.  When I sold that business I had over 750 clients and the white/black ratio was over 99 to 1.  Today I’m a general contractor in a community that’s probably 90% white, and up until the down turn in the economy, I was quite busy.  I’m not saying that I haven’t experienced racism in my 52 year journey, but it’s been so minimal it’s hardly worth mentioning.  I believe that being a Christian and looking at my fellow man through Christian eyes has helped me relate to all peoples in all sectors of life.

My challenge to black Christians is to really search yourselves and shake yourselves and began to think like Christ thinks on the subject of race.  If all you see is race you can’t be looking through the eyes of Christ, who is no respecter of people.  My challenge to white Christians is to shake yourselves and come out from under this accusation of being racist.  Come out from under this cultural manipulation of political correctness that keeps you silent concerning the issue.

Can you be a Christian and a racist?  I haven’t figured it out yet.

Calvin Morrow

President, CUPA

Christians Uniting for Political Action