Reconciling Racism: America's Unfinished Journey

America especially, has struggled with reconciling “All men are created equal” with the injustice that has been done in the past, and how injustice still affects us today. Racism begins with a prejudice presupposition that ones racial/ethnic group is of a lower stature than one’s own race. Which justifies the acts of oppression and feelings of superiority, and though America no longer has institutional racism, the system and the aftermath of it are still felt, and propagated today, thus furthering the need for reconciliation. Tatum uses the definition: a “system of advantage based on race", though we no longer have institutionalized slavery or Jim Crow laws, there still is a pervading white privilege system that lingers in our society. Often, racism is viewed as just having hateful thoughts and opinions about another race, whereas this

As Christians, we are to follow Christ’s model, and are called to the ministry of reconciliation. What does that look like exactly? I don’t know to be honest. Personal transformation, begins with the individual, and as Christians, our responsibility needs to start by understanding that all humans are created in Gods Image, and are worthy of His Love. With that in mind, we need to do what we can in our spheres of influence to combat and refute both subtle and blatant forms of racism. Though several have been privileged and under-privileged in the past, both sides need to make efforts at reconciliation, for transformation is brought through community, and communities require mutual cooperation to bring forth transformation. So as followers of Christ, we need to start breaking the patterns of both subtle and blatant racism, and let the Spirit guide us in our relationships, in order to be faithful to the mission of reconciliation that Christ has called us