Racial Jeopardy and American Politics

And Federal Courts had to issue orders into the 70's for states to integrate facilities--leading, for instance, to the establishment of a hoard of private, white, Christian academies--continuing dual systems of education to this day.

That dual system in Montgomery is not maintained out of bad will. It is a system we don't know how to get out of. One of my children attends one of those private academies--except the student population is almost all black. It is owned and run by a white church (neighborhood changed). But it is just one "new face" of a complex system of unequal educational access.

It is so easy to look at other people, places and times and 'sneer' at their injustices and not recognize that most of the time we are caught in cultures of passivity, mixed motives, confusion, systems. We don't just wake up in the morning and face a multiple choice question where there is a clear path of righteousnes

Will we walk together?

Nowhere does Harper use the word "reparations."  However, African-Americans historically have not had the same access to better schools and jobs as the rest of the nation, plus -- important -- they generally don't live among the people that do; therefore, they're not as likely to be a part of the "old-boy" network that others take from granted (thus the need for "affirmative action").

Churches in Montgomery are a mixed bag. I tend to think it best to think of One Church in the city.

Just as I would not expect any single person to fully embody and walk out all that is needed in recards to shalom--I do not expect any single congregation to do so. I think there is a passivity. I think there has always been a passivity. But even with that it is probably a mistake to judge harshly.

There is much traditional religion on the black and white side of the equation.

Dr. King's church was a break-off of the black First Baptist Church which left the white First Baptist Church after the Civil War. So the White First Baptist was somewhat of the mainstay of the Old South. But they are really a wonderful church now with a wonderful pastor and are willing to play a pastoral role for the whole city. But it is still almost all white. The largest Methodist Church in city also has a love for the whole city--but getting peoples to develop different habits of living on Sunday morning is very slow.

The church I attend is almost all black but also has a very city-wide heart and in my mind is best positioned as healer. It was birthed out of an African church and in some ways does not fit into either the traditional black or traditional white structures.

The place in the country where the evangelical church could have significant cultural impact is here. And as I think is often the case (individually and corporately) we think if given the chance we would form the world to be different--but when given the chance we discover we are basically formed in the world's mold--and as much as we complain about it--prefer to remain there versus changing.  Comfortable in our division--not seeing how it ultimately corrupts the Gospel

Can you give some examples of what you're referring to?

An abundance of government programs, educational initiatives, public education, and affirmative action have been in place the last few decades that have provided support to black americans. Do these count as "seeking to repair the damage"?

They do.

If this isn't what she meant, then her point was not made very well.

Because you're seeking to put words in her mouth.

In a post racial society we will are be the sades of brown, as we are already.

thank you for your thoughtful reply!

Kathleen -- I agree that education is a key element to solving this problem, as well as our economic problems. But it needs to start much earlier, while children are still developing their habits and skills. High school is too late to make fundamental changes.  What we need are more children of color going to college and becoming skilled professionals. 

Wonderful. Thank you.

Edit: hmm... Voted down twice in a fairly short time. Not sure why this very short comment received such a response.

That's kind of irrelevant, since in the South, the parties have pretty much exchanged names and the conservative Democratic Party switched nationally (and pretty much locally) to the Republican Party thanks to Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy" (continued by Reagan) of appealing to "tough on crime", and  "cut welfare" policies worded in ways like "welfare queens" to appeal to racist fears of voters in both the North and South. It worked, and Republicans are still intimating that food stamps are a program for African-Americans today. Like the country as a whole, food stamp users are mostly white. They are mostly the working poor, too.

I agree with your point that neither party represents a moral alternative--they're both political parties. JFK only supported Civil Rights laws with National Guardsmen because of the bad publicity, foreign and domestic, that non-violent Civil Rights demonstrators being violently attacked by police and civilians provided on TV and film. Recent politics has not shown either Party to be morally superior. God is a non-affiliated authority.

Are you kidding me?   I really think we have not advanced, because some think if you disagree with a person of color you are a racist or prejudiced.  Ridiculous. How about he is wrong...have you considered that?  I want a leader, not an educated family man....you actually have to use the education or actually have experience in order to get results...talking doesn't cut it. 

Hiring preferences and affirmative action may have been needed for awhile, but they are not anymore AFAICS. Also, what about the fact that such preferential treatment has caused resentment and racial DIS-harmony since the Mid 1960's?

This is because the one item that was required to make things work -- actual human contact across racial lines -- couldn't be forced and in some cases was discouraged.  Unfortunately, that came mostly from the black side, especially in the North.

What are the churches like in Montgomery? Are there any congregations that embody the shalom of Christ in terms of race?

I'm not really aware of any where I live

huh?  Can you rephrase that?

Also, apparently someone doesn't approve of me even asking this question.  Did I commit a racial faux pas or something?

I believe her reference to income was pointing to a symptom of the problem not a solution.  Still I think a flat "no" was a bit to harsh (and only a bit mind you).  There have been programs that have small attempts to try repair some of the damage.  The problem that we experienced in Michigan is that as soon as we allowed scholarships based on "ethinicity" to try and increase the amount of black Americans attending colleges in our state, some of the more "clear minded" people in our state, belonging to a political party that will remaing nameless,  labeled this as reverse racism decided to make it illegal.  All of a sudden because a few kids with B- averages couldn't get into UofM they and thier parents decided that it was because they were letting in to many Black people that "had not bussiness being there."  The arguments were usually "I work harder than they do",  "I probably have better grades than they do (because they're black), "It's not fair"  (that I live in a wealthy powerfull white town and have all the privilages of that power, and then some kid who has grown up in a powerless situation with less access to education has a chance at the education that I want, resulting in the possibility that I may have to go my second choice of schools).  yeah this is not a post racial society,  race is very important, it's just that we whites are now feeling threatened that we may not always have all the power and are trying to keep as much as we can. 

Citation??

It's a bit more than a few kids not getting into schools with B- averages. Blue collar whites have very limited access to the best schools in the country, which reserve their spots for minorities, legacies, and kids who go to elite schools. If you have an 'A' average and near perfect standardized test scores, but are white and attend a school that has not sent a student to a particular college, you have almost no chance of gaining admission.

Agreed.  I got negative votes for thanking you for a reply, as did duhsciple.  I got negative votes for asking a question.  And then people seem to give negative votes to people whose opinions they don't agree with.  If someone disagrees with what another wrote he or she should either write a response or let it lie.  I think negative votes should be reserved for people who are rude, call names, make negative accusations without evidence to back it up, violate the code of conduct, etc.

Someone is perhaps trying to disrupt discussion.

This blog has existed for at least eight years, and there have always been a few people trying to disrupt discussion.  That's why I often go off on them here.

Barak Obama's election as President of the United States does signal a dramatic shift in the black/white reality in the US. The fact that an African American could be elected President is very significant, and God's grace moved people to see that it was reasonable. That does not mean society is not racist in how it works, though, thankfully, being racist is seen as unreasoning and distasteful to almost everyone. Systems in and of themselves can be racist, without malice or conscious racism from any individual, and some easy places to see it are in education, the drastically different effects of the economic collapse, and most of all, in the criminal justice system.

To say that racism is alive and well in society today is not to attack white people, or to say that white people where I live are less racist than somewhere else. Racist systems exist particularly well when they are maintained by people who aren't particularly malicious or racist, "colourblind", and who would like to see a "post-racial" world. We've made lots of progress, but we're far from equality. I don't think letjusticerolldown is suggesting we just concentrate on all the good that God has inspired toward equality and harmony, and anything that's not fair will just work itself out in time. Without forgetting all the progress that's been made, let's continue to see injustice for what it is, and tell the truth in love, no matter what the cost.