Wait, so am I a racist? Thoughts on the Klan, Costumes and Craigsville

Halloween costume or social statement? 

  

Jessica Black's choice to dress her son in a Ku Klux Klan outfit for Halloween has put her and the town of Craigsville in the national spotlight. The response, predictably, has not been kind. 

Now, personally, I would never dress my son up in a Black Panther costume. (He's biracial. It'd be a bit of a contradiction anyway.)

But does that mean I'm not racist?  Are racists only the people who do outwardly racist things? Is it possible to be a closet racist who navigates society a little more smoothly than Jessica Black?

 In light of the current controversy, here are three questions I asked myself. 

• Would I be willing to be part of the solution in the Craigsville Klan Costume scenario? The easy thing to do is get mad or get "even." Would I be willing to do the hard thing? Would I be willing to befriend Jessica Black (how ironic is that last name?) and allow her to truly have a friendship with a black person in order to remove some of the stereotypes? 

• How am I working through racism in my own life? I'm black. I absolutely love being black and black culture. It comes with hardships for sure, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I love the music, the food, the style of fashion and the unique brand of humor. 

The problem isn't with appreciating my culture. The problem is when I fail to appreciate other people's culture.  We fail to appreciate other cultures when we make our own the absolute standard. It becomes obvious when we make subtle statements like:

1. That is NOT how you season chicken. 
2. That's NOT how Amazing Grace sounds at my church. 
3. Why is their table always the loudest in the cafeteria?
4. Why is he wearing khakis? It's Saturday!
5. Y'all follow directions to make Kool-Aid? 
6. I can't stand (insert any different culture than your own here) music. 

Some of those items above just highlight that different cultures have different ways of doing things. Isn't it true that we are bordering on racism when we make one culture (usually our own culture) the standard instead of appreciating that different cultures have different tendencies?

Life becomes so much richer when we can appreciate the gifts each culture has to offer and so much more bland when we can only appreciate our own. 

•  Finally, am I against institutional racism or just overt racism?  In Edward Gilbreath's book Reconciliation Blues,  Gilbreath recounts a chapel message given by Rev. Russell Knight to Moody Bible Institute students in February of 1991. Wrestle through the implications of his quote. 

"You might say, 'I'm a not a racist. I have not done anything to anyone personally.' But the problem is that we have to be careful that we do not enjoy the benefits (of racism).  When we silently enjoy the benefits of racism; when we do not protest injustice to those who are poor, powerless and oppressed; when we decide it's not our problem and go on enjoying the fruits of a racist system, then we too are racist." (1)

That one stings the most. We've all seen examples of systemic racism. Some may favor our own race. Some may oppress our own race. Wright's point is that when we see it and we do nothing about it, we're actually saying "This particular racial injustice isn't worth fighting. We're willing to live with it." 

I write blogs like these with the hopes of starting conversations. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you wrestle through the issue of racism. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her guest blog here),  a father of five wonderful kids, and a Young Life leader in his hometown in Staunton, VA.  He has written for The News Leader, VIBE, HipHopDx.com, Rapzilla.com, Young Life Relationships and other publications.  Moody Publishers recently published his first book, You're Grounded, which you can read about here.

1. Gilbreath, Edward, Reconcilation Blues (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Books) 2006, p. 49.

"The Oreo Crumb in a Cup of Milk" 3 reasons you should read Reconciliation Blues

Rule Number one: No Country music in the Ghetto Blaster. 

 

The Ghetto Blaster, of course, was the name for the boombox in the boys' basketball locker room. Even though the black students were the minority in the school, we were the majority on the team. 

I remember one day one of my white teammates trying to replace our "Get Hyped" music - which was always hip-hop - with a country or bluegrass type of song called The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Needless to say, the song was quickly stopped. Our song, Time To Flow, was re-inserted. And I never thought about it again. 

But maybe I should have.

Here's what happened that day. One culture was validated. Another culture was invalidated. It was clear. There wasn't room for cultural diversity in our minds. We were the dominant culture. Everyone outside of our culture needed to assimilate. 

Listen to what we like only.

Fast forward some decades, and my life has been radically transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. For the past decade, I've studied in depth what the church needs to look like in my community so that no one feels like my teammate when he learned that country music wasn't allowed in the locker room.  

I want my friends to see the gospel and the church as beautiful, but I know my friends will rightly reject anything that tries to make them assimilate culturally.  (You can read a blog I wrote for Rapzilla.com about the church and the hip-hop generation here.)  

A friend in ministry told me I had to read Ed Gilbreath's book Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity. Now I'm telling you to read it, too,  for the following three reasons. 

1. It's well written. Instead of a bunch of church statistics, Gilbreath makes his points through the power of story. Readers are allowed to go with him on his journey. It's comical at times, sad at others. And well worth the read.

2. You might be in the minority. My spiritual journey has led me to be the "Oreo crumb in the cup of milk," or the only black guy in the room, on many occasions. It's freeing to know others before have had the struggle of trying to navigate this.

3. You might be in the majority. Whenever I'm the "Oreo Crumb," the cultural issues and differences are easy to spot. In the locker room, when I was part of the majority, the problem becomes much more difficult to spot. This book will also help increase racial awareness for the majority culture as well.
  
If your hope is that the church doesn't wait until heaven to integrate, a good first step is picking up this book, which you can find here. 

 P.S. If my teammate were ever to read this, I just want you to know that I listened to The Devil Went Down to Georgia today. It wasn't that bad. 

Question: Is your church diverse?  If so, what has helped your church achieve diversity? If not, what have been the barriers to diversity?

Note: I purchased this book on my own. I've never met Edward Gilbreath. I did not get paid anything to endorse this book.

Chris Lassiter is a husband and father of five, radically transformed by the gospel of grace and hoping to see a gospel-proclaiming, racially diverse, missional church in his hometown of Staunton, VA, some day. He was writtten for The News Leader, VIBE, Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com and many other places. He is the author of You're Grounded, which you can find here.