Racism in the United States

The United States’ long, complex, and tragic history of racism is well known but often insufficiently acknowledged. Centuries of slavery and Jim Crow, of the decimation and marginalization of native populations, and of bigotry toward successive generations of immigrants of all stripes have left deep scars. What is more, despite great strides forward, the bane of racism has proved remarkably resilient, manifesting itself in the twenty-first century in new and less overt ways in U.S. institutions, as well as in the hearts and minds of the American people. It exists, therefore, as both a harmful legacy of the past, whose effects all have inherited, and a shameful reality of the present, in which all live and participate.

In this connection, separateness and disparities of various kinds are the outcome of choices made not only by individuals but also by societal institutions, and the simple fact is that they remain widespread. To offer but a few examples, on average, households categorized as “black” bring in just 61% of the income of households categorized as “white” and have less than 8% of the wealth. The unemployment rate differs significantly between these groups, and studies show that identical job applications submitted by individuals with “African-American-sounding” names are less likely to receive a callback than those with “white-sounding names.” American cities continue to be divided along racialized lines as a result of the discriminatory housing laws of the past, as well as current practices: People in minoritized groups are offered worse conditions and higher rents, shown fewer apartments, steered to specific neighborhoods, quoted higher interest rates or turned down for conventional mortgage loans, and were more often targeted for subprime loans prior to the financial crisis. The combination of wealth inequality and segregated communities has contributed to stark contrasts in investment and educational outcomes in the nation’s property-tax-funded, and still conspicuously-unintegrated, public schools. The effects of racism can be seen in discrepancies in the rates at which different racialized groups become embroiled in the criminal justice system.

In recent years, there has been a growing sense in many quarters that relations along racialized lines are deteriorating. An increasing awareness of violence with clear racial dimensions has occasioned outrage, as well as an upsurge in confrontational approaches to the issue. The fraught national political discourse has brought to the fore and exacerbated deep-seated racial tensions in the form of increasingly extreme rhetoric and fractured and often counterproductive dialogue on race. Finally, sixty years after Martin Luther King Jr. voiced the uncomfortable truth that Sunday morning was the most segregated hour in American life, it is estimated that nearly half of all U.S. congregations still do not have a single member of another racialized group and that a single group comprises more than 80% of the membership in nine out of ten congregations.

A Faith-Based Approach

As these divisions and inequalities are both social and moral issues, it is the duty of people of faith to constructively engage with this subject and to lend their voices to it. This contribution begins with, and is founded on, the belief that the soul has no race or ethnicity and that each person is created equal in dignity and worth. However, it also acknowledges that, though racial categories are socially constructed and are not rooted either in biology or the spirit, racial identity can have a powerful impact on people’s lives. Racial prejudice and oppression have not only caused untold suffering, they have also corrupted its perpetrators. Racial categories and racialized thinking affect us all. It is important for all people, and particularly those oriented by an explicit moral framework, to acknowledge these painful truths and affirm that progress will be hindered so long as society does not fully reckon with the evil of racism. Understanding of the spiritual source and dignity of human life impels people of faith to bear witness to their brothers and sisters, to heal their shared humanity, and to forge new bonds of friendship and community between those of all backgrounds.

Religious faith aspires to build fellowship and harmony among all. But racial unity can only be achieved through racial justice, which means neither avoiding nor erasing diversity. Rather, it entails honoring differences and celebrating the beauty of the human family by bringing people together in mutual support and honest striving. It entails seeing difference not as an obstacle but as a boundless source of strength that enriches the social fabric and equips society to better tackle complex problems and build true prosperity. Much like a physical body, whose differentiated cells and organs derive their well-being from the well-being of the whole, an organically interdependent society would work in an integrated and harmonious way, permitting its component parts to fully realize their unique capacities.

Racism, as a multi-faceted system of power and privilege that functions through attitudes and behaviors and through social structures, must be tackled on both the personal and societal levels, in symbol as well as in substance. So long as racism is conceived of purely as a question of personal bigotry, on the one hand, or a problem of unjust institutions, on the other, steps taken to address the problem will only produce superficial change. In this regard, faith groups have a unique perspective and opportunity to move the conversation forward.

As people well familiar with the value of community, whose traditions speak of the connections between individual and collective transformation and who have been charged with the spiritual duty to care for their neighbors and the world around them, people of faith know they must attend to external conditions and social arrangements in order to build justice. At the same time, being fundamentally concerned with the inner life and moral development of the individual and aware that every person has the potential to do both good and evil, they know that a sense of purpose driven only by the desire to change society, with no attention being paid to the need for personal growth and transformation, is easily misdirected; the person who blames society for every wrong and ignores the importance of individual responsibility loses respect and compassion for others and is prone to divisive, antagonistic, or even violent actions in pursuit of social change. Religious systems of belief provide both deep sources of motivation and a bulwark against conceptions of human nature that give unabashed primacy to the ego and self-interest. In their teachings, one finds a foundation for hopefulness, perseverance, altruism, and faith in others.

It is clear, then, that a distinctively faith-based response to racism would be motivated by true empathy, eschew self-righteousness, seek sincere dialogue, be guided by a commitment to justice, and value self-sacrifice over self-satisfaction. It would be directed by a twofold sense of purpose — by the idea that, for lasting progress to be achieved, a project of social change cannot be divorced from a project of individual transformation. This dual purpose would be based on an understanding that, in this struggle, all individuals, communities, and institutions possess both agency and room for advancement.