Christianity and Racism

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

a)i) What is Racism?

Racism can be found in many forms. It is defined as a prejudice or discrimination that race is the primary factor determining human traits and abilities. A prejudice is literally when somebody pre-judges somebody or something, whereas discrimination is when you act upon your prejudice. So, prejudice is a thought but discrimination is an action.

There are many people who have discriminated against other races over time. One way of discriminating against others is by ethnic cleansing. This is the term given when somebody tries to protect his or her race from so called “contamination”. This is what happened in Nazi Germany when Hitler believed that Jews were inferior to his Aryan race.

There is a type of racism that is institutional racism. This is when an authority is used to the advantage of one race over another. A good example of this is when the police was taken to court over a charge of institutional racism because of Stephen Lawrence’s death. The police were accused of not doing enough to find Stephen’s killer because of the colour of his skin.

There are many reasons for racism. The first could be Xenophobia. This is the fear of foreigners. People who suffer from this phobia are scared so they feel that they have top do something about it. Another reason for racism is people’s upbringing. Their parents may have taught them that people from a different race are inferior, so that they hate them in later life.

The third reason for racism is because of history. In the past when countries have invaded others there has been hostility between the two of them. They tried to justify taking other people’s land by saying that they were not as good as the people invading them. Also in the past there was a very large slave trade. This trade showed people that these different coloured slaves were only worthy of being slaves.

Racism has had very grave consequences for millions of people. For example in South Africa there used to be apartheid. This was the split of whites and coloureds. The two races were totally separated, each receiving different rights. Also in Germany during World War Two hundreds of thousands of Jews were murdered.

There are laws in place to prevent racism. For example the Race relations act. This states that

You must not deny anybody an opportunity because of the colour of his or her race.
You must not stir up racial hatred by using racist language ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

There are laws in place to prevent racism. For example the Race relations act. This states that

You must not deny anybody an opportunity because of the colour of his or her race.
You must not stir up racial hatred by using racist language or threats.
You must not send out racist literature.

a) ii) What Christian teachings could be used in a discussion about racism?

There are many different teachings that can be used in the discussion about racism. These teachings can be taken from many different places in the Bible. The first teaching that they can use is a parable told by Jesus. This parable is about the Good Samaritan. In the time of Jesus there was great hostility between Jews and Samaritans, the two of them could not stand the sight of each other.

In the parable a Jew is attacked while walking down the road, but all of his so-called friends cross the road and leave their fellow Jew to die. But, when a Samaritan who is walking down the road sees the man he cleans his wounds and pays for accommodation for the man until he is fully healed. This tells Christians to ignore race or religion and to help whoever is in need.

Another passage that can be used in the debate on racism is found in the very first chapter of the Bible. A part of the creation story states that “All human beings are made in the image of God”. In Genesis 2:19-20 it says that “Human beings are made for each other; to live in community and to have corporate responsibility for the whole of creation”. This tells Christians that all humans need to live together, not to argue but to work together.

Possibly the biggest and most important section of the Bible that can be used in a discussion on racism is found in Genesis 3:20. This passage says “unlike the rest of creation there are no separate species within humanity. There is only one human race. What we call ‘races’ are nothing more significant than slight variations of the basic human stock”.

This section of the Bible is a very definite statement that there is no real difference between anybody on this earth. For this reason the Bible teaches that there should be no racism.

b) Explain how Christians might put their beliefs about racism into action.
There are many things that Christians can do to put their beliefs about racism into action. There are also many examples that they have to follow. There are many ways in which Christians can put their beliefs into action.

The first person whose example they could follow is Desmond Tutu. Desmond Tutu was born in 1931 and by 1986 he had become South Africa’s first black archbishop. He did not agree with the racism in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. The way in which he put his beliefs into action was by speaking out against the South African government’s Apartheid regime. This gained him a Noble piece prize.

Another Christian who put their beliefs about racism into action is Trevor Huddleston. One Christmas he saw his own Father tell an Indian man that they had nothing for him. This inspired him to become a priest, because he was determined to put his Christian Faith into action. He thought that racism was “profoundly evil”, so he put his beliefs about racism into action by organising boycotts. The most effective of which was the sporting boycott that he organised. He took an important part of their life away from them.

Probably the most famous example of somebody who put their beliefs about racism into action was Martin Luther King. He did many things to conquer the racism in America, however he only ever used none violence. The first thing that he did was to organise a bus boycott. This cost the bus companies so much money that they almost became bankrupt. Another way in which he put his beliefs into action was by making speeches. This encouraged people to do something about racism themselves.

Christians are able to put their beliefs about racism into action by joining a group or organisation. One group that they could join is the Anti Nazi League. This is a group who are opposed to neo-Fascists. They put their beliefs into action by using politics.

There are many ways in which Christians can put their beliefs into action. This ranges from boycotts to speeches.

c) ‘Violence is an appropriate response to racism’ Do you agree with this statement? Argue for and against, using reference to Christianity in your answer.

I do not agree with this comment. I feel that there is no need for violence because people have so many other ways in which to show their feelings. The first reason that I feel this is because of Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King was a Baptist priest who was inspired by Ghandi and his ideas about non-violence. He decided that he could put these ideas into practice himself. He organised many non-violent protests or sit-ins. These involved sitting in a segregated shop or café and refusing to move until they agreed to stop the segregation. This was a man who believed in none violent protest, yet he still managed to do so much for the black people of America.

There is also many different ways in which you can get back at somebody, other than violence, if you are being discriminated against. There are laws in place that forbid people to use racist language. This means that if somebody does use this language you are able to report it to the police, and the person with be dealt with by the courts.

Violence is also not an appropriate response to racism because of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus taught his disciples to turn the other cheek in Matthew chapter 5. However some people could argue that it is not always possible to turn the other cheek to people who are insulting you and/or your family.

People may also argue that violence is an appropriate response to racism because everybody has the right to stand up for who they are. If they did not then the racists may offend somebody else. Therefore they need to be stood up against.

I feel that violence is not an appropriate response to racism. I feel this because there is so much more that can be done to combat racism far more effectively, for example sit-ins and non-violent protests.