Racism is very apparent in society today, but there are many teachings in the Bible which suggest that this is very wrong, and should not be happening.

b) The quote taken from the “enemy with in” is a very narrow minded view on how white people are supposed to perceive the black race. It gives the impression that the writer believes that he and all black people are regarded as sub-human, with no compassion or regard for each other or anyone else.  That of course is not the case as can be demonstrated by people like Nelson Mandela, who healed Africa’s troubled world, and Kofi Annan, who heads the world peace organisation, and has worked hard to change peoples views against racism.  They are both Christian men with strong religious beliefs and the support they receive from co-workers, friends and family show how Christianity can unite from all nations.

        When “Ebony and Ivory” was written it talked of how it was possible for people of all races to live and work together, excepting each other each other at face value, and not prejudging because they look different. The Christian religion teaches us that is the way we should live and conduct our lives, although sadly this teaching fails at times and tragic cases such as Stephen Lawrence happened.  This is classic example of modern day racism and lack of Christian tolerance.

        The meaning of the song “Ebony and Ivory” is explained in many ways, for example ‘Ebony’ being the black keys on a piano and ‘Ivory’ being the white ones.  Unlike the human race the black and white keys of a piano work together perfectly if composed in the right hands! (the hands of God in the case of humans).  Stevie Wonder was a black man and he sang the song with Paul McCartany a white man, they sang together in “perfect harmony” to show that it is possible for people of al  races to live and work together in happiness and tranquillity.        

        To look at the song on a wider bases you could say there are more white keys on a piano than there are black, if there were more blacks then the piano would be out of tune and sound wrong, it wouldn’t work correctly. When more whites show up in a black county this causes problems, a classic example of this is in Zimbabwe a country run by black people. White farmers are being beaten and kicked of there land because the people of Zimbabwe fell their country should be farmed by blacks as it is their home land and where generations of their family’s have farmed. The same happens in many white countries, some white people feel blacks do not belong in their country. The quote taken from Malcom X “Perhaps if white Americans could except the oneness of God then perhaps they would except the oneness of man.”  Demonstrates how racism is still alive in the American culture today, and that although many Americans claim to be good Christians, this is not always the case because they do not always see all races as being equal, all being created by the one God.  If they did, there would be racism, no gettos and no division of Americans ideals.  The newspaper tells us that the Ku Klux Klan is still a strong movement in the American South, and they continue to uphold Christian ideals whilst regarding the black people as second class citizens.      

c) In the past thirty years there have been many famous people who have worked  against racism, Martin Luther King, the American Baptist Minister, is very famous for his work opposing racism. In the Southern states of America in the 1950’s and 1960’s discrimination and prejudice against black people was very common indeed. People in the black community feared that the situation was going to escalate and become like that of South Africa where black people’s earnings were only about half of those of whites. Many blacks did not have the right to vote and certain public places were said to be for "whites only" Martin Luther King was a Christian who campaigned endlessly for equal treatments of blacks and whites. He refused to support the idea that white people were all evil, as some black radicals believed. Instead, he taught that Christian love was the way forward. “Love,” he said, is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. Jesus was Martin’s inspiration; King supported non-violent protests and said that it was the way forward. He famously spoke about non-violence:
        Desmond Tutu is another example of someone who responded to racism using pacifism. He is an Anglican Archbishop in South Africa, and a Civil Rights Leader. He denounced apartheid as ‘one of the most vicious systems since Nazism’. He said that the day that he was proved wrong on this would be the day that he would burn his Bible. In South Africa apartheid was condemned by the World Council Of Churches and the South African Council Of Churches declared it as ‘a false teaching which perverts Christian truth’.
One of Desmond Tutu’s most famous quotes was: ‘I am puzzled about which Bible people are reading when they suggest religion and politics don’t mix’. He knew that God was political, because when he rescued the slaves from Egypt he led them to freedom in the Promised Land. Politics have lead in the past to the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, and when this happened the prophets spoke out, so Christians today should test government policies against Christian teaching.
        Like Desmond Tutu, Trevor Huddleston also stated that Christianity was totally opposed to the system in South Africa: ‘Christians are not only commanded to love. We are commanded to hate what is evil, and nothing is more evil than apartheid.’ Huddleston and Tutu had a life long friendship ever since Tutu was a small child, and was tremendously impressed by the way which Huddleston raised his hat to Tutu’s mother. It was almost unheard of for a white man to show that much respect towards a black.

        However there is one know Christian who is very racist towards immigration, Enoch Powell, Powell saw immigration from Britain's former colonies leading to an upsurge of crime and poverty and the fragmentation of British society. From his vantage point, the future looked bleak. "Like the Roman," Powell observed, "I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood."

        But over all I disagree with this statement as there have been many famous people who have fort against racism, they have all in their own way been an example to us all, both coloured and white, rich and poor, Christian and atheist.