The law on racism states it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because of his/ her race, colour nationality or ethnic origins.
- What Christian teachings might be used in a discussion about Racism?
In the discussion, a Christian would use the Bible to refer to, and also church teachings.
The Bible has a very strong view on racism, and the way you treat other people. The Bible says very clearly that it is wrong for one person to treat another as inferior in anyway. Christians believe that everybody should be treated as equal, regardless of their colour, beliefs or ethnic background. Christian teachings talk strongly about equality and how you should treat someone who is an ‘Alien’ in your land, as an equal.
In the New Testament, probably the best known teaching that could be used in a discussion on the topic of racism and prejudice is the parable of the Good Samaritan. In the time of Jesus, Samaritans were considered as an inferior ethnic group.
A man was beaten and mugged by thugs while walking from Jerusalem to Jericho, he lay bleeding and in need of help by the side of the road. A priest came upon the man, but he passed by on the other side of the road, so to did a Levite pass by on the other side of the road. But then, a Samaritan came to the man and stopped, he bandaged his wounds and took him to an inn and gave the innkeeper the money to look after him until he got better.
Christians would say that we must not divide between people, but must take into consideration that Christ is in all of them.
‘You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’
(Galatians 3: 26-28)
Christians could put forward the point that people should not show favouritism to other members of the church just because they would benefit form these peoples wealth and high status.
‘Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also come in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’ but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet.’ Have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?’
(James 2: 1-9)
It explains that people should not make up their minds about someone by the way that they look.
Most racism comes about when a foreigner come to your land and lives with you. Christian would treat immigrants in exactly the same way as they would treat someone native to their country.
‘When an alien lives with you in your land, do not ill-treat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt.’
(Leviticus 19: 33-34)
To summarise, the Christian view on racism s that it is wrong and against the will of god
B) How might Christians put their beliefs into action?
If a Christian thinks that is wrong to be racist and therefore be prejudice and discriminate against other people, they might decide to put their views into action and there are many ways in which they can do this.
First of all they could make absolutely certain that they are in no way racist or prejudice themselves, and make an effort, when maybe meeting new people, to avoid forming opinions of them before they got to know them properly. A Christian could also make it clear to other people that they are not racist and that they disapprove of things like racist jokes, as well as this the Christian could encourage other people to share their views against racism, one way to do this is to bring up their children to share their views about all of humanity being equally valuable.
They could go out and do something which benefits the community, like making sure that members of the community who are from ethnic minorities are made to fell welcome, included and made to feel equal. They could use their vote to support for someone who policies are anti-racist.
One person who publicly aired their views against inequality and racism towards black people in America, was Martin Luther King, born in 1929, he was the son of a black Christian minister.
In 1955 a black dressmaker, refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus, even though the law stated she had to, she was subsequently arrested, but the rest of the black community in Montgomery, Alabama stood with her and refused to use the buses at all until the rule was changed, which happened in 1956. This marked the beginning of what became known as the American Civil Rights movement, and from 1960, Martin Luther King was its leader.
King was positive that the fight against racism in America could be won by non-violence. He organised campaigns, marches, boycotts, demonstrations, and gave speeches to huge crowds, explaining his vision for the future of America; this contradicted the ideas of another civil rights activist Malcolm X. Instead of a black Christian, Malcolm X had converted to Islam, originally called Malcolm Little; he believed that violence would be necessary to get equal rights in America.
Kings most famous speech was give in Washington, August 1963 on the steps of the Abraham Lincoln memorial, which included the famous phrase “I have a dream”. But he was murdered aged only 39 in Memphis, Tennessee, by a white man, James Earl Ray.
Trevor Huddleston was a priest from London, who has helped the underprivileged, and done something about injustice wherever he could. He campaigned relentlessly for the end of the apartheid in South Africa, by organising boycotts. He thought of the idea of persuading people in other countries to stop having anything to do with South Africa, so that the government would be forced to change its rules if it wanted to keep South Africa wealthy.
C) ‘Violence is an appropriate response to racism’
When racism occurs people respond differently, due to maybe the seriousness of the incident or incidents and how it was carried out. Some Christians and also non-Christians have the belief that a non-violent response is the best path to take when confronted with racism. They believe that whatever happens, violence should not be used as a response. They could report the incident to the police but also they are able to ring up a hotline which gives support to people affected by racism.
I think that this statement is very negative, as it gives the impression that violence is the only way to solve things, and it is not. People need to talk about matters that concern them with the people that are causing the problems, doing this will make dealing with the problem of racism easier. The saying 'two wrongs don't make a right' is a very appropriate saying to use in the issue of racism because racism towards people is wrong and so is violence. When one puts the two together, to deal with each other, it does not make the situation right. In fact, it will make the situation worse because it will cause hatred between the racist and the victim.
There is a quote in the bible, Matthew 5 38-39 where Jesus speaks about revenge. "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. But now I tell you do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too." What this means is, if someone hurts you once, do not respond in a violent manner, turn the other cheek and let them do it again. It shows that Jesus was against violence. Sometimes people agree that racists should be dealt with in a violent way. In some ways, this is correct because if people have the attitude to be racist towards another person, they need to be punished, and if violence fits this sort of punishment. People, whatever race they are have to choice to decide where they live. They deserve to feel comfortable in their home even if it is not where the majority of their race lives. No one has the right to speak badly about another human because of the colour of their skin. They need violence to show them racism is unfair. Racism is something very personal to people as it shows what they believe in .Some people prefer to deal with it in a violent manner, and others prefer to deal with it in a more subtle way, for example a discussion. It is unfair to discriminate against people because of the colour of their skin. Everyone is born equal. I have come to the conclusion that this statement is wrong, due to its negative approach. Violence does not solve anything, and even though racism is wrong, violence is just as wrong. Gandhi and Martin Luther King are people in the past who have achieved a lot to cancel out racism without turning to violence. Although it took them longer to achieve it, in the end less people were hurt so violence does not pay off.
Bibliography
- Contemporary Moral Issues- Joe Jenkins- Heinemann- 0-435-30311-2
- Christian Perspectives- Libby Ahluwahlia- Hodder and Stoughton- 0-340-78965-4
- Today’s Issues and Christian Beliefs- Simon and Christopher Danes- Lion- 0-7459-2521-9
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Racism (21st Century Debates)- Cath Senker- Hodder Children’s Books- 0-7502-4209-4
- Racism (Just The Facts)- Adrian Cooper- Heinemann Library- 0-4311-6140-2
- Racism (Global Issues)- Samid Garg- Hodder Wayland- 0-7502-1173-3
