I’m going to tell just one little story that happened last year, of dozens I could tell from my personal experience, that reveal just a little of who keeps stirring race up and how race keeps getting stirred up. This is a true story:
A Christian woman I know very well had a house for rent next door to her own home, so she put up a sign. A black woman with a small child knocked on her front door and asked if she could apply to rent the house. The Christian woman told her that it had already been rented, the young woman said, “thank you,” and walked away. The owner came back in and said, “I don’t ever rent to blacks or Mexicans. I don’t trust them.”
The Christian woman who owned the rent house, whom I know very well, dealt that young black woman a race card. The ~owner~ played the race card in this transaction. So now the young black woman, unfortunately and through no fault of her own, can’t rent the home and of course wonders if the house is really rented. This happens repeatedly, even though it is illegal (thankfully), and in my experience it is common knowledge in African-American, Latino, and other minority communities. It is also common knowledge among those who rent homes; at least it was in Texas where I often heard it from landlords (and realtors) who didn’t know me very well.
So I cordially ask, as a male of European descent, where are all those thousands of race cards coming from? Who dealt the race cards in the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s when only land owning white males could vote and pass on inheritance? Who dealt the race cards in the 1900s when the KKK lynched African-Americans by the hundreds and it took colossal efforts just to pass voting rights acts and try to limit and end discrimination in housing and employment? Millions of race cards have been dealt by those of us who were experts in making and printing them – white people have been in power in this country for centuries and we have manufactured race cards by the millions. The race card game is ~our~ game.
Then, when a person of color dares to suggest that perhaps they were discriminated against because of race I hear of chorus of white people saying, “How dare they play a race card!” Well, sisters and brothers, they have stacks and stacks and stacks of them that they’ve been given. They just store most of them in the closets, garages, and attics of their souls and we white folks never hear a word about them. But every once in a while the wrong colored hand puts the card on the table and it makes those of us who thought we had a monopoly on the cards, a corner on the market, squirm with discomfort.
It is possible that a person of color might think they’re discriminated against when they aren’t – this just seems to be an obvious possibility to the non-Anglo friends that I’ve talked to – but that’s another deeply destructive aspect of the race card game where so many white folks have handed out so many race cards over the years. How is that young black woman to know whether she really got a race card handed to her from that landlord or whether she’s being overly skeptical? If she thought, “I’m just too skeptical,” she was wrong.
Tags: civil rights, discrimination, ethnicity, prejudice, race, racism, reconciliation, truth telling
What makes you think that your “Christian” friend who played the race card is a Christian? What do you call a “Christian”?
That’s a perfect question to ask – what does it mean to say we’re “Christians?” I think one could make an argument that we’re not very good followers of Jesus if we’re racist or prejudiced.
The lady was a self-proclaimed Christian and all her family and friends knew her as a 3-times-a-week church attending, tongue-talking, tithes-paying, missions-supporting, Sunday School-teaching, Christian.
I know Christians who think it’s okay to kill people sometimes, but I seriously disagree with them. Am I willing to say they’re not Christians? No. I think it’s a matter of discipleship or ’sanctification’ rather than salvation (that’s by grace), but it’s tempting to think that if someone says they’re following Jesus but advocate killing of enemies rather than loving of enemies, then maybe they don’t quite get it yet.
Same is true for racism….
Paul, an excellent post, especially timely because this week Jimmy Carter said, ““I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American.” This morning I was listening to a white radio personality upset about Carter’s comments. Your post was a clear explanation of how we whites have used the race card for generations and get upset when others use it.
Paul, I came across your blog searching for information on “Peace to War: Shifting Allegiances in the Assemblies of God”, by Paul Alexander. And the first post I read is this one about race. I have seen Christians play their race cards my complete 63 year life.
I live in NorthTexas, not a hot bed of Democratic voters for sure, but one thing I have noticed in just the last couple of months is a pickup just down the street flying a new, very large, Confederate flag! Raicst? I believe so, but I don’t know the man’s heart. Believe it or not, though my neighborhood is very intergrated. I have yet to ask any of my black neighbors their thoughts on the Confederate flag waving pickup truck.
Why my interest in Alexander’s book? After leaving the Navy, getting married and having two childrens I re-entered the Navy and finished a career. One issue I had a spiritural battle with was earning my living in an organization designed to fight war. I basically came to the very common conclusion that there is a “time for war.” But, I don’t believe as we do now to all but worship war and violence as a way to solve personal or national issues. I find that very much anti-Christ like. During this time and a few years later my family worshiped in the AG church.
Back to the race thing quickly. One of our last Navy transfers was from Pensacola, FL to a ship in San Diego. For about a month we had our home in Pensacola up for sale. EVERY white person that looked at it asked, “how many “‘n-word’” live around here?” That was 1988. I just had a conversation with an older than me retire Master Chief there – and believe me things have not changed for about a third or more of the population in that area – Christians and non-Christians.
Peace to you and yours,
Randy of Lewisville, TX