Fragile?

The Scriptures offer us keys to understanding one another, and that involves seeing people who are from different backgrounds as individuals, not merely members of certain people-groups.  Colossians 3 tells us that we...
(10) ...have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering...

Our status as new creations in Christ means we can have a new worldview and a new view of other people.  Because we love God, we can see others from His perspective and love them accordingly, as fellow human beings, members of the human race, for whom Jesus died.  We can bear with one another and learn from one another, seeking to understanding the perspective of someone else.  For the believer, we find that reliance on the world's ways can be insufficient to bring healing of relationships.

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God's intention for this world is for all to come to know Christ, which is the basis for eternal unity,
that is displayed in Revelation 7:
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

All are invited, and as the Scripture teaches in James 2, God is not partial.

In the grand scheme of things, I believe that we can continue to laud progress that has been made in the area of race relations in America.  There has been much that has been said over the last few days about the contributions of noted civil rights leader John Lewis, who passed away Friday night.

And, positive developments in the area of civil rights can be attributed to Lewis and his contemporaries.

However, there are dangerous trends in our culture that threaten to unravel some of the work that has been done regarding how Americans of different racial backgrounds can live together in our country.  And, while the aftermath of the death of George Floyd has perhaps opened up dialogue into how we can take racial harmony to a new level, there is content that has risen to the forefront that poses a threat to how we regard each other.  And, this is especially important to the Church, which, I believe, can have a leadership role in the area of race relations.

Recently, the The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture posted a graphic that outlined certain characteristics of what it calls "whiteness." The Washington Times reports that the museum...

...has removed a “whiteness” graphic that ascribed traits such as “hard work,” “self-reliance,” “delayed gratification,” being on time, and politeness to “white culture.”

The graphic also contains a equating of so-called "whiteness" to Christianity, which is an insult to scores of devoted African-American believers.

The article continued by saying:

Project21’s Horace Cooper accused the museum of trying “to offer advice to cripple Black America.”

“To call those [skills] somehow a racial category would make David Duke proud,” said Mr. Cooper on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle.” “This is really, really sad.”

The criticism wasn’t only on the right. The liberal magazine Newsweek took issue with the chart in a story headlined, “In Smithsonian Race Guidelines, Rational Thinking and Hard Work are White Values.”

Commentator Ben Shapiro stated, "The problem ain’t the chart,”adding,“The problem is the entire propagandistic critical race theory effort.”

The article related that the Smithsonian museum, in a statement, said: "Since yesterday, certain content in the ‘Talking About Race’ portal has been the subject of questions that we have taken seriously,” adding, “We have listened to public sentiment and have removed a chart that does not contribute to the productive discussion we had intended.” The apology referred to the museum's "ascribing a multitude of positive traits to 'whiteness.'"

But, the museum's website, while removing the controversial graphic, retained its "Whiteness" section which includes a video from a lady named Robin DiAngelo, author of a book called, White Fragility.  The ideas of DiAngelo are getting increased scrutiny these days.  Recently, The Epoch Times reported:

The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) passed on a recommendation to read “White Fragility,” whose author argues that any gains the United States has made since its founding have come “through identity politics.”

Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley Jr., the DIA director, mentioned in a recent townhall and in his weekly email to employees that a DIA officer recommended reading “White Fragility,” a spokesman for the agency told The Epoch Times in an email.

Christian writer and commentator Samuel Sey of the Slow to Write blog, who has been a harsh critic of Critical Race Theory and a signatory to the excellent Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel, stated about White Fragility:  

But the most disturbing thing about White Fragility isn’t what it says about white people or black people. The most disturbing thing about White Fragility is what it says about sin and repentance, human nature and God’s character.

Naturally, White Fragility doesn’t mention God. However, the gods of anti-racism are mentioned throughout the book. In anti-racism, black people and white anti-racists like Robin DiAngelo are precious deities whom we must devote ourselves to, if we don’t want to be racists—or in my case, if I don’t want to internalize racism.

Sey goes on:

In anti-racism, the gospel is irrelevant and racist. Essentially, anything that isn’t in conformity to anti-racism is racist—including the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, anti-racists like Robin DiAngelo aren’t interested in repentance from sinners, they’re only interested in revolutions against systems. Anti-racists believe racism resides in a white person’s skin colour, not in all our hearts. 

This is a great reminder that in order to model proper race relations, the ways of this world are insufficient.

Recently, John McWhorter, a professor at Columbia University who is affiliated with the "1776 Unites" organization led by noted Christian civil rights leader Robert Woodson, stated about DiAngelo's book on The Atlantic website:

She operates from the now-familiar concern with white privilege, aware of the unintentional racism ever lurking inside of her that was inculcated from birth by the white supremacy on which America was founded. To atone for this original sin, she is devoted to endlessly exploring, acknowledging, and seeking to undo whites’ “complicity with and investment in” racism. To DiAngelo, any failure to do this “work,” as adherents of this paradigm often put it, renders one racist.

He says that "White Fragility is the prayer book for what can only be described as a cult."  

Neil Shenvi is a Christian apologetics expert in the study of Critical Race Theory, which he says is "an ideology that divides the world into dominant, oppressor groups and subordinate, oppressed groups. Dominant groups subjugate subordinate groups through the exercise of hegemonic power – the imposition of their values, norms, and expectations on society." Shenvi writes about a premise of DiAngelo's book:

The white person seems to have been placed into an impossible situation: he can either admit that he is racist and fragile. Or he can demonstrate that he is racist and fragile by denying that he is racist and fragile.

He writes:

All people, especially those of us who strongly disagree with DiAngelo’s assessment, should be open to correction, willing to expose their prejudices, and humble enough to admit their ignorance. But my worry is that accusations of “white fragility” -like accusations of “race baiting” or “virtue signaling”- will be used to suppress dissent and shut down dialogue, fueling polarization, resentment, and disengagement. The path to racial healing is found not by unifying subordinate groups against a common enemy, but by seeking common ground on the basis of our shared humanity.

As I stated earlier, we have to recognize that Christians have a better way to right relationships between people of different races than the world has to offer.  We can rely on the love of God, the power of God, and the authority of Scripture in order to be able to see what is termed "racial reconciliation."

But, you have to wonder if people who are promoting so-called "racial reconciliation" really want that.  The Church can lead the way in the area of generating a greater understanding between people of different backgrounds.  But, I fail to see how divisive language and harsh generalizations accomplish that purpose.

Finally, we have to make sure that people of different races and backgrounds do not adopt an "us vs. them" mentality.  I have quoted from San Diego pastor Miles McPherson, who talks about that concept.  It is destructive to say that all whites are the same and all people of color are the same and view entire people groups as our enemy.  We have to recognize that we can united around what we have in common - in the present, so that we can walk together and craft a future based on mutual understanding and trust.