The Jena 6
Last Thursday a minister told me that her child was wearing black as an act of solidarity with The Jena 6. The Jena who? The Jena 6. I read about this case earlier this year in a magazine. Unfortunately, this is a very important issue of which most people seemed totally unaware until its recent rise in national attention. In short, it’s a court case involving six high school black male students from a small town in Louisiana called Jena. They were arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder after beating up a male white student in response to: (1) Three white male students hanging three “lynching nooses” on a tree warning blacks to not hang out there. The school officials simply deemed it a prank. (2) One of the black students being beaten up for attending a party deemed only for white students. No charges were brought.
Race relations and racial tensions are subjects that people are usually very uncomfortable discussing. However, we must confront these very sensitive issues because I believe that racism in the church is alive and well. A Korean pastor friend of mine confronted a large organization regarding their Sunday School curriculum’s stereotyping of Asian people. He was basically told to mind his own business. I observe across our country that though many Blacks are willing to be led by pastors who are not Black, very few Whites are willing to have a pastor who is Black.
Now racism in the church is nothing new. Even in the Bible, Peter had to be confronted a number of times regarding the manner with which he interacted with non-Jews (See: Acts 10 and Galatians 2:11-14). However, you’d think that after 2,000 years, the church would have made far more progress. I believe that God’s goal has always been diversity that reflects the make up of the community. As a Black pastor, it has always been my primary goal to lead a diverse congregation. However, situations like the “Jena 6” remind me that we as a nation and “The Church in America” are going to be dealing with the issue of race for a very long time. My hope is that at least the Church will face racism head on in a manner that does not ignore its existence in the hope that it will simply go away. As usual, I invite your thoughts!
sending...
Racism in the church is nothing new, it will always be there,… until the members of the body decide to take action. We need to take ownership of the problem and actively make it go away instead of hoping and praying it goes away. Christ is our example and he actively confronted sin in all its manifestations. We have to confront the issue and set the example for the world. If we the body of Christ cannot respect each other for who God made us to be, how do we expect the world to respect each other and us for that matter?
Imagine, the world is actively confronting the wrong that happened in Jena and yet the body of Christ hopes it changes…are the children of darkness truly wiser?
Being the realist that I am, I truly believe that there is a little bit racism in all of us, no matter the color or nationality. The key point is how much does it affect out lives. When are we truly going to accept one another as brothers and sisters? I also believe that when individual have a personal motivate things can get out of hand.
The information I read or heard on the Jena 6 – it stink out loud – school offical should have address the problems before things got out of hand. Maybe these young men would not be in this situation. Questions remain to be answer, where were the other white boys when this beating happen?
Racism is never going away, as long as we have people walking around thinking they are beter, they can talk down or at people anyway they want. The big question is, when are we as African American or (black people) going to accept each other for who we are?
Bishop, this discussion is an unfortunate necessity. Although we have made some progress towards equal access to resources in the United States and throughout the world, racism is still expressed in many overt and covert ways. Those who say that racism is dead are in denial!
What I find most interesting in these circumstances, such as in Jena, Louisiana, is that those who draw major attention to injustice are religious and political leaders. In this case, Rev. Al Sharpton and Michael Dyson. Religious figures, such as Louis Farrakhan, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mahatma Ghandi have fought for equal rights. It makes me think that we as believers should be, as you said on Sunday “Agents of Change” for social justice and the expression of the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Be blessed!