Finding Jesus during racism

I must admit racism would have been the last thing I thought I would be writing about when I graduated college 20 years ago. Yet, here we are, one of the greatest and most powerful nations in the world with racism continuing to be an issue. For generations we, as Christians, have tended to view racism as something in the slavery days, Civil War times, segregationists’ problems, and the experiences of people like Fr. Augustus Tolton. But it is your problem and its my problem today, in 2022, in the United States of America.

Last month I sat with a friend at lunch as she told me about a day at the park turned evil. It was the day her grandchild experienced racism for the first time at just 4-years old. In small town Tennessee, she told how her granddaughter, who has a white father and an African American mother, went to the city park with her grandmother. The child saw the blue slide at the other end of the park and wanted to go slide down it. The grandmother said a school bus was parked by the slide and “several, what looked like 5th and 6th graders were playing.” She said as she and her granddaughter looked on, one male white student showed kindness to the little girl and offered for her to slide on the blue slide, which is the one he was sliding on. “She was so happy both by the kindness of the ‘big kid’ and getting to slide on the blue slide,” the grandmother said.

However, after the one boy was so kind, “another male white student began criticizing and taunting the polite child for being kind to a little 4-year-old who was not white. He made racial comments to include a statement about the kind student ‘losing his country’”.

The mean boy, on the other hand, did not know he was being used by Satan to attack the goodness of the other child. Satan hates kindness. He hates others to be considerate and polite to someone. He hates others to show love to a stranger. He hates anything which reflects the beauty of Christ.

Jesus warns us in John 10:10 that Satan has one mission and one purpose: “to steal and kill and destroy.” If it is destructive and murderous at heart, then it is satanic. Racism seeks to murder the spirit, the equality of one individual to another and destroy the value and worth of that individual. It is the epitome of Satan’s handiwork in our world.

The one child who offered the little girl a chance to slide on the blue slide can be seen as an example of Jesus among us. He reaches out His hand and extends the offer to come and enjoy fellowship with Him. He provides the opportunity for us to spend time with Him and to draw near to Him. The mean boy, in contradiction, is the perfect example of Satan in our life. He spews hatred for no reason, judgment with no basis, and venom of condemnation without reprieve. He regurgitates the poisonous words of racism and hate simply because of the way a person looks. His heart speaks plainly through his mouth.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

“If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” (James 2:8)

If you want to know what Jesus Christ thinks about being racist, you need look no further than Sacred Scripture. If you want to know if God will look the other way because the mean child was simply a child, then Scripture tells us in James that what he did was a sin. In fact, James tells us if you show partiality then you are committing sin. We all know, according to St. Paul in Romans, that the “wages of sin is death”. (Romans 6:23)

The little girl, who didn’t even know what the other boy was saying or why he was not wanting her to slide on the blue slide, at the age of four was caught in the middle of hatred and racism. Sadly, I suspect it may only be the first of many times this little girl will have to deal with this. The reaction of both boys, who appeared to be classmates and the same age, shows racism begins at home. Hatred is rooted in the home. The kind of venom which spews from the mouth of a child in 5th or 6th grade toward a small 4-year-old is only taught by words and actions at home.

As Catholics, we praise God for people such as Fr. Augustus Tolton, the slave boy who grew to become America’s first African American priest who had such a dramatic impact in the communities and people he served. In speaking of Fr. Tolton, Bishop Joseph N. Perry said, “he encountered mistreatment and hate with faith, hope, and love. Father Tolton persevered even when there seemed to be no logical reason to do so; he gifted his priesthood to everyone without distinction, both white and black.” However, somehow, 125 years after the death of Fr. Tolton, this country is still facing hatred because of the color of someone’s skin. A child who does not have the ability to choose her skin color or who her parents were is faced with hatred she never knew existed.

It is my prayer that, like Fr. Tolton, as this child and all children of race grow up and encounter incidents of racism and hate, that they would, as Bishop Perry said of Fr. Tolton, encounter them “with faith, hope, and love” because that is the Christ which lives in us. It is also my prayer, dear Christians, that we as the children of God rise up and begin speaking out against this kind of hatred which is taught in the homes. If we are to see more love and less violence, then it begins at home. Let us begin the change in our own homes, and then reach out to others to begin the change in their homes.

Sacred Scripture tells us that all men are created equal. It tells us that all men, regardless of nationality, color, or culture, are made in the image of God. Jesus tells us in John 7:24 “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”  Just a few chapters later, we see Jesus reminding us to love and not hate. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

If you teach your child to hate another person simply because they are different, then you are teaching your child to sin. If you teach your child to sin, then you are stamping their ticket to a life separated from God. It is not good enough to teach your child your own personal values. You must, as Christians, teach them God’s values first and foremost. The greatest gift you could ever give your child is to introduce them to Jesus Christ. One of the best ways to do that is to simply teach them to be the good child instead of the mean child on the playground. It all starts with YOU being the good child instead of the mean child.