EthicsDaily is committed to working alongside partners addressing the destructive ramifications of racism while seeking pathways toward repentance, reconciliation and redemption.
“We need a powerful sense of determination to banish the ugly blemish of racism scarring the image of America,” Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his 1964 book, “Why We Can’t Wait.”
“We can, of course, try to temporize, negotiate small, inadequate changes and prolong the timetable of freedom in the hope that the narcotics of delay will dull the pain of progress. We can try, but we shall certainly fail,” he said. “The shape of the world will not permit us the luxury of gradualism and procrastination. Not only is it immoral, it will not work … because it retards the progress not only of the Negro, but of the nation as a whole.”
King was correct. The cruel blemish of racism cannot be healed with a simple naïve hope that the next generation will be better than the present.
Gradualism is nothing less than the sin of apathy or neglect toward the historic and present injustices of racism.
Racism, in all forms, must be confronted swiftly, denounced immediately and baptized in the waters of repentance, reconciliation and redemption.
All people of faith that take their Scriptures seriously must recognize this mandate and work now for a better tomorrow.
The importance of working immediately on racial justice has never been more apparent in our local communities and around the world. The time for the church to stand up for racial justice is critically pertinent.
EthicsDaily has enlisted numerous religious leaders to address racial justice. With keen insight and prophetic proclamation, columnists decried the racist comments and actions that have permeated our world.
They called us to a biblical worldview, where “justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).
In addition to our columns and articles, we participated and covered the Cville2Jtown Pilgrimage in Charlottesville, Virginia. After the cruelty of racism visited their city, the Charlottesville Clergy Collective decided to walk in solidarity toward repentance and reconciliation.
EthicsDaily was at Monticello to watch as people of faith honestly reflected upon their racist pasts while attempting to carve out a brighter future.
EthicsDaily covered the second convening of the Angela Project in Louisville, Kentucky, which focused on “The Illusion of Inclusion: 50 Years of Downward Mobility in Black America.”
Speakers called on the church to live into the Scriptural promise of equality and freedom.
While the church has historically held to these theological convictions, cultural practices have led to systemic racism fueling the realities of mass incarceration, housing discrimination, wage inequality and the demonization of black and brown people.
We are proud to stand beside the Angela Project proclaimers and call for the deconstruction of modern systemic racism and the rebuilding of a more just system of equality.
Finally, EthicsDaily was in Atlanta for the New Baptist Covenant’s annual summit. Working with the leadership of NBC was a reminder how much Baptists can achieve together.
The stories that several Covenant of Action participants shared were both heartbreaking and inspiring.
For one white church to discover that their sanctuary was built from the selling of slaves brought home the ongoing results of slavery.
However, the way white and black churches are reconnecting provides hope for the segregated church to become whole this side of glory.
“The cross can heal and hurt; it can be empowering and liberating but also enslaving and oppressive. There is no one way in which the cross can be interpreted,” James Cone wrote in “The Cross and the Lynching Tree.” “I offer my reflections because I believe that the cross placed alongside the lynching tree can help us to see Jesus in America in a new light, and thereby empower people who claim to follow him to take a stand against white supremacy and every kind of injustice.”
At EthicsDaily, we are taking that stand and working toward a day when all can feel the sweet justice of true freedom in this world, as it will be in heaven.
The only way we can continue challenging racism and advocate for racial justice is through the financial support of our readers, viewers and supporters.
If you want to read and watch more inspiring, world-class pastors, theologians and thinkers addressing racial justice, we invite you to invest in the future work of EthicsDaily and our collaborative efforts.
No donation is too small; we appreciate and value every dollar given to the cause of supporting biblical ethics and advocating for social justice around the world.
Editor’s note: Secure, online donations can be made here. Donations by check can be mailed to P.O. Box 150506, Nashville, TN 37215-0506.
See also:
EthicsDaily 2018: Working with Partners Toward Gender Equality
EthicsDaily 2018: Working with Partners to Strengthen Interfaith Relationships
