Tuesday letters: Races must embrace one another

My African-American brothers and sisters in a Bible class at Ebenezer Lutheran Church have urged me to talk about the roots of racism, fear and faith as a result of the death of Walter Scott and the arrest of North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager.

We were sent forth from the church with the prayer that our hearts ought to be burning with justice, peace and love. So none of us can avoid the implications of this biblical imperative — and a conversation about race and racism.

Jesus Christ was a victim of radicalized racism. And after spending more than half a century of work with resolving racism, locally and globally, I have concluded that only by the grace of God in Jesus Christ can we move effectively in this quicksand.

From my doctoral dissertation at USC, on the subject of racism, under the visionary advising of Charles Witten, and additional work in Eastern Europe, I am convinced that a ’fessing-up statement should be presented that we need to continue working to understand that racism and fear must be met by the reconciling force of Christ’s grace and that, indeed, we ought to see each other as brothers and sisters, living as such or dying as fools.

Lexington

This story was originally published April 20, 2015 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Tuesday letters: Races must embrace one another."