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Chapter 4: Resisting Racism in United States Church History
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• 51 • :aπWrfour It cannot be said often enough or emphasized strongly enough that the evil of racism in our nation and in our churches is only half of the story. There is another story, a far better story to be told. It is the incredibly courageous and powerful story of the struggle to end racism. Throughout history there have been those with profound courage who were willing to stand up publicly and struggle against racism. From the very beginning, church people have joined together with non-church people in this powerful resistance. The amazing truth is that there was, there is, and there will continue to be an anti-racist church that stands for racial justice. Painfully uncomfortable as it may be, it is important to remember the public stance of white supremacy on the part of the triumphalistic Ruler’s Church. But it is at least equally important to celebrate the resistance and struggle of the People’s Church that rose again and again to cry out for justice and freedom for all people. In every period of history, there are stories about heroes and heroines from every walk of life and every race and class; there are electrifying victories that mark the steady beat of strides toward freedom. We have now arrived at the point in this writing where these stories can be told. Instead of encountering the Bible and the Christian faith distorted to serve the purposes of evil, we meet an antiracist gospel proclaimed by those who throughout history have reclaimed the liberating truth that we are all sisters and brothers in god’s family, and who have dedicated their lives to bringing this truth to life. Because of their arduous and painful struggle, we are able today to pick up the mantle and carry the struggle As they go through the Bitter Valley, they make it a place of springs.1 —PsaLM 84:6 Resisting Racism in United states Church History 52 • BeCoMInG An AntI-RACIst CHURCH against racism further along the path. This is the amazing story of the anti-racist church. In our learning about this heroic church of the past, we will find models for our becoming an anti-racist church in the twenty-first century. the Anti-Racist Church As I described earlier, the People’s Church and the Ruler’s Church arrived in the new world at the same time, sailing on the same immigrant ships but in very different accommodations; the representatives of the Ruler’s Church in first class, members of the People’s Church—indentured servants and slaves—in steerage. When they disembarked on America’s colonial shores, the two churches maintained their separate and unique identities, with the People’s Church evolving, as one might expect, with a less assuming and far more modest presence than the Ruler’s Church. From its campfire meetings, its ramshackle churches, and its secret gatherings of slaves came the plaintive cry of spirituals and gospel music: “Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home!” As the songs of the People’s Church pleaded for relief from pain, suffering, and powerlessness, so its prayers were cries for protection and release. There was a great deal of difference between the music of the People’s Church and the organ-accompanied hymns sung in the sacred sanctuaries of the Ruler’s Church. The sermons preached in these churches were also different. In counterpoint to the triumphal message of the Ruler’s Church, the People’s Church preached the theology of the cross that gave millions of exploited and oppressed people the strength to survive, to keep hope, and to fight for their liberation. The People’s Church had no formal political power. It did not seek nor seldom received public recognition. Nevertheless, at times its voice, filled with prophetic anger, was powerful and clearly heard demanding justice for the oppressed. Some of the most courageous and brilliant leaders in the struggle for racial justice were raised within the People’s Church: Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, W. E. B. Dubois, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and many thousands of others. They are the “great cloud of witnesses” who surround us still and call us to join them in shaping an anti-racist church. Their campaigns for freedom were opposed by other Christians, rejected by the Ruler’s Church, and attacked by the highest offices of the land. But their strength and determination gave witness to the power of the truth, even...