The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism

The issue of institutional racism and systemic injustice dominates the present racial discourse in America. Ongoing manifestations of police brutality that disproportionately affect African Americans, injustices in the legal system, and mass incarcerations of people of color extend social debates to a broader discussion of racism in America. The ongoing freedom struggle addresses the ways in which power structures perpetuate oppression and inequalities.

The Black Lives Matter movement emerged in 2012 as a response to current incidents of police brutality and racial violence against Black people. As a social and political movement, Black Lives Matter advocates antiracism and criminal justice reform. It seeks to dismantle white supremacy and empower Black communities for self-determination and liberation. As a concept, “Black lives matter” serves as an affirmation of Black humanity and resilience against oppression. The movement embraces an expansive approach to equality by advocating for freedom for all marginalized groups either based on gender or ethnicity.

The Black Lives Matter movement is part of what Jemar Tisby describes as the modern-day civil rights movement that emphasizes structural racism and the urgency for antiracist action. Tisby’s book contributes to this ongoing debate about racism, illustrating how institutional racism remains embedded in American society. More specifically, Tisby examines the role of the church in perpetuating institutional racism. Tisby’s work thus speaks to the fact that the church has historically been central in the lives of the African American community, serving as a safe space for Black Christians against racism, and thus it is a key topic in the discussion about social change and racial justice.

The radical approach of Black Christianity on race and religion, spirituality and political activism that connect to the quest for racial justice, brings the social role of the church to the forefront. Through segregation and divisions over social issues, a long legacy of racism has impacted the American church as an institution. Moreover, racism has reinforced a historical chasm between Black and white Christians that resulted in different theological approaches to politics. Black Christianity and the Black church continue to inspire African Americans in the struggle for freedom and justice, encouraging white society to live up to Christian values and teachings.

The Black Lives Matter movement has also affected the church. Activists continue to push toward active participation in the present civil rights movement and an urgent confrontation with racism. Black Christians seek a public denouncement of racism by the church and a meaningful defense of Black lives. Like Tisby, Black Christians are inspired by Jesus as a radical figure to battle injustice and inequality. Activists highlight the necessity for social change and antiracist activities to reverse patterns of racism and attitudes of complicity within the church. By addressing the issue of institutional racism, these activists reason, the church can extend the civil rights struggle and promote racial reconciliation. The present discourse on the issues of systemic injustice also urges the church to reckon with its own racist past. As Tisby observes in the book, the current struggle for liberation can help the church reconsider its identity and dismantle segregation within its own circles. By standing in solidarity with activists against systemic racism, the church would put Christian teachings into productive action and be a transformative force for American institutions overall.