Race in America and in the church

I watch an episode of “The Problem with Jon Stewart” the other day. It was called “The Problem with White People.” You can watch the episode through this link. If the language bothers you more than the situation around race in America, then you are missing the point.

I was also curious and did what I never recommend — read the comments section on Youtube. There was a range to say the least. Everything from people praising Jon for touching on a topic that is controversial all the way to criticism and blame and “what about” statements.

And that’s just the response to a 16 minute video on race that literally changes nothing. No policy change occurred. No law changed. I’m willing to bet that no one who watched the video changed their mind either — although I could certainly be wrong about that. If before the video you don’t think race is a problem or that you have any responsibility to do anything about it, I’m willing to bet you became more entrenched after the video. And the same would be true for those who recognize the reality of racism in America.

We’ve been talking about “talking about” racism in America for…well…who knows. Not everyone wants to participate in the conversation — or even acknowledge that such a conversation needs to happen, let alone move beyond the conversation to what comes next. Are we waiting for everyone to come to some kind of willing agreement so that we can get serious about talking about it? The Second Coming of Jesus will happen sooner than the magical time in which…