The Four Stages of Racism

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Mark 8:34

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

NKJV

The only requirement to following after Christ is to be willing to follow by denying our own interests and taking up our cross and following Jesus.  The denial of self-interests and taking up the cross is what separates the men from the boys and the women from the girls when it comes to following Christ.  It is easy to say I am a believer and follow Jesus Christ but to deny our own interests or to take up the cross of persecution and suffering is where many fall by the wayside. 

However, the interesting thing about this passage of scripture is not what it says, but what it does not say.  Nowhere in this verse do we see any mention that only people of a certain race or gender can come to Christ but all who are willing to pay the price can come regardless of their race or gender.  Jesus is the perfect example of one accepting all races of people and an example we should follow. 

There is a history of racism in the United States.  A history has gone through three phases and needs to move into the fourth phase to solve the problem.  Let us now look at the four phases of racism

1)      Racism is legal – The darkest scar on the history of the United States is its initial acceptance of slavery.  When debating the Constitution of the United States, some in attendance tried to introduce constitutional language that would have made slavery illegal.  Unfortunately, more than one-third of the states would have refused to ratify the Constitution if it contained this language and since two-thirds of the states were required for ratification, the language was left out and the Constitution was ratified.  (1) (2)   The founders believed that they could later add an amendment to the Constitution making slavery illegal.  Unfortunately, they were unable to ratify such an amendment and the debate on slavery escalated until a bloody Civil War was the only means to make the atrocious practice of slavery illegal in our nation.  Only then would enough states go along with constitutional amendments to abolish the practice of slavery. 

2)      Racism is socially acceptable – After slavery became illegal however, people still treated African-Americans as second-class citizens socially.  In essence, slavery moved from being legal to being socially acceptable in primarily the southern states of the United States.  During this period in the history of the United States, people of color were denied access to restrooms, drinking fountains, restaurants, and even seating on public transportation.  People of color were also denied employment due to their race during this period.  (3)   To stop this social practice of slavery, men like Martin Luther King Jr. rose up, practicing their right to free speech, and were able to get legislation passed to make these social practices illegal.  The election of the first black President of the United States demonstrates to the world that we have been able to abolish the social practice of slavery.

3)      Racism is profitable financially and politically – Even though slavery and the social practice of slavery are now illegal, racism has become a profitable business for many.  People like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton profit by creating the perception that racism is rampant in our nation.  (4)  When an event like what we just witnessed in Ferguson occurs, they make people like Michael Brown icons of racism and use the issue to stir up protests that often turn into full-blown riots like those that we currently see in Ferguson.  They are then able to profit by conducting fund raising for their mission to end racism.  I find it interesting that after several years of their efforts, racism never seems to go away.  Of course, the reason for this is that that would be the end of their business.  We also see the U.S. Chamber of Commerce attempting to profit from cheap labor coming in from south of the border by pushing for amnesty, a form of slavery for Hispanics.  (5)

4)      Racism is unacceptable with all races treated equal – This state is not racism at all but a state in society with equal treatment of all races.  This was the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  (6)  this is the way Jesus sees all races and when society gets to this state people will be judged by what they do and not the color or their skin.  When we achieve this state, events, like those in Ferguson are no longer used as political icons to further the race baiting business and instead will be viewed for that they are tragic events brought on by bad choices and actions by people. 

The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson was a tragedy.  The tragedy was that a young man with his life ahead of him made bad choices.  He chose to steal from a liquor store and assaulted the storeowner when confronted.  He then failed to stop when an officer asked him to and instead chose to slam the door on the officer as he attempted to leave his cruiser.  He then made the bad choice of trying to take the officer’s gun.  He then made what would come to be a fatal decision by charging the officer instead of surrendering and suffering the consequences of his crimes.  (7) (8)

The Grand Jury in Ferguson made their decision not on the race of Michael Brown or the officer, but on what Michael Brown and the officer did.  Michael Brown made bad choices that cost him his life whereas the officer was only trying to protect himself and the people of Ferguson he swore to protect.  The officer was operating at level four but the rioters in Ferguson are pawns used by race baiters who profit by being stuck in level three.  The best thing we could do for the rioters is arrest them for their crimes and let them think about moving up to the next level, a level where race is not the motivation for their actions.  This is the path to civility in our society. 

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2. Truths, Confederate. The Gathering Storm; Debate Over Slavery at the Constitutional Convention August 21-22, 1787. www.confederatepastpresent.org. [Online] [Cited: December 2, 2014.] http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100:debate-over-slavery-at-the-constitutional-convention-august-21-22-1787-&catid=41:the-gathering-storm.

3. Gale Group. Racial Segregation in the American South: Jim Crow Laws. find.galegroup.com. [Online] The Gale Group, 2007. [Cited: December 2, 2014.] http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?&idigest=fb720fd31d9036c1ed2d1f3a0500fcc2&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GIC&docId=CX2831400031&source=gale&userGroupName=itsbtrial&version=1.0.

4. Lopata, Andrew. Al Sharpton Cashing In On Ferguson Franchise By Announcing 25 New Locations To Protest. www.business2community.com. [Online] Business 2 Community, November 20, 2014. [Cited: December 2, 2014.] http://www.business2community.com/us-news/al-sharpton-cashing-ferguson-franchise-announcing-25-new-locations-protest-01074949.

5. Jr., Harry R. Jackson. The New Slavery : Illegal workers. townhall.com. [Online] Townhall.com, January 22, 2007. [Cited: December 2, 2014.] http://townhall.com/columnists/harryrjacksonjr/2007/01/22/the_new_slavery__illegal_workers/page/full.

6. Jr., Martin Luther King. I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. www.brainyquote.com. [Online] Brainy Quote. [Cited: December 2, 2014.] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth297516.html.

7. Calamur, Eyder Peralta and Krishnadev. Ferguson Documents: How The Grand Jury Reached A Decision. www.npr.org. [Online] NPR, November 25, 2014. [Cited: November 25, 2014.] http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/25/366507379/ferguson-docs-how-the-grand-jury-reached-a-decision.

8. Arlenearmy. “Michael Brown made bad choices & paid the consequences for his actions…He was a thug”. arlenearmy.com. [Online] Arlenearmy's blog, November 27, 2014. [Cited: December 2, 2014.] http://arlenearmy.com/2014/11/27/michael-brown-made-bad-choices-paid-the-consequences-for-his-actions-he-was-a-thug/.