Alexis de Tocqueville, commenting on the American experiment in 1835, said "I do not imagine that the white and black race will ever live in any country upon an equal footing. But I believe the difficulty to be still greater in the United States than elsewhere. An isolated individual may surmount the prejudices of religion, of his country, or of his race, and if this individual is a king he may effect surprising changes in society; but a whole people cannot rise, as it were, above itself. A despot who should subject the americans and their former slaves to the same yoke, might perhaps succeed in commingling their races; but as long as the american democracy remains at the head of affairs no one will undertake so difficult a task; and it may be foreseen that the freer the white population of the United States becomes, the more isolated it will remain." (Democracy in America) But our hope doesn't lie in our system of government, our hope is in a group of people called Church who live differently because they reserve their highest loyalty for their King- a king who has already surmounted all prejudice.
According to a 2000 study by Michael Emmerson and Christian Smith (Divided by Faith) only 4% of white Protestant Christians believe that racism is among the top issues Christians should be concerned with. Contrast that with 25% of African-American Protestants who believe that it is the number one issue that Christians should be concerned with.
Systemic racism is perpetuated when we deny that it exists. We don't have to look for hints and whispers, there are shouts all around if we'll pay attention. Change begins with awareness - the Bible calls that "bringing the darkness into the light." It can change in one generation but it will require the Church really being the Church at her most radiant - astonishing at her unity through diversity and tenacious heart for the justice of the true King and his Kingdom.
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