Let's find a way to break down this racial divide!!

Recently, I had several conversations with dad's who have children and teenagers from other cultures express to me their concerns for their children.  One dad was very alarmed that their children were the recipients of racial slurs at their school and very much feeling powerless to do anything about it. First, I want to validate these dad's by confirming that racism is very much alive in our culture.  One guy I spoke too said that the Robbinsdale school district is a very difficult district to attend if you are a teenage guy from another culture.

Think for a moment about all of the Somalia, Hispanic jokes that are being spouted off these days.  Every time you go to a Wendy's or a Mcdonald's how many of us are thinking about "these illegal's are taking our jobs away from 'whites'. Or, we're thinking about all these Somalia gang members and the trouble they are causing. Our deluded thinking causes us to become concerned about the border's and we want to build a large wall all around the United States to keep the undesirable people out. We see a civil rights guy on television and we think to ourselves that this guy is only saying these things because he likes being a celebrity. We mock him and attempt to discredit his message.

As dad's we wield a huge amount of power. The things we say and how we say it are often times being studied by our teenage son's and daughters.  When you are at the dinner table and you share your blanket statements of  'I was at McDonald's today and all there were working there were these Somalia's. No wonder America is in trouble. We're too busy helping everybody else, but our own'.  This is the kind of thinking that filters down to our younger generation who in turn start the name calling  in our schools.  And it isn't just dad's that wield this power, but mom's also have the responsibility to watch their language in how we describe our racial groups.

Back in 1995 I traveled with a bunch of guys to Washington DC to the Promise Keeper's Breaking down the walls conference on the Washington Mall. I remembered this very clearly because our son was only months old at the time and he was screaming and crying as the coach buses pulled away from the Awning of Crystal Evangelical Free Church ( New Hope Church).  We didn't have  cell phones at the time and it was disheartening wondering if maybe I should have stayed home.  This whole trip was an opportunity to step out of my comfort zone. As I looked around I was the only guy on the bus who didn't travel with a group of guys. On this bus was a small group of 4 black guys who also were out of their comfort zones traveling to DC because they wanted to see the racial divide fall down. I remembered praying on that trip for opportunities to get to know these guys.  When we arrived in DC I remembered how God answered that prayer because I was the only 'white' dude who was assigned to a black to share a room at the conference.

I must admit it was disconcerting stepping out of  my comfort zone in this way, but as I did so I got an opportunity to get to know these guys. In time I realized that these guys came from families that had the same hopes and dreams for their children as our families had for us and as we had for our children.

On our way back to the Minnesota the bus I rode on I chose to intentionally sit with these guys who were sitting in the back of the bus.  Toward the end I had the nudging that we should have a praise time on the bus and a sharing time.  The brother's who I was afraid to get to know prior to the start of this trip were now my friends. God used that friendship to literally start a revival on that bus because there were so many guys who were sharing stories about how God had used this trip to make them aware of the racial divide. Every time I walk under the central awning at New Hope Church I am reminded of this trip because it was our bus that actually seared off the awning when it got too close to it when it finally pulled up at the end.

We must leave our comfort zones if we intend to break down the racial divide. I offer several suggestions. First, honestly sit down with your family and examine the language you and your loved ones are using and asking yourselves if the language you are using is contributing to this racial divide. Second, go to your city council and see if you can start a group made up of people from all races with the intent to better improve communication in your community.  . Third,, if you attend New Hope Church pray about becoming involved in the Mosaic group which meets monthly which gives people of all cultures the opportunity to come together for food and fellowship.

In the bottom of my heart I truly do not believe that any of us want to be perceived as racist, but if we can come out of our comfort zones and intentionally try to understand our brothers and sisters from other cultures I think we can correct the language we use,  Jesus is our model in how we relate to other races. I remember the story about the woman at the well and how in her culture they were not suppose to speak to Jewish people, but Jesus intentionally cross that divide and because of that this woman found the living water.

With God's help we can breakdown the this racial divide. I think this video featuring Tony Evans does a great job illustrating these points.