Recently during a worship service I heard the prayer, "God, help us to sit not so much in scrutiny of each other but rather in company with each other." As I read, studied, and prayed about these three books on racial reconciliation—Breaking Down Walls, by Raleigh Washington and Glen Kehrein, More Than Equals, by Spencer Perkins and Chris Rice, and He’s My Brother, by John Perkins and Thomas Tarrants—my temptation was to scrutinize rather than accompany these authors as they share their stories.
Within the books are many negative references to events and strategies of the last 30 years of which I have been a part. Much of the ministry I have shared with so many people is dismissed as "liberal," not a term I claim or find meaningful. As I read I was aware of my separation from persons and communities that understand themselves to be the "evangelical" church. I grew up in the Evangelical United Brethren Church and yet am now sidelined as not evangelical.
Once a Zimbabwe pastor said, "The reason Christians in the United States want to argue about what is more important, evangelism or social action, is that they don’t want to do either." One part of Christ’s church in the United States focuses on racial reconciliation emphasizing relationship. Another part seeks racial justice stressing institutional change. These two parts don’t talk to each other, but we continually make our cases for the importance of one over the other. Maybe we don’t really want to do either effectively.
It’s a scandal. The color line has been the major divide of our country and the church, and it is widening. And major parts of the church, deeply concerned about racism, aren’t talking to each other and have little real knowledge of each other’s experience and learnings. Of all parts of the church, radical Christians, committed to racial reconciliation grounded in justice, need to discover our common ministry.
Each of these three books has a compelling story of persons seeking a common ministry against racism. When we accompany these six authors we learn of their struggle, pain, healing, distrust, trust, failures, and successes. It’s real-life stuff with God working through relationship, creating new persons and new ministries.
In He’s My Brother, John Perkins and Thomas Tarrants converge life stories that certainly seem irreconcilable. Tarrants once adhered to nearly every communism conspiracy theory, joining and leading militaristic efforts to re-establish the United States as a "white nation," as he believed God intended. After a shoot-out with law enforcement, he ended up in the state penitentiary in Parchman, Mississippi. He describes his own conversion as he now works to improve race relations in Washington, D.C.
John Perkins has offered his entire life for the sake of justice, and he has the scars that always come with such commitment, having been bludgeoned almost to death in a Brandon County jail in Mississippi and having received similar physical and psychological beatings throughout his life in Mississippi and California.
The most compelling aspect of this book is John Perkins’ summons to learn the "Three Rs"—relocation, reconciliation, and redistribution. Only these can address the pains and wounds of our country that have not yet begun to heal. He invites white people committed to racial reconciliation to relocate into a community of color, to follow the leadership of the community, and to seek true partnership. He calls for total commitment and perseverance to overcome the obstacles to God’s gift of reconciliation. Re-distribution—of things and of the privilege to be skilled in a marketable way—will make it possible for one to care for one’s own self, family, and community.
In Breaking Down Walls, we learn the stories of Raleigh Wash-ington and Glen Kehrein and their ministry on the west side of Chicago. These men love each other and their work. They take time to deal with each other’s anger and the brokenness that emer-ges in their relationship. And they use a "racism lens" to see clearly their relationship. There is an honest presentation of a specific congregation and ministry that failed for the lack of willingness of white members to let go of control.
Washington and Kehrein include in their ministry times for blacks and whites to caucus separately, to share perspectives and experiences of what is really going on, and then to gather together for honest, confrontive, and loving dialogue. They offer eight principles for reconciliation: commitment to relationship, intentionality, sincerity, sensitivity, interdependence, sacrifice, empowerment, and call. The presentation of each is undergirded by scripture, lifted with illustrations from their lives, and coupled with specific suggestions for application.
Spencer Perkins and Chris Rice consider themselves and others who work together for racial healing as More Than Equals. They continually find ways to deal openly with "racial residue" as it emerges in their ministry and relationship. The journey they propose is to "admit" the depth of separation in society and the church caused by racism; to "submit" ourselves to God and one another, choosing loving relationship across racial barriers; and to "commit" ourselves to long-term intentional lifestyle choices of the love of racially different neighbors.
You will find in this book excellent analysis of the impact of racism on all persons, accounts of the fullness of life that can come by refusing the temptations of privilege, and deeply moving Bible study that truly grounds the struggle in their ministry in West Jackson, Mississippi. If you can read only one of these books, read this one. This book encourages you to reflect very deeply on what is really important in life and compels readers to consider radical changes if they are really committed to racial reconciliation.
It is important to name some of the issues that I "scrutinized" as I accompanied these six writers. There is a serious lack of attention given to indigenous peoples of this continent. Emphasis on repentance and justice preceding reconciliation is lacking. I need some serious dialogue with the writers on whether sexism and heterosexism are important to them. And a hint of right-wing political influence pops up occasionally.
The central theme of these books is the importance of relationship as a locus for God’s gift of reconciliation to emerge. There is not enough emphasis on dismantling the systemic, cultural, and institutional racism embedded in the fabric of our lives. Yet when I reflect on work done by people like myself, committed to racial justice, I miss the deep commitment to enduring relationships that change persons.
We’ve got a lot to learn from one other. A little dialogue would be a good start. Let’s find ways to accompany each other.
Breaking Down Walls: A Model for Reconciliation in an Age of Racial Strife. By Raleigh Washington and Glen Kehrein. Moody Press, 1993.
He's My Brother: Former Racial Foes Give a Strategy for Reconciliation. By John Perkins and Thomas Tarrants III. Revell/Baker Book House, 1994.
More Than Equals: Racial Healing for the Sake of the Gospel. By Spencer Perkins and Chris Rice. InterVarsity Press, 1993.
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