Sue Lani Madsen: Our conversations about race are reminiscent of the 1960s, but much has changed

On Monday in Minneapolis, a trial starts. Barbed wire and barriers have gone up around the courthouse. Officer Derek Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd last May.

We are in a season of difficult conversations about race reminiscent of the 1960s, but the dominant cultural worldview has changed. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with other civil rights leaders knew their worth came from God not man. Rev. King walked peacefully in places where he was a target of hate, and survived with dignity because he knew his worth came from the God who created him. Critical race theory starts from the assumption that everyone belongs to a racial category, and your identity is your race. Judgment is based on the color of your skin and not the content of your character.

Multiracial congregations are having the hardest time discussing these tough issues, according to Kevin McGary, co-founder with Neil Mammen of Every Black Life Matters (www.everyBLM.com). McGary was one of six presenters at a recent conference titled Critical Race Theory & Christianity.

McGary and Mammen were appalled at the “mostly peaceful” riots burning through Black and brown neighborhoods last summer and sought a way to bring reconciliation and healing. They founded EveryBLM with a vision “To help individuals in the Black community grow and prosper in mind, body and Spirit by eliminating disproportional injustices that hinder Black advancement.” The two men kept BLM in the name due to the sheer momentum of a movement which has managed to soak up billions of dollars, ostensibly to address issues facing black lives but mostly pouring money into political activism and overhead, according to financial records recently released to the Associated Press by the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF).

For McGary and Mammen, “We want to use EveryBLM to fully expose the hypocrisy and the lack of real justice, righteousness and commitment to black life … you cannot say Black lives matter without accepting that every Black life matters, in every phase of Black life.” Their mission goals are focused on supporting black life from “womb to tomb,” unabashedly pro-life, promoting active fatherhood, eliminating barriers to high-quality education where public schools are failing Black communities, and empowering Black entrepreneurship to build generational wealth to fight generational poverty.

EveryBLM’s foundation is fundamentally Christian. And thus McGary’s participation in taking a “Christian worldview into the culture to have a practical and positive impact on the way the culture works,” according to conference organizer Joe Miller. It was the kickoff event for his new organization, the Center for Cultural Apologetics, a churchy word for “reasoned arguments or writing in defense of faith.”

Asked why critical race theory has been so successful in penetrating the culture, Miller said he believes it’s because the church has been silent. Too many pastors avoid teaching on controversial social issues, leaving room for competing worldviews to fill the void. “There are real issues of injustice in our world, and real solutions, but CRT isn’t one. It creates more division,” said Miller. “Critical race theory is a new manifestation of a very old sin, separate but equal. CRT has adopted the theology of 1960s separatist whites.”

During the conference, Pastor Leroy Hill of the Southern California Seminary described a viral video purporting to demonstrate equity, with a line of young people at the starting line for a foot race. They are asked a series of questions, and with each yes answer a participant gets to move a few steps ahead. Hill noted most of the questions are related to family, such as whether you grew up in a two-parent family or had a father involved in your life. He recalled the video as having few or no questions related to race, yet concluding the reason some people have a head start is white privilege. “Every situation is not reducible to race,” said Hill during the conference.

One man is dead. One man will face the justice system. The trial lawyers will present their cases for cause of death, for culpability, for guilt or innocence. An individual is on trial, not a group. May God bless the jury with wisdom and all of us with the strength to have courageous conversations.

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com