The Pub

Racial Reconciliation Reconsidered

Ian Yue

The Realization of an Issue

One of the prominent issues being discussed in American Christian colleges today is how to confront and reconcile the issue of race, particularly in the context of the Church. Much of this dialogue has taken the form of spreading awareness about the “realities” of race: American culture’s continued socialization of it, the systemic structure that sustains it, and the general misunderstanding that it is no longer an issue.

Many minorities have been optimistic about race entering into everyday conversation but often feel discouraged because there has been a lack of response to this attempted dialogue.  They sense that the people they are trying hardest to reach with ideas about race, those in the white majority, still don’t see race as a problem in need of immediate attention.  With the majority not actively responding to this call for racial reconciliation, the minority feels hurt, and they see their plan for shifting the majority’s perspective on race as stunted.

I believe this dilemma stems from the minority’s constant awareness of their race and their view that such an awareness is a burden.  Their hope is that the majority will come to understand this burden and work to dissipate its effect on them.  Unfortunately, the majority does not have the background to recognize this burden and consequently does not see any reason to do something about it.  As a result, the first step lies with the minority to help the majority understand this burden before racial reconciliation can occur.

How We Feel

Understanding how to approach the race issue begins with recognizing culture’s effect on our worldview.  As human beings, we are limited and bound by our culture.  Culture is encompassed in the environment we grow up in, the values we learn to place on things, Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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