Pointless Racial Wars: A Call to Deep Ethical Introspection

Many people think that there is no racism happening in the USA right now. They may be correct from their perspective. However, we need to ponder the following ethical questions. Is racism just about slavery, or does it include the effects of slavery on the conscience of those enslaved? And, as a consequence, are they forced to lead a less-than-ideal life? I agree that some forms of affirmative action to help ethnic minorities have a detrimental effect on the rest of society. I am all for meritocracy and fairness. However, I think the community is morally obligated to help uplift the downtrodden, perhaps not through freebies but through other means. 

 

Affirmative actions are policy decisions of the governments people elect. I may not endorse them because of the evident side-effects on people's desire to improve their lives. Even so, we could choose better alternatives. We must find new ways to reach out to the vulnerable and discouraged. The wealthy people in society need to give up some of their privileges and find time to improve the lives of others. It would help both the rich and the poor in two ways. 1. The rich can understand the struggles of the poor and find ways to help improve their lives. 2. Low-income people can experience care and be motivated to better their lives. 

 

However, sometimes people throw indecent, insensitive comments on the impoverished and the vulnerable. The wealthy and socially higher classes are usually the culprits. I cannot sit silent if people are abused in the streets for their skin color or country of origin. If I do so, I silently condone injustice. Then, I will not be a servant of Christ. We have no right to consider someone else's existence "useless." All people are created by God and are entitled to fundamental human dignity, equality, and happiness regardless of who they are. Jesus did not call the blind beggar useless. He did not use such language, even for prostitutes or rebels. 

 

Don't we know who lived in America before the Europeans invaded it? It was (red) Indians. I say this to help keep things in perspective. Why is the rest of the world poor and the West wealthy? Endless wars that the predecessors of the present West fought and won. They wiped out civilizations and populations from the face of the earth. But it is okay. Every battle is legitimized as long as some Western people are fighting it. They make deadly weapons, sell them to radicals, create wars in the rest of the world, and call themselves "happy" countries. Such happiness has no value in God's sight. 

 

Then, they teach the "third" world leaders about treating their fellow citizens with dignity. They tell Hindus to treat Muslims and other minorities in India with dignity and fairness. They teach Buddhists in Myanmar to respect Muslims. They despise the Chinese people and regimes for inhuman deeds toward ethnic minorities. But in their own backyard, they abuse people for looking slightly different from them. The concept of America is not based on racial supremacy but on the “Supremacy of the Scriptures.”

 

However, some people are obsessed with the thought that America belongs only to white people who speak English. Christians are called to be different –a light to the nations. America must exemplify how people of diverse ethnicities and races can coexist harmoniously, not the opposite. I am also a Christ-follower, and I believe we do not have the moral high ground to tell the rest of the world to behave. Of course, we can make anyone dance to our tunes using fear –weapons of mass destruction. But I do not believe it is ethical or Biblical.