Racism

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." -Galatians 3:28

Racism is something that plagues society, causes division among humans, and is by no means a stranger to our society. Not even fifty years have passed since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, which so many people consider as the end of racism in America.

Outside of America, in South Africa for example, who are hosting the World Cup this year, racism was a regular part of life, until very recently, 16 years ago, when the elections were held in 1994, and Nelson Mandela was elected. It was then that apartheid (segregation in South Africa) ended.

These are just some stories among many others of racism throughout the world over the years.

But it makes us wonder, where did this idea of race come from?

Well, it is hard to say.

We can look at the origin of the word “race” and see what the word originally meant, maybe from there we can start determining how it began. This process of examining the original meaning of a word and from where it is derived is known as etymology.

Many dictionaries say that the origin of the word “race” comes from the French word “razza” which is unclear as to what it actually means. The French word is derived from an Italian word “razza” which is also obscure.

So the original words for race, were just words without meanings, maybe a sort of slang. This actually helps us understand more about the origin of racism.

This shows that racism, just as the original meaning of the word race, has no meaning. As many slang words are made in society for the purpose of denigration and hatred, it is possible that the word “race” was made in the same way.

It is safe to say that racism is a result of hatred which is in turn based off strange ideologies as is clearly seen throughout history with such events as the lynchings (murder hangings) that occurred in the Southern United States. And also with such organizations as the Ku Klux Klan who were devoted to maintaining the power of those who were of Northern European descent and were Protestants at the same time. And even the Mormons in their beginnings, with their ideas that black people should not receive the gospel, and that they were cursed.

We have seen the effects of racism in history and even sometimes today.

Slavery is probably the first thing that we think of as Americans when we hear the word “racism.” Slavery of Africans lasted in America for at least three hundred years before it was abolished because of such people as Abraham Lincoln. However, the end of slavery did not mark the end of racism by any means. Abraham Lincoln lost his life because of his actions that helped free the slaves. The Ku Klux Klan was still at large and even reformed a couple of times up until the 1960s, and segregation (legally) ended in the United States only around the decades of the 1950s and the 1960s.

An interesting note is that birth control (in the way we think of it now) began as propaganda in the early 1900s to try to get working class people, many of whom were of “undesirable races” to stop reproducing and according to the hopes of the racists that their physical features would eventually disappear. The racists did this in a deceptive way because it appeals to people. Birth control will help them avoid having ten children, which was not uncommon back then, and instead maybe having 2 or 3 children. Just an interesting note, the opposite of their expectations has happened, these “undesirable races” have actually continued to give birth to many children, while it is the “favored races” meaning white to them, that have actually begun to decrease and even disappear. A famous example of this is that of the Germans, their “race” is running out faster than the amount of children they have; in order for a country to maintain its population size they have to at least have two children (called the replacement rate), if they have more they will grow. The Germans are having 0-1 kids on average these days. As someone I know says, “Their own sorcery has worked (turned) against them.”

Racism is still present today, though hidden. It is clear in the workplace, when less qualified people are given jobs or promotions and such, and more qualified aren’t then when you compare them, you see there is a correlation (connection) between whiter people, less qualified, and getting jobs. I was sitting in my microeconomics class earlier this year, and my teacher was talking to me and the group I was working in about how racism is still around. She is white and her husband is black, and the city they live in is predominantly white and not “friendly” in terms of race. She talked to us how an obese, black woman, is the least likely to get hired for a job, because people like hiring based on outward appearances. I personally know, non-European white people who have been discriminated against, just because of their nationality, in very professional jobs. It’s a sad and vicious continual repetition and failure to learn from history and change that causes this sort of discrimination.

Now what does the Bible teach about race?

Well, race is nonexistent.

The Bible teaches that all human beings are descended from Adam and that Eve is "the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20).

St. Paul the Apostle told the Greeks that God "has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26).

As seen from the above verse there is only nationality present in the Bible, not race. There is no such thing in the Bible as all Europeans are “white,” or all Africans are “black.” Rather there are Spaniards, Italians, Greeks, and so on for Europe, and for Africa, there are Egyptians, Libyans, Ethiopians, and so on. There are no hasty generalizations which lead to racism.

The history in Genesis preserves the fact that the entire world as we know today, are descended from Noah and his three sons: "Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth… These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated" (Genesis 9:18-19).

In Genesis 10, sometimes referred to as the Table of Nations, it talks about Shem, Ham, and Japheth’s children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and in some cases even further. This chapter shows from where such people as the Egyptians, Ethiopians, Libyans, Jews, Greeks, Russians, and others came from. Of course, the names written here are the Hebrew names. For example Egypt is called Mizraim in Genesis 10 (because Mizraim is Egypt in Hebrew), and we still call it Misr in Arabic.

If one wants to generalize and isolate groups from these three sons of Noah (not for the sake of racism but of study), then Shem is the father of those who became Middle-Easterners, Ham is the father of those who became Africans, and Japheth is the father of those who became Asians and Europeans. The Bible doesn't refer to people by skin color (race), but by nation. It is never racist.

What about God’s choosing the Jews as His people for approximately 2000 years until the Advent of Christ?

God chose them to prepare them and give them His Holy Law, so that there would be a people on the Earth that preserved the history of God’s working in the world. He also did this so that the people from whom he would become incarnate, would be following the Law of God, and would not be living in total sin. But God revealed Himself and appointed prophets also from the Gentiles even after He had given the covenant to the Jews. Job the Righteous, was not a Jew, nor were his friends. He was an Edomite, yet one book is devoted to his story in the Bible as an example for us from which to learn, and God spoke to him. Balaam also was a prophet (Gentile), although he had issues with fulfilling what God told him.

After the New Testament has come into effect, the people of God are no longer limited to a geographical and ethnic line. There are a couple of prophecies in the Old Testament pertaining to the creation of a new people that will worship God, other than the Jews.

In Psalm 22, which talks about Our Lord’s Crucifixion, it says, “A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, they will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has done this” (Psalm 22:30-31). So this psalm links the Christ to the birth of a New People.

Another prophecy says, “This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD” (Psalm 102:18). This psalm refers to the psalm itself, saying that a purpose of the psalms is for the people who are not yet created to praise the Lord. And this is in fact what happened. Ever since the beginning, the Church has used the psalms to pray the canonical hours (known as the Book of Hours, also known as the Agpeya in the Coptic Orthodox Church).

At this point it should be noted that the word “Christian” does not mean “little Christ” as some assert, but it actually means “From the nation of Christ.” The ending of the word Christian, the –an, is like the word American, or Armenian, or Mexican, or Italian. It designates a nation.

Jesus commanded His disciples saying, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The Apostles fulfilled this commandment by preaching all over the world from Britain to India.

The Book of Acts highlights three cases of conversions, they can best be remembered as Acts 8, 9, and 10, which show one person who is descended from each of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, becoming Christians. This is to signify that all of humanity was saved, not just certain "races." It is also interesting to see that God Himself intervened directly and clearly to bring these people to the faith.

The first of these was the Ethiopian Eunuch, who was descended from Ham (Acts 8).
The second of these was Saul of Tarsus, who we know better as St. Paul the Apostle, was descended from Shem (Acts 9).
The third of these was Cornelius the Centurion, who was descended from Japheth (Acts 10).

So what can we conclude about racism from our faith?

It is wrong. It has no basis in the Bible. It is in fact hatred. St. Paul the Apostle writes, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him" (Romans 10:12). "The new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all" (Colossians 3:10-11).

So when we hear the word “race” let us think of the race that we have to run as Christians, which is symbolic of the spiritual life.

Therefore the only races there are, are the ones to run.

And glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.