How Do Racists Become Racist?

I recently read an article by Dr. Boyce Watkins entitled “Dr. Boyce: Paula Deen Loves Black People the Way an Owner Loves a Pet.” Although I didn’t agree with everything Dr. Boyce said, overall, I thought the piece provided helpful insight on race and respect. This particular line was spot on:

Being comfortable with someone doesn’t mean you consider them to be your equal. I know people who would die and kill to protect their dogs, but that doesn’t mean they want Fluffy sitting at the dinner table. Paula appears to be, unfortunately, addicted to a racial hierarchy, where black people are loved and appreciated, as long as they know their place. In fact, this attitude has long been common in the south, a place that never really learned that peace can sometimes come with the sacrifice of disrespectful subjugation.

Dr. Boyce points out that racism is rooted in how we view another ethnicity’s intrinsic value and worth. To say that you love a particular ethnicity isn’t enough. Are they worthy of your respect? Christian theology teaches that humans are created in the image and likeness of God. Our worth and value is found here, not in our skin pigment. Boyce points out that Deen’s love may be limited to affection and appreciation, therefore it does not go far enough to find her innocent of charges of racism.

Biblical love, which is modeled perfectly in Christ, goes all the way. Not only is our God willing to die for us, but He also gives us a seat at the table. He calls us “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17).

Good Folk and Bad Folk

There was another part of Dr. Boyce’s article that got me thinking. He writes:

Call me stupid, but I don’t believe Paula to be a bad person. But I do consider racism to be a mental illness (quite a few mental illnesses are created by our environment, like an abuse victim who develops split personalities as a coping mechanism), and Paula has spent her life with an undiagnosed and very serious infection.

Dr. Boyce believes that racism is a mental illness created by our environment. At the root of his belief is the assumption that Paula Deen is not a bad person. I would imagine he might also say that humans are basically good, with some exceptions (Hitler, bin Laden, Stalin, Nero). Dr. Boyce is not alone. Society, in general, would agree with his assessment.

The culture believes that their are good folk and bad folk the same way that racists believe that there are “black people and then there are n*ggers.” True story.

There are certain words and actions that decide whether you are categorized as good folk or bad folk. I read a New York Times article in The Opinions Pages entitled “The Good, Racist People” by Ta-Nehisi Coates that I thought was insightful and telling. The author writes, “In modern America we believe racism to be the property of the uniquely villainous and morally deformed, the ideology of trolls, gorgons and orcs.”

This categorization that’s done by society has absolutely nothing to do with absolute truth. It’s completely based on trend and cultural norms. What would have classified you as normal in the 1800s (i.e. owning slaves, unjust treatment of Africans) would be considered heinous today. This example shows that popular opinion is not always wrong, but it’s imperative that we recognize that it is not always right either.

Society always manages to swing the pendulum too far to the left or right. The LGBT movement and women’s rights in regards to abortion reveal of this. This is why Christians must think biblically and critically about how we engage and view the world. It is not acceptable to depend on mass opinion for our moral Ps and Qs.

Scripture’s Take on Man

Biblical narrative, however, disagrees with Dr. Boyce and society’s take on man. In Scripture, it’s revealed that since the fall of Adam, “all have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:12). This is apparent throughout Scripture and fear not, a seminary degree isn’t required to notice it. From Cain to Abraham, Abraham to Moses, Moses to David, and David to the Apostle Paul, we find sinful broken men being repaired and redeemed by God. He’s gracious to use us for His redemptive purposes.

While I believe that Dr. Boyce is within the boundaries of Scripture when he says racism is a mental illness, I think he is wrong in saying that our environment creates it.

We are born with racism in us because racism is a sin and every human is born “mentally ill” (sinful). Imagine living in a world where everyone was perfect but you. Don’t you think that you would be diagnosed with an illness? Can’t you hear the questions: Why is he so impatient? Why is she so arrogant? Why is he so lazy?

You would be abnormal. You would be weird. You would be ashamed all because you’re imperfect while everyone else is flawless.

Do you see my point? We come into this world with a problem. The reason we are diagnosed as normal is because everyone else is as sick as we are. Unless we have a standard or person who reveals we are not well, we will continue to think that we are okay or “good” people.

If you have ever spent any time around children, you quickly realize that they are bent toward sin. They don’t need to be taught. Our environment does not teach us sin. However, it does encourage sinful habits. There are people whose parents abhor racism, yet they became racist.

How Racist Become Racists

The reason we’re bent towards racism is simple: we are born sinful. Nevertheless, I do recognize the complexity in asking why people become practicing racists.

Racism can be encouraged by our environment, as Dr. Boyce alludes to, or our experiences. I distinguish the two because when we hear “environment” I think that we tend to assume and limit the word to immediate family and friends. Media and personal experiences also attribute to humans becoming practicing racists.

We all are capable of racism because it’s in our hearts. In America, we often isolate prejudice and racism to a particular time, place, or type of people. It’s amazing how many times I have been told that racism is only an issue in the South or that nobody is racist in the 21st century. What we fail to grasp is that racism is here and it’s not going anywhere, at least for now. Why? It’s a heart issue. It is a sin issue that will never be resolved by government policies, change in regions, or time.

We refuse to accept that humans aren’t morally evolving or improving year by year. We desperately want to believe that humanity is more righteous today than we were 500 or 50 years ago. Scripture exposes this lie. We are just as evil today as we were then.

However, racism will be completely annihilated at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 21:5). Until then we wait patiently, striving to obey the simple yet difficult commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ to love God, our neighbor, and enemy (Luke 10:27; Matthew 5:44,45). The Gospel calls, moves, and motivates us to do such.