In the last few weeks, I’ve been involved with an effort to provide majority White churches a deeper understanding of the history of race in America as part of a larger effort of reconciliation between majority White and majority Black churches. After hearing some Black preachers describe their experiences with racial bias in a period of debriefing, one of the White leaders asked this question “Aren’t we making progress overcoming racism?” He reflected on his life experience growing up in a deeply segregated state with a bad racial history and noted that things are much better today. Indeed, they are in many ways. Thank God for all the progress that has been made. It has come at a great cost. 

Our country and our churches are not in the same place as when I was born in the 1960s. However, the question, “Haven’t we made progress?” always makes me a little nervous. Here is why. 

The danger of a single story

For something as complex as race relations in a nation of over 300 million people, there is no single story. There may be progress in one area while things remain the same or get worse in others. For every two steps forward, there seems to be at least one backward. Here the laws of physics apply to sociology: “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Yes, many things are better, but there are strong forces pushing back. While racists may not be able to operate openly much of the time, they are still present. And unrecognized racial and cultural bias is deeply imbedded throughout our hearts, minds, and the culture at large. 

As Jemar Tisby likes to say, “Racism does not go away. It just adapts.” Instead of talking about racism directly, the language shifts to “law and order” or “cultural heritage” or some other euphemism which becomes a cloak to advance racially biased impacts in the world. This also then tarnishes appropriate concerns for law enforcement or cultural appreciation. Don’t assume that progress in some areas represents a cure. Racism is not a single narrative, and the reality of injustice takes on many forms in many aspects of a complex country. (For more on this dynamic, see this TED Talk by Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie) 

The loss of urgency 

When I really studied America's racial history, I was overcome with shock and shame. I didn’t want to face the realities that were part of the story of my country that I love and call home. I had an intense need to say, “Well, thank God it’s better now.” And it is better now in many respects. That is a reason to celebrate and thank God.  But the psychological impact of telling myself that we have made lots of progress can be to mute the voice that calls on me to do something significant toward continued improvement. It can be a way to avoid the responsibility to speak and act for justice where serious problems remain. It is often a defensive psychological move to minimize the urgency of the current reality while seeking credit for becoming less unjust than we once were. It is similar to saying, “Look, I’ve made a lot of progress. I only beat my wife a few times a year now. I think I deserve come credit.” 

Less injustice in not a solution. Justice is a solution. For example, we don’t stop preaching the gospel when we see a few people come to Jesus and experience transformation. That success actually motivates us to keep going until everyone knows him and every knee bows because we see just how good God’s ways are when lived out in communities that once were devoid of love and light. In the same way, as servants of the God of peace, unity, justice, and righteousness, we should advocate for justice (in service of peace, unity, and righteousness) and model all these traits in our spiritual communities until God finally sets all things right. We don’t expect perfection in this broken world, but we do work for improvement. 

Drivers who are moving forward well don’t spend much time looking in the review mirror. Occasional glances will do. In the same way, we need to be focused on where we are going not on how far we’ve come if we want to end up where God is leading us.  When it comes to justice, we should not stop until all people are respected and treated the same. We will not stop until the church is no longer separated by race and culture. We will not be satisfied until God’s will is done on earth as in heaven. In the church, until we love all people and see them as creatures equally made in the image of God and honor God’s creative gifts to all cultures, we have work to do.