More than a few accusations of “racism” have been hurled at the president and his supporters. Even clothing items bearing the MAGA brand such as campaign t-shirts or the signature red cap have become super-charged with racial tension. Those in favor of the MAGA movement have consistently expressed disbelief and anger at how their commitment to racial equality is being questioned solely based on their political affiliations. Let’s be honest, insinuating that someone or a whole group is “racist” probably amounts to the worst sort of insult known to modern society. Even notorious white supremacists like Richard Spencer are reluctant to claim the dubious title of “racist.” It seems we’ve done a thorough job of rebuking “racism” (as an abstraction, anyway), but perhaps we haven’t done as thorough a job of defining it. If by “racist” we mean individuals who have conscious malice in their hearts toward other racial groups, then I’d agree with the sentiment that “not all of the president’s supporters are racist.” However, racism is not confined to aiming a fire-hose at a peaceful protester, turning an attack dog loose, or pouring a drink on someone’s head as they sit at a “whites only” lunch counter.
“Racism” is better understood as systems of power that work in favor of one racial group and/or against another. And while racial bias and even deep seated prejudice can be found in individuals of all sorts and shades, it's only the majority culture—white America in this case—that has the necessary collective power (in both numbers and influence) to manifest the far more harmful expressions of societal racism.
The president has consistently marketed himself as the best means to combat the hordes of “invading” brown people (whether they’re coming across our southern border, hail from Muslim majority countries—Muslim majority countries with which we don’t have strong economic ties, anyway—are already here as “Kenyan-born globalists” who have “illegitimately” held the highest public office, or are among the numerous “ungrateful” black athletes who don’t appreciate what white America has “given” them). He regularly promotes “dangerous brown man” tropes when he refers to undocumented Mexican immigrants as “rapists and murderers,” demonizes Middle Eastern refugees (while ignoring the fact that white, natural-born citizens are statistically a greater terror threat to the US public), or highlights anecdotal examples of criminal behavior carried out by immigrants (despite the data indicating that natural-born citizens commit crimes at higher rates than immigrants, documented or otherwise). Advancing the “dangerous brown man” narrative yields tremendous political utility, and it also does great harm to our brothers and sisters of color. It’s not that the president is simply a racist politician (I’m sure we have plenty of those on either side of the aisle); it’s that overt racism is at the core of his political message.
The societal scapegoat mechanism nestled within the “dangerous brown man” narrative is as old as the fall. Jesus willingly subjected himself to this twisted system as part of God's plan for him to be the final Scapegoat, and in so doing exposed the dark powers and their perverse methods to public shame. The scapegoat mechanism at the heart of racist systems has been judged on the cross and overcome by the reconciling love of God. The resurrected Christ, as the new human, is creating a new humanity in himself that will be fully submitted to his Father and suited for the new creation. When Christ-followers abandon the good news of God's better kingdom and return to a racist, scapegoat narrative it is not only perverse, it is nothing short of anti-Christ.
No doubt many of the president's supporters are conscious of his racist message, while others—perhaps most of them—are merely complicit. Should it be any consolation to our brothers and sisters of color, though, to hear that many of their white friends and neighbors are “not racist” but just too unconcerned with their well-being to recognize and resist racist propaganda? Does it improve the situation for them to know that we “don't approve” of racism, but it's not exactly a deal-breaker either? Does our ignorance about how racism actually works absolve us of our racism (especially considering that our brothers and sisters of color have been shouting it to us at the top of their lungs for generations now)? Does our “noble cause” (appointment of conservative, pro-life Supreme Court Justices, protection of religious liberties, etc.) justify the racist means by which we have attained power?
If we've bought into the president's “dangerous brown man” narrative—a narrative that is not only factually untrue, it's an offense against the Imago Dei—then we've empowered racism in America. If we've merely tolerated the president's narrative in support of his candidacy, then we've likewise actively given power to racism. If we've hidden behind an insufficient definition of racism, one which only describes individual conscious prejudice, then we've ignored and therefore empowered the widespread observable inequities of systemic societal racism. It should be noted, I think, that it's this inadequate yet popular definition of racism that sustains numerous white delusions regarding race and America. One of which is that it's impossible to be both “racist” and also happily working, recreating, and worshiping with people of color. It's an unfortunate truth, however, that we can be both pleasantly disposed toward individuals of a racial group and at the same time actively harming them by way of our “politics” and shared societal perceptions.
I'm fully aware that calling the president's supporters—including several of my friends and family—“racist” is considered by many to be inflammatory and unkind. And I should make clear that I’m not suggesting that jumping on the MAGA train is the only way to actively or passively empower racism (the various permutations of the “dangerous brown man” narrative certainly predate the president, and they will almost certainly outlive him). Reducing “racism” exclusively to pouring a drink on someone’s head or wearing a red MAGA cap is to avoid the more complex and implicating questions of how racialized systems of power form and manifest throughout our society. At the end of the day, it's tragic that we're more upset by accusations of “racism” than we are by actual racism. We're more concerned with exonerating ourselves than acknowledging and addressing our contributions to unjust and racist systems of power. And is it a surprise to any of us that it's always the powerful and the privileged—the folks for whom the system works—who insist that we hold our tongues, that we avoid “divisiveness” in order to “keep the peace?” It's with such sensitivity, over-the-top politeness, and measured diplomacy that we regularly handle our fragile white brothers and sisters. But what of our brothers and sisters of color? What of their feelings? And what of their Maker? Do we also consider how they will be offended by our “polite” silence?
I’m not writing this for those who are already set against the president and his supporters. For many of them it would only serve as a hearty source of self-gratification, further smug confirmation that the monsters all reside on the other side of the aisle (after all, hashtags and virtue signaling are more about announcing that “I am not a racist” than actually addressing racism in any meaningful way). Likewise, I wouldn’t waste my time on the committed MAGA disciple who would zealously stay the course even after being rebuked by Jesus himself in a road-to-Damascus type encounter. It’s the people of “genuine good will” that Dr. King identified in his letter from a Birmingham jail that I’m addressing. Those who seek God’s kingdom and would genuinely want to know if they were mistaken. Peter, friend of Jesus, was once cowed by a racially prejudiced majority into compromising the gospel. In response, Paul "opposed him to his face" in a public setting. I take no pleasure in pointing out our racism, but it has to be done. There's no way out until we name it, no future wholeness without genuine repentance, and no hope for reconciliation without justice. Shame on the numerous shepherds who in an effort to spare their white parishioners’ feelings fail to clearly and publicly identify the racism at the core of the MAGA movement. Their cowardice on this topic is helpful to no one (least of all themselves). The “to each his own” approach to politics within the church, as if politics are morally neutral, is reckless and wrong. As is the tunnel vision of party-driven theology. We mustn’t see the three-fifths compromise, state sanctioned genocide of westward expansion and manifest destiny, legal wholesale murder of the unborn, the corporate destruction of God’s good creation for economic gain, or the dehumanization of an “other” to catalyze a political base as merely “politics.” To quote the prophet Bonhoeffer, "God will not hold us guiltless."
He (or she) who has ears to hear, let them hear.
“An
open rebuke is better than hidden love! Wounds from a sincere friend
are better than many kisses from an enemy.” - Proverbs 27:5-6
