Our orders are delivered strictly on time without delay 
8
Sin Nature andRacial Minorities
People of color are strongly tempted to deny any responsibility for ra-
cial healing. Many believe that because of the abuse they have suffered
at the hands of the majority, they are the only victims of racism.1 It is nat-
ural for racial minorities to focus on their own sufferings rather than how
they may have contributed to racial strife. But such a limited focus leaves
the task of racial healing half done. People of color can and do sin against
majority group members. Our wounded race relations cannot be healed
unless both the majority and minorities play an active part in the healing.
Those who absolve racial minorities of all responsibility show a lack
of understanding about our sin nature. Racial minorities have been and
continue to be victims of racism. But even victims have a sin nature.
Jesus’ call for repentance covers victims as well as oppressors.2 We do
the victims no favor if we downplay the reality of their sin nature. We
rob the victims of the opportunity to confront their own weaknesses.
We also discourage fellowship between majority group members and
racial minorities if we tell minorities that they have no responsibility to
reach out to European Americans. The mutual responsibility model,
unlike the multiculturalist and white responsibility models, is bal-
anced in its approach. It compels us to look at the responsibilities of
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S i n N a t u re a n d R a c i a l M i n o r i t i e s 101
people of color as well as the tasks of majority group members.
In this chapter I will explore the way our sin nature poisons the
thoughts and actions of racial minorities. First I will show how racial mi-
norities use their status as victims to sin against majority group mem-
bers. Then I will look at the importance of renewing our relationships
with majority group members. Racial minorities often focus only on jus-
tice, but Christians of color must strive for a Christlike balance of justice
and love. I will explore an attitude of forgiveness and will challenge ra-
cial minorities to rise above their own bias and help create mutually re-
spectful, even loving, relationships with majority group members.
THE RACE CARD
In Breaking Down Walls, Glen Kehrein writes about working with a black
minister who began an adulterous affair.3 When Kehrein confronted the
man about his sin, the minister accused him of racism. The minister
knew that since Kehrein was a white man striving to deal with racial is-
sues, the charge of racism would be a useful tool to deflect accusations
of sin. Here is a clear example of playing the race card. Kehrein was not
a racist. The charge of racism was not made in order to further the cause
of racial justice. The accusation was made to help a person of color es-
cape his legitimate responsibilities. It was the sort of dodge that should
be exposed as an illegitimate claim to power.
Few actions damage race relations more than playing the race card. It
is even more destructive than the racial insensitivity of white Christians
because it is an intentional attempt to use one’s racial status to escape re-
sponsibility and deny one’s sin. When it happens, it breaks the trust be-
tween people of different races. People of color have taken the good inten-
tions of the majority and squandered their goodwill in order to further our
own selfish desires. How are European Americans going to believe our
claims of racism when they see us use those claims to get away with sin,
to escape our responsibilities and to punish those we do not like?
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102 B E Y O N D R A C I A L G R I D L O C K
We can cite many other examples of playing the race card. Illinois
congressman Mel Reynolds was caught having sex with a teenager, and
he claimed to be the victim of racism. He attempted to use the accusation
of racism to escape charges of statutory rape. The head of the National
Basketball Players Association, Billy Hunter, played the race card when
he accused NBA commissioner David Stern of racism during their nego-
tiations, when Stern was merely engaging in hardball negotiating tactics.
Students of color play the race card when they are too lazy to study and
then complain that the teacher hates them because of their race. From
my position in academia I have often observed students who try this.
When accusations of racism are made only to further the selfish inter-
ests of racial minorities, it becomes more difficult for people of color to
point out real racism. We do not give the majority any reason to listen to
us if we abuse the privilege. If we cry wolf at any imagined racist inci-
dent, then when racism really happens, few will pay attention to us.
If we fully understand the concept of human depravity, we should
not be surprised that people play the race card. People of color want a
social weapon they can use to obtain what they want. It seems to be in
our interest to make accusations of racism that help us bully whites
around. Are you not getting a good grade in class? Accuse the teacher
of racism and see if you can get your grade up a notch. Have you been
caught doing seventy-five in a fifty-five-mile-per-hour zone? Say that
the cop had it in for you because of your race, and maybe you can get
a warning instead of a ticket. Are you not being promoted fast enough
for your liking? Threaten to file a civil rights lawsuit, then prepare to
move into that corner office.
The sad truth is that racism may very well be part of all those situa-
tions. Teachers still have low expectations of minorities’ academic work.
Racial profiling is a documented fact in the United States.4 Companies
do not always promote people of color as readily as they deserve.5 Rac-
ism is more subtle than in the past, and we should make a careful anal-
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S i n N a t u re a n d R a c i a l M i n o r i t i e s 103
ysis of each of these situations to assess whether racism is a factor. Blind
accusations of racism only hinder an accurate picture of what is going
on. When we truly find racism and tell our white friends, they will not
believe us. We will lose them as potential allies. We will pay for the
grade, the warning or the promotion with an inability to deal with the
larger racial issues that plague our society.
Sometimes racism is overt and clear to the victims. In those cases the
victims are obligated to bring it to the attention of the proper authorities
and/or confront the perpetrator of racism. Sometimes racism is subtle
and less clear to the victims. In those cases the victims are obligated to
discuss the situation with the person who may be engaging in racism so
the person has a chance to learn and grow. Sometimes it is unclear
whether racism is to blame. In those cases the possible victims should
bring the situation to the attention of the possible perpetrators in a non-
accusatory manner in order to discover the truth. If people of color han-
dle apparent racism in such a way, we will be able to promote racial heal-
ing. If we handle every situation with a demanding racial accusation,
then majority group members will not want to work with us. The major-
ity will see racial problems not as a moral issue but as a power struggle.
Whites will seek to cover up their wrongs if they are guilty and will strike
back at us if they are innocent.
Whites are not the source of this racial sin, and they are not the solu-
tion. Playing the race card is our problem, not the problem of majority
group members. If you are a person of color, it is not enough that you do
not personally play the race card. Whites are generally defenseless against
unfounded accusations of racism. Christians of color must fight against
unjust accusations. If a situation looks suspicious, we must say so.
For example, in Kehrein’s situation with the adulterous minister, con-
sider the potential effect of black Christians telling the black minister to
stop cheating on his wife. If Christians of color had rallied around
Kehrein and said they would not allow the black minister to deny his sin,
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104 B E Y O N D R A C I A L G R I D L O C K
then the minister would have had to confront his own shortcomings. He
would have had a chance to grow in an accountability relationship with
Kehrein. Instead the black minister split the ministry along racial lines
and badly damaged the trust that Kehrein had won. Kehrein became
gun-shy about working in a multiracial setting until a black minister
with more integrity, the coauthor of his book, came into his life.
We people of color have the ability to stop unfair accusations of
racism, but we often choose not to because we want to get back at
whites. We only hurt ourselves in the long run. We see it all the time.
A black community leader makes racial accusations that have no ba-
sis. We know the charges are unfounded, but we support the leader
anyway because we do not want to be traitors to the cause. As a Chris-
tian I would rather betray some racial cause than betray the truth that
has set me free.
Playing the race card has no place in the mutual responsibility model.
Christians of color should be the first ones to confront anyone who is ob-
viously playing this card. As a Christian I should seek out my white
brothers and sisters because I want what is best for them. It is best for
them if I inform them about racism that they may not see. I will not make
unsubstantiated accusations of racism. Such accusations only serve to
further my selfish desires.
It is right for people of color to want equal power, respect and author-
ity with our white brothers and sisters. But I fear that many of us want
more than equality. Many of us want a superior position over European
Americans, and playing the race card is a way to incrementally obtain
that goal. Over time, if we play the race card enough, we can get whites
to acquiesce to our demands. We can even convince ourselves that this
is fair, given our society’s history of racial abuse. The practice quickly be-
comes a way to abuse our white brothers and sisters. We racial minorities
must recognize playing the race card as sin and be prepared to confess it
when it happens.
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S i n N a t u re a n d R a c i a l M i n o r i t i e s 105
ARE REPARATIONS THE ANSWER?
In recent years we have heard the call for reparations for racial minori-
ties, especially for African Americans. Proposed reparations take various
forms, but advocates of the white responsibility and multiculturalism
models argue that society owes people of color some type of payment for
historic and contemporary oppression.
Some mistakenly believe that reparations mean a check will be sent
out to every individual African American. In fact, those who support
reparations argue that reparations should be paid to the group rather
than to the individual.6 Payment should come from the United States
government or from large businesses. The money is not to come from in-
dividual whites. The funds would be given to organizations that would
decide how to spend it to further the economic, educational and political
aspirations of African Americans.
The justification for group repayment is that the horrors of slavery
and racism were done to African Americans as a group, and the group
should be repaid for the harm they have suffered. Reparations are seen
as the payment of a bill which the United States government and certain
businesses owe blacks. They are not based on whether or not blacks
need the money.7
Payment of reparations would not be limited to blacks in the United
States. Supporters of reparations hold that racism is an international crime
by which the United States and European nations colonized nations of
color. Therefore nations of color should receive reparations as well.8
Reparations are generally seen as a starting point and not as a final set-
tlement. Those who call for reparations contend that the debt owed to
African Americans can never be paid by money alone. Reparations are
the righteous repayment for the labor, property and other economic re-
sources the dominant group seized from African Americans throughout
the centuries. Only after reparations have been paid can we create true
civil equality.9
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106 B E Y O N D R A C I A L G R I D L O C K
If it has done nothing else, talk of reparations has produced a useful
racial dialogue.10 The discussion has provided a forum to explore ways
in which European Americans have benefited from racism. To the degree
that the issue of reparations has allowed us to gain a more complete un-
derstanding of the horrors of racism and how it is still a part of our so-
ciety, the discussion has been valuable.
However, there is a dark side to reparations. What would happen
if our government did pay? It would take an enormous amount of
money.11 Any European American who pays taxes would be paying
for reparations. How would whites react to that? While advocates
claim it would help mend damaged racial relationships, I think most
whites would see it as nothing but a big payoff. They would not want
to hear any more about racism or racial difficulties. Discussion about
racial issues would become impossible. A majority group member
who heard further complaints about racism would say, “They’ve been
paid off. Why are they whining now? They just want more money
from us.”
Reparations would guarantee that healing relationships between
whites and people of color would not take place. The communion that
Volf discusses12 and the shalom that Plantinga envisions13 would be
traded for economic gain. I would oppose the payment of official repa-
rations by our government unless it can be done in a way that promotes
rather than represses the possibility of positive race relations. While I
think that the discussion produced by the idea of reparations is excel-
lent, I do not include the actual payment of reparations as part of the
mutual responsibility model.
WHAT ABOUT JUSTICE?
Reparations represent one extreme of the dimensions of racial
power. The opposite extreme is to focus on relationships and ignore
the disproportionate power of whites in our society. That would be
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S i n N a t u re a n d R a c i a l M i n o r i t i e s 107
a serious mistake. To forget about racial justice means that we can
never confront the racial sickness in our society. While reparations
would eliminate the possibility of developing healthy race relations,
we will still not develop those relationships if we sacrifice our desire
for justice.
In fact we do not have to sacrifice justice for healthy relationships. We
can gain justice through healthy relationships. By developing relation-
ships with European Americans, we can enlist them as allies in our quest
for racial justice. My personal experience as a teacher of race relations in
college and my interpersonal relations indicate that we do not have to
capitulate on justice to gain the friendship of our white brothers and sis-
ters. As long as we do not abuse the race card, and they see that we are
trying to expose genuine racism, we will be able to show them the need
for racial justice. The mutual responsibility model is not a call to ignore
racial justice; it is a way to promote justice through loving interracial
relationships.
I once heard a speaker say that the aim of psychotherapy is to create
an atmosphere in which people can look at their shortcomings. Then the
therapist can confront the client with issues that need to be addressed.
However, the therapist will not create such an atmosphere if the client
only thinks that the therapist wants to accuse him or her of being wrong.
The therapist has to earn the right to be heard by the client.
In the same way, we people of color need to create an environment in
which whites can learn about the reality of racism. But we have to earn
the right to be heard, or whites will believe we are only trying to rip them
off. We must confront our majority group brothers and sisters in ways
that show that we truly care about them, even as we grieve for the racism
that victimizes us. We will be right in what we say but wrong in how we
say it if we fail to say it with love and respect. We will enlist many more
of the majority in our struggle for racial justice if we speak in the context
of sincere friendship rather than condemnation.
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108 B E Y O N D R A C I A L G R I D L O C K
CORPORATE FORGIVENESS
Only after we understand the tension between justice and relationship
can we tackle the controversial concept of corporate forgiveness. In
chapter seven I discussed how Christianity leads the way to dealing with
sin through corporate repentance. The attitude of corporate repentance
is necessary among majority group Christians in order to assure racial
minorities that whites will be there to help them in their struggles.
The other side of the coin is corporate forgiveness. Racial minorities
have responsibilities in this tremendous task of racial reconciliation. Just
as we need assurance that whites will not neglect our legitimate con-
cerns, majority group members also need assurance that their expres-
sions of repentance and white guilt will not be used against them. A
scripturally accurate attitude of corporate forgiveness can give majority
group members such assurance. Just as corporate repentance is an essen-
tial part of the mutual responsibility model, so is corporate forgiveness.
Sometimes after I have an argument with a friend, the friend comes
back and asks for forgiveness. Sometimes I say that I forgive him or her,
but in the back of my mind I think, Yeah, the next time I want something
from that person, I have an ace to play. I have not really forgiven the person.
Saying “I forgive you” is canny strategy at that point of the relationship.
That is how we minority Christians sometimes treat repentance. We try
to sound very spiritual by telling whites that they are forgiven, but at the
first opportunity we use white guilt to get what we want. As a result,
whites learn not to trust us.
If white Christians approach us with an attitude of corporate repen-
tance, we must reciprocate with an attitude of corporate forgiveness.
This does not mean we must keep silent about racial injustice. If white
Christians have approached us with a real attitude of corporate repen-
tance, they will be even more open to remedying injustice. But we must
recognize that by forgiving them we abdicate our right to bash them over
the head with their own repentance. Instead we now have a responsibil-
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S i n N a t u re a n d R a c i a l M i n o r i t i e s 109
ity to work with them and listen to their concerns.
It sounds easier to forgive than to repent until you realize that when
you forgive, you give up the right to have an ace to play later. Other
people have hurt us, and we want to be paid back for the pain we have
suffered. Christian forgiveness is not only difficult; it can even feel unfair.
We will do well to remember the many times Jesus has forgiven us when
we did not deserve it. Forgiveness is the core of our faith. By forgiving
those who have harmed us, we can help them grow as reconcilers in ways
that are not possible if they are always under the accusation of racism.
If ever anyone had a right to withhold forgiveness, it would be
Desmond Tutu. Having personally experienced the horror of South Afri-
can apartheid, by human standards Tutu had every right to hold bitter-
ness and anger toward whites. Instead he realized that such an attitude
would only feed the alienation of apartheid. He beautifully tells of the
development of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and his path
toward forgiveness in his book No Future Without Forgiveness.14 Tutu dis-
cusses the power of an apology from the white South Africans, but more
importantly he focuses on why he embarked on a path to forgiveness.
Tutu points out that when people who have been abused gain power,
they tend to abuse those who were their oppressors. They do not realize
that their former oppressors may one day regain power and the cycle of
abuse will continue. The only way to break the cycle of abuse is to be
ready to forgive one’s former oppressors.
I believe that if blacks ever gain as much power over whites as whites
have had over blacks, we will see blacks set up rules which allow them
to exploit whites. If given the opportunity, blacks would even enslave the
majority group.15 I believe that if Indians had the opportunity to exploit
and murder whites, they would do so.16 I believe that Asian and His-
panic Americans would oppress European Americans if they got the
chance. Throughout our history, whites have sinned against people of
color more than people of color have sinned against whites. Whites sin
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110 B E Y O N D R A C I A L G R I D L O C K
not because they are white but because they are human. Events in places
such as Sudan, Rwanda and Afghanistan show that sin is not limited to
Europeans and European Americans. We people of color have no right
to feel arrogance and pride over majority group members because we
have not perpetuated racial abuse to the same degree as whites. Our task
is to learn to forgive, or we will forever be trapped in a cycle of oppres-
sion and revenge.
Am I asking a lot from those who have been abused? Yes, I am. Tutu
observes that reconciliation is not cheap. He points out that it cost God his
own Son. Forgiveness means that we give up the right to pay back our
former oppressors with the same injustice they showed us. Forgiveness al-
lows us the opportunity to break the awful cycle of hate and revenge.
There are people of color who will read these words and argue that
the pain is too great. They may feel that they cannot trust whites unless
they keep the race card handy. They believe that forgiveness is too easy
on majority group members, and they are entitled to hold on to their re-
sentment. I respect their fears and concerns. But if we are to seek healthy
and egalitarian relationships with majority group members, where
power can be equally shared, then we have to give up the right to attack
them with our demands whenever we feel insecure. Instead, we must go
through the difficult process of forgiving, just as our ultimate role model,
Jesus Christ, taught us. We must believe that he will provide us with the
resources we need to enter into that state of forgiveness. Finally, we must
trust our white brothers and sisters to take our concerns seriously and
to work with us so we can understand and support each other out of love
instead of guilt.
MINORITIES RELATING TO EACH OTHER
An examination of the responsibilities of people of color is incomplete
unless it includes a look at the relationship of people of color to each
other. When we speak of corporate repentance, we are talking about
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S i n N a t u re a n d R a c i a l M i n o r i t i e s 111
what whites should do for people of color. Institutional, systematic rac-
ism is something that whites have done to people of color and not the
other way around. However, people of color must consider corporate re-
pentance for the sins they have committed against other people of color.
The use of buffalo soldiers to hunt down Native Americans is an exam-
ple. African Americans would do well to think about how they can help
Native Americans, given the role of African Americans in Native dis-
enfranchisement.17
Racial minorities do sin against each other, and there is a need for
healing between them. For example, we cannot ignore the arrogance of
some Asian Americans toward African Americans and the corresponding
violence done to Asian Americans by African Americans. We can argue
that whites created the society that sets up this sort of conflict, but we
cannot absolve minorities of their own guilt. Racial minorities need to
reconnect with other people of color if we want to experience complete
racial healing.
There is another important reason why minority Christians should
work to resolve hostility with other Christians of color. If we do so, we
will gain legitimacy in the eyes of majority group members. Resolution
of conflict among people of color can demonstrate how we want to be
treated by whites. If I as an African American am willing to work for
more just immigration laws, even though the issue does not directly af-
fect my community, then I am more able to ask for changes in laws that
adversely affect my community. It is hard for people of color to ask
whites to consider the interests of our racial group if we do not consider
the interests of other racial groups.
MOVING TO NEW EGALITARIAN RELATIONSHIPS
For hundreds of years in our country we have suffered from oppressive
hierarchical race relations. A few decades of civil rights legislation has
not removed this sinful stain from our society. Racial strife will not dis-
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112 B E Y O N D R A C I A L G R I D L O C K
appear simply because we wish that everything were harmonious. Even
paying off people of color cannot produce the healing balm for racial
wounds. No, we must do the hard work of tearing down barriers placed
in the way of new egalitarian racial relationships. I hope it does not take
hundreds of years to tear down these barriers.
I believe that the mutual responsibility model offers us the promise of
accelerating racial healing if we obey the call of God on our lives. Only
if both whites and nonwhites take their responsibilities seriously can we
overcome the effects of centuries of racial alienation. A damaged rela-
tionship can be restored only when both parties are willing to work at
the healing process. We need each other if we are going to show the non-
Christian world what a Christian solution to racism looks like. We must
work together as Christians, not against each other as members of differ-
ent racial groups, if we are to fulfill the promise of the mutual responsi-
bility model.
It is my prayer that I have been able to provide an honest assessment
which is useful for anyone, whether a majority group member or a racial
minority, who is willing to take the hard steps toward racial reconciliation.
The mutual responsibility model demands that we all focus on our own
role in racial healing rather than how to place the blame on people of an-
other race. My hope is that the challenges I have thrown out to both ma-
jority and minority group members will stifle the pride of different racial
groups and help us see that all of us must work together to achieve true
racial healing, first in the body of Christ and then in the larger society.
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