How Did We Get To Charlottesville?

How did we get to Charlottesville?

The most recent symptom of a deep racial and social justice divide in the US.

It might be helpful to begin by looking back eight months ago at the results of the presidential election.

Shortly after the election, Christianity Today, reported that 81% of voters who identified themselves as white Evangelicals/Born Again voted for the current president.

CT reported that "the only demographics that broke for Trump more than white Evangelicals were Republican men (90%), Republican women (89%) and Conservatives (81%).

While the lopsided support the 45th received from non-religious groups would seem understandable, it isn't among those declaring their religious affiliation.

The Pew Research Center also reported back on an exit poll, showing that only 8% of those identifying themselves as black and 29% of voters who identified themselves as Hispanic voted for the 45th. This is significant because our nation is rapidly changing to a "minority" majority. Simply put, the percentage of people of color in our country is growing. According to the US Census Bureau, as of July, 2016, whites made up 61% of the population, Hispanics/Latinos made up 18%, Blacks made up 13% and Asians made up 8%. Already minority children outnumber white children and by 2044 that reality will be mirrored in the population, as a whole. A president who isn't particularly sensitive to this trend is going to have difficulty leading our nation.

In a different report, citing a Gallup poll, the Pew Research Center stated that in January, 2017, the 45th came into office with a 39% approval rating - a historic low. (In fact the next lowest approval rating was gotten by George W. Bush - 50% - in January of 2001). The Center stated the 45th's approval rating was "the worst favorability rating in history."

The 45th's approval rating has been going down ever since. Gallup reported it at 34% as of August 13th.

So, we have a president who isn't especially approved of. Which wouldn't be all that significant, except a leader who doesn't elicit trust can't govern effectively.

And coming into office having lost the general election by about 3 million votes doesn't help. In fact, it can really hamper a president in responding to a situation like Charlottesville that calls for a clear, resounding message that unifies. Something the 45th can't seem to do. (Witness that the strongest and clearest message against racism that initially came from the White House in the wave of Charlottesville was from the 45th's daughter, not the 45th. Two days later the 45th expanded his statement to say that "racism is evil. And those who cause violence are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups." It was only after intense pressure, including the resignation of Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck, from the president's American Manufacturing Council, that the 45th used much more pointed language. But a day later the 45th defended his initial statement, saying "there are bad people on both sides.")

But there's more to the equation of what happened in Charlottesville than an unpopular president. (I am in no way condoning the 45th, or his administration. But the cause of what happened over the weekend does not stop at politics. It's a symptom of something deeper.)

Meanwhile, there seems to have been reluctance on the part of a large segment of the Christian Church, as well as other institutions, to come to grips with the most recent forms of racism. As well as our own fears and insecurities that can easily lead to misguided beliefs.

We can continue to point fingers. Or we can take a hint from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.

In Chapter 58 of Isaiah, God's people ask why God hasn't heard them. They've even fasted to get his attention. God replies he's calling them to a different kind of fast.

"Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked you cover them?"

God goes on to say if this kind of "fast" is done, then:

"Your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall break forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you..."

And in the same chapter (vs. 9) God, through Isaiah, really gets to the point of it all:

"If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday." (NKJ)

Jonathan Tremaine Thomas

Back in February my home town hosted a Civil Righteousness Conference. The main message of the weekend was taken right from Isaiah 58:9. I wrote about it afterwards.

Jonathan Tremaine Thomas, the keynote speaker, made a point that we need to respond to the spiritual and moral dimensions of racism with Civil Righteousness. Thomas defined the term as "the pursuit of moral excellence in the face of injustice."

He offered three components to Civil Righteousness:
1. Prepare yourself spiritually, emotionally and mentally to run into the fight. Thomas emphasized the importance of non-violence resistance, pursued by Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement;
2. Be a bridge culturally by cultivating friendships of mutual understanding;
3. Dream with God - lead the change by helping to institute comprehensive solutions and strategies that foster sustainable, spiritual, cultural and economic reformation.

It was an interesting concept then. Even more so after Charlottesville.

Photo Credit. top photo abc-7.com; middle photo, Southern Poverty Law Center
All scriptures quoted are from the New Kings James version.