HEALING THE DIVIDES
By Jason Roach and Jessamin Birdsall
The Good Book Company. 144 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 784 987 275
Although they acknowledge seeing the topic of racial justice and unity through particular lenses, Jason Roach and Jessamin Birdsall are both well placed given their respective backgrounds and experiences to write a book together about racial unity and justice.
The book is around 170 pages long, has seven chapters, one appendix, and a helpful glossary containing some of the key words and phrases in the book highlighted in grey upon first appearing.
Both authors believe that the church is supposed to be a place where people from all walks of life participate, grow, and serve together. As a result, their self-confessed aim, in this little introduction, is to help Christians act more like paramedics who take wise action, rather than simply being a passer-by who keeps their head down upon encountering racism.
The opening chapter helpfully sets the scene, introducing not just the authors, but also some of the complexities of race, ethnicity, stereotyping, class, region, religion, and culture – all of which play into the divisions and prejudices experienced in our communities. The chapter also helpfully navigates the topics of ‘individual racism’ as compared with ‘institutional racism’ (see also the appendix). The latter touches on examples from different continents as well as those closer to home, including the MacPherson Report and the more recent Windrush scandal. There are also constructive and important distinctions made between the historical situations in the US and the UK, which are worth pondering. This key chapter ends with the authors giving clear definitions of the terms ‘racial justice’ and ‘racial unity’.
Chapter 2 is a call to celebrate ethnicity. The Greek word ethnos, translated ‘nations’ in the New Testament, is where this word comes from. Historically people have been divided into false categories that have taken away their dignity and value. This refusal to recognise that we are all made in the image of God, opens the door to the abuses we see played out all around us. According to the gospel, human beings from all ethnic backgrounds were created to find and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith in Him and rooting our identity in Him is ultimately what saves, rather than having any particular ethnic identity. To quote Roach and Birdsall: ‘If we are believers in Christ, we have more in common with someone who understands little about our culture but who is a Christian than we do with someone from similar heritage who has the same history and likes the same food, music, and clothing as us, but who is not a Christian. This is why the focus of this book will be mainly on racial unity and justice within the church’ (p.43).
The chapter ends by touching on how a ‘colour-blind’ approach does not help us do justice to the issues. The rest of the book attempts to unpack what pursuing justice might look like. But not before an attempt is made to understand the massive nature and complexity of the problem. As such chapter 3 tackles Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Critical Race Theory (CRT), chapter 4, class, and culture (look out for Chidozie and Michael) and chapter 5, barriers in the church. These chapters are thoughtfully and carefully written, deserving slow and careful reading. There is a good deal to digest here if church leaders are serious about getting to grips with the complexities of racism. And most especially if they have spent little or no time thinking about the issue.
The last two chapters then look at what change looks like for the majority culture and minority-ethnic people respectively. The former is written by Jessamin and the latter by Jason, but both are entirely devoted to practical steps that can be taken by individuals and churches as they interact with their communities.
This book is a very helpful introduction to some difficult issues and in my view is a must-read for church leaders. It is both well balanced and nuanced in its approach, yet simple while avoiding the pitfall of being overly simplistic. It is well worth church ministers and staff teams each getting a copy to read and discuss together. I heartily recommend it. Thank you, Jason and Jessamin.
