According to a study undertaken by Barna research group and published in August, just a tiny fraction of the American church feels obliged to repent of the country’s racist past.
In Where Do We Go from Here? just over 1,500 practicing Christians were asked what they believe should be done to make amends for the decades of racist history that plagued the United States.
Respondents were presented with several different answers to choose from, including: nothing; repair the damage; repent; pursue restitution; lament; and don’t know.
16% of American Christians asserted that the church needed to repent for America’s racist history of slavery and segregation. Among African-American participants, the percentage of those who believe repentance to be the way forward was 24%, whereas among the white respondents it plummeted to just 13%.
Interestingly, some 26% of all respondents indicated they ‘don’t know’ when asked about what the church’s response should be to historical racism, perhaps indicating a lack of insight or understanding on the issue.
‘This could represent confusion over the specific options provided, which range from the symbolic to the material, or it could simply be a way of saying respondents are unsure what should – or even what can – be done by churches to help with racial reconciliation,’ Barna noted.
In light of the survey’s results, well-known Christian leader Jim Wallis said that: ‘until the church, notably the white church, acknowledges its history and complicity with racism, we cannot move towards healing.’
Often, white Christians ‘refuse to recognise that racism is more than a problem from the past,’ Wallis added. He concluded: ‘Until the operative word in “white Christian” is Christian, we won’t move towards a place of healing.’ Active repentance ‘for the sin of racism’ will ‘bring congregations together.’
