LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling has started a new national conversation about race and racism in our country. Everyone from President Obama to the man on the corner are talking about comments Sterling made during a private conversation to woman said to be his girlfriend. Even Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan, who typically doesn’t speak about politics and race, has joined the conversation. Many major sponsors of the team, including Kia, State Farm, Virgin America and CarMax, have left the Clippers ship. Retired players, current players and even the coach Doc Rivers have all publicly addressed the issue. The LA Clippers current basketball team still hasn’t mummed a word (though I guess we can give them credit for the silent protest before Sunday’s game). Their silence is begging the question, do they know they are no longer slaves? They don’t have to hold their tongue (though being tactful in response would be great) regarding the situation. I believe we all understand what’s at stake for them, but in the end, we can’t allow people to speak to us as if we were slaves – and continue to help them make money. I wanted to offer a Biblical perspective to help these young boys completely understand these key points:
- You are free.
- You don’t have to fear what comes from doing what is right. God will take care of you.
- You must take care of your brother.
- You must know this battle is not yours. Those who have a problem with you because of your race, have a problem with God.
You are free. There are countless scriptures that detail how God brought us out of slavery with the expectation that we would continue to live free. See Judges 6:8, Micah 6:4, Nehemiah 9:17, Galatians 5:1, Joshua, 24:17 and Jeremiah 34:13.
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You do not have to fear what comes from doing right. God will take care of you. Proverbs 29:25 says: “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Here the Psalmist is telling us to fear no one and to always trust God. Isaiah 54:17 takes it a step further by saying, “no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the Lord and this is their vindication from me declares the Lord.”
You must take care of your brother. For years blacks were slaves and second-class citizens in American. If it were not for the sacrifice of a few the many would not know the freedoms that we do today. There is a Biblical obligation for each of us to take a stand against injustice. In John 13:34 God tells us to love one another as He has loved us. A part of loving each other is making sure that we continue to maintain freedom. Many times this means we must stand together to fight injustice because as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
You must know this battle is not yours. Those who have a problem with you because of your race, have a problem with God. Quinn Rodgers, lead pastor at GeneratiONE Church, Youth Adult President at United Missionary Baptist Association and Senior Pastor at Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Huntersville, NC, says:
“I believe that Friedrick Otto Hertz was right when he stated “At the heart of racism is the religious assertion that God made a creative mistake when He brought some people into being.” In Genesis 1:27 God created man in His image and likeness. Anyone who has a problem with any man due to his or her creative nature by God, whether it is color, gender, or sex has a God problem! And their issue is not with the race but with God!”
