The Persistence of Racism

This morning as we were driving, we passed a truck that had its back bumper and window covered in stickers.  On the back bumper were these words, “Redneck Rebel,” with the Confederate “Stars and Bars” as a background.  In the back window was sticker with a drawing of Jesus, a crown of thorns on his head, and another sticker with the words, “Depend on God.”  The irony of these religious emblems and the Confederate symbols appearing together reminded me of the deep racism that exists alongside a seeming devotion to the teachings of Jesus.  As we drove on, I wondered whether the owner of the truck we had passed actually believed that the Jesus he purported to follow condoned a society that held others in slavery in the inhumane conditions that existed my native South.  Again, I was reminded of the deep-seated racism that all the years since the Civil War ended have failed to erase.  My prayer is that all of us who proclaim ourselves to be followers of Jesus will condemn racism and the symbols that are associated with it.