We need to talk about race—and historical facts

George Floyd’s death was deeply traumatic for many people. In the months that followed as those who had experienced racism found a voice to express the history of their pain, I felt it was important for me not only to listen to them but to educate myself as much as I could, to better understand their experience. I’ve spent many months reading and carefully examining my own reactions to see in what ways I had contributed to their sense of not being heard or understood.

As part of this process I picked up Ben Lindsay’s book We Need To Talk About Race: Understanding the Black Experience in White Majority Churches. I made a conscious effort to approach it with as open a mind as possible but as I read it I found myself feeling increasingly uneasy about some of his statements. Where he gave footnotes, I checked them out and found a number of them didn’t even say the things he said they did. That alarmed me and I began to dig deeper. What I’ve found has really concerned me.

I believe the book is deeply flawed. Far from being distributed to, and studied by, groups throughout the church, my view is that it should actually be withdrawn from church bookstalls. I’m aware this is a drastic suggestion which must be supported with solid argument. I believe it can be. My reasons follow.

Read here

See also:

Critical Race Theory: Plundering the Egyptians or Worshiping Ba’al? By Bruce Ashford, Public Discourse.

As with any ideology, the discerning person can gain valuable insights from CRT. CRT rightly recognizes that oppression is evil, that individual sins and prejudices often coalesce in our society to warp and misdirect cultural institutions and associations, and that we should all work to bring healing and redirection to the injustices embedded in our culture. Yet precisely because CRT’s narrative conflicts with scripture’s overarching narrative, we should reject any temptation to buy into it as a system of thought.

The Lies That Serve Us: Christians and Critical Race Theory, by Justin Giboney, The Gospel Coalition

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