Race & Society: How Should Christians Respond?

Family policy matters, and engaging in weekly radio show and podcast produced by the Carolina family policy Council hi this is John Ralston, presidency, family, and were grateful to have you with us for this week's program is our prayer that you will be informed, encouraged and inspired by what you hear on family policy matters and that you will fold better equipped to be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community, state and nation. Today we bring you an excerpt from NC families virtual event on race and society which broadcast live on September 24, 2020. This event features Clarence Henderson civil rights advocate and president of the Frederick Douglass foundation for the state of North Carolina. We hope you enjoy Clarence Henderson. It's great to have you with us today really appreciate your time and look forward to having a discussion with you about race in society.

Clearly there are a lot of issues that were dealing with in our culture today.

So Clarence for our audience members who may not be familiar with your story.

Tell us a little bit about your background where you grew up, and how life was for you as a child great Janet is good to be. I have program I made last time. I believe in divine intervention and I believe nowadays it happened to me from it can benefit now have been something that my father did when I was born outgoing I found a place downtown El Centro Westside and I call it the wrong side entrances at those tracks as a phone know you have a birth certificate and my father was a sharecropper doing it and because she sharecropper for a dad was white and they became the best of friends and the unusual thing he did was he named me after his friend, and that's where my name came from, and so I vowing this stone to be a peacemaker from nap on flow throughout my life is to bring the race together the bridge the gap between races and the early 40s we came to graze runoff granite loaded her black section of town because the town Mayor Pamela Jim Crow and so first few years, first couple years I was in walking. This is the school that I attended and and I walked slowly walk back and then my father moved all into an area which you would call right during this time integrated neighborhood. And so even I was integrated neighborhood. I was blessed and that neighborhood back into the black section of the group to attend school day so doing last time I will play would black kids and when I got home. There were those on the one black kid lived neighborhood around the and what I should do is add that the white kids who come to our house because that is you, John. We played A sports and nondairy on that there was no dues between races that is in the past it because it has to know what they were. And so as I grew up my mother to take me to Lord downtown Greensboro so downstairs I had to water fountains once and Colin was in white.

They had also had to baffled lesson: once in white but when I look the water fountains. I tried to determine what was the difference between the water because they both will sign bubbling when upstairs everything the same as a retail outlet. Plus, they had less, so to go to Eric every second that store and purchase items as I get about else, but when it came to light, we could purchase food of the lungs, but we had to go to the back of ice, and personnel flow to go so we could sit down so I saw a man was at the college. The concept of critique equal as I reflect back on my question always been at it with equal why we need to be separate and so when I was 18 years of age friend Amanda named Ezio Blair can have three other guys and started to the worsted and moving on that with first they live on campus but I couldn't. I could not live out is okay back to the lounge and there were second told me what had occurred and asked me if I wanted to state and not telling the SNI to participate in so we started downtown toward what works, feeling when I walked in the Woolworth that they not knowing house and come out in a vertical position in handcuffs going to jail in the prone position going into hospital even more so it gave me a different kind of appreciation for life and so I replied hundred 76 days before we actually integrate a large town and we went through a series of events being called different names based on the KKK and a bomb threat. We still were persistent.

We decided it would be a peaceful movement.

Nonviolent, so that we just let our voices be heard and saw lasted that much, you asked me why was I afraid and I was afraid I just in the Logan half and so I never want to denigrate his group and I know a guy like town, but I sit down for the right to do so. So that's what drove me was that I had to stop and I thank God for the opportunity gave me to stand up for that which I believe in because our Constitution says God's automation and he has dated we had a right to life liberty and happiness. So is great. We have a Constitution that allows for that.

This is the greatest country in the world.

Even though we still on every country and start out.

I find myself today looking at situations with dealing with and saying hey we already know what we should be doing in risky situations going to get a Constitution says this First Amendment says we have a right to peaceably assemble freedom of speech, all those things that all human beings have and so as long as is done in a peaceful way and that's the way to dinner president done to bring to the forefront the powers that be that may not understand I may not be willing to concede certain things in, so we had a point in my life right now where the government wants to tell people what they should or should not do and and they were possibly work for me but the long story short is that I say the same thing happen over and over again but this time is being created more than anything else, because racism is man, a man may not God create so we have to reckon with that fed back, especially Christian need to understand that the race issue was already settled before you anyone actually right now. That was back when Jesus Christ became the cornerstone between the Jew and Gentile and made in this one. So, is not a vein in which you see because is only one race and that's a human race. How are the union spoke. It was a little bit about how the racial tensions that were seen today similar to and different from what you experienced back in six well that a resolution of the problem solving. It is was different now. We wanted to integrate into America because we were part of America. There is also dated I wanted to tear America down and when you look at America. You see, people are dying to get here, but not by Diana Lee, so we have protests that are not really protest, peaceful protests, they may start out that way.

But then you have about the mayhem diluting the killing and stuff that happens owner has to be restored because God is a God of order and have been little regulation and laws are best at full and we have to be able to self govern ourselves and so now we have a group of people that I think feel a sense of entitlement. They want to live. You have sent about what I was going to that tearing down businesses to have better not to try and earn a living there leaving from Main Street animation gland and entered lately from urban and suburban air this thing called due process of law. We should not rush the court of public opinion allowed the longer I go to the law and see what would happen because people found guilty or innocent. And that's what this country works, not whereby we take a mob mentality and destroy all the things that we have built over this country because of this country with was made to be the lighter chance of an people have been coming here because if other kinds of freedom that we have and is like we have become. We had a Trojan horse on this island left.

It was destroyed as it is in his church church's responsibility to bridge that gap. What the church is doing and alliances that stand within the full wall of the safety of the church and that's not what you spend. So the church had to do what Paul said.

He said, is no longer I Leo, but Christ liveth in me and I lay down my life in a particular life in Christ that too many Christians are still live in the flesh. And so what we assured as a church as good is that we have to be the conscious of America unconscious of the world and that we would become like that we could turn the world upside down. By this time tomorrow. Well, that's a real indictment on the church and so speaking specifically to predominately white churches in our study, what practical steps can be taken to build bridges across these racial and ethnic lines that God desires not to exist while failing to go visit Casca Chase progress. And that people see that that same no matter what church to preach the word then is that we begin understand and need to be more into action as you can so clearly explain that Holy Spirit speaks to us and helps us to understand what is truly right. It was truly wrong. If we listen to that which we treat each other with respect and dignity blog. I am town of law that not the love that the culture deems appropriate, but the love that God demonstrated in the Jesus demonstrated for you and see is not systemic grace and systemic corruption because then we went from racism basically scan and now is going to cardiologist you know if I don't agree with what you say when the first things I'll call you the races.

Even though you may not say anything racist is to shut people down is that we don't interact so we have to look at what's been in this was behind this is that if it were not economically advantageous for some to put down a race of people adopting based upon analogy, it will not be happening. So we must understand that racism is a a mechanism being used by none of the devil to provide people would put laws in place to cannot list a person only God can change the heart were just about out of time clearance boards that I really wanted to say how much I appreciate and I know how much our audience appreciates the wisdom in your heart to share as you have the one thing we can do is pray and ask God to bless our nation was our Christian leaders to bless our government leaders are elected leaders who govern it. I like to ask you if you want Clarence to lead us in prayer as we close our time together.

Father God the father for you to come before your throne of grace in nursing and we come in prayer, praise, worship, and Danskin thought I would think it it you have brought John and I together, that we may discuss some of the things that are going on in this world right now, that we may become a better people follow you on guy would actually heal our land right now. Hillel and father God become more like you and father guy we asked you whatever you do in his season right now please don't do without us.

Let our allies continue the San Brightman father God that you will continue to be a lamp unto our feet and a light into and give us the words to speak.

Give us a heart to do that which you constitute so violent I go to you to answer all of Chris Monica because if you are the one and only true father that you are the answer. All things is in the name your son Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen and amen and amen thank you been listening to family policy matters. We hope you enjoyed the program and plenitude in again next week to listen to the show online into learn more about NC families work to inform, encourage and inspire families across both Carolina or website it NC family.work that's NC family.org.

Thanks again for listening and may God bless you and your family