Over 250 Christian Scholars Endorse Statement Condemning White Supremacy

A bipartisan group of over 250 Christian scholars have endorsed an open letter condemning white supremacy and have called on all religious and political leaders to do the same.

In response to the violence that occurred between white supremacist protesters and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month, Baylor University History Professor Thomas Kidd and George Fox University Political Science Professor Mark David Hall teamed up to draft a statement, titled “An Open Letter from Christian Scholars on Racism in America Today.”

The open letter, which was endorsed by more than 250 other Christian scholars, was published last Friday on Kidd’s blog at The Gospel Coalition website.

“Like many Americans, we are grieved by recent events in Charlottesville. The white supremacist rally there showed that overt racism is alive and well in America, and that it can turn violent and murderous,” the letter reads. “As Christian scholars of American history, politics, and law, we condemn white supremacy and encourage frank dialogue about racism today.”

The letter explains that although slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, the sin of racism was not.

In fact, the scholars argued that racism had been institutionalized and “heightened” through Jim Crow laws. Although legal slavery and Jim Crow laws are no longer in effect in the U.S., the scholars asserted that what happened in Charlottesville on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12 “makes it clear once again that racism is not a thing of the past, something that brothers and sisters of color have been trying to tell the white church for years.” The letter calls on both religious and political leaders to denounce racism in “no uncertain terms.”

“Equivocal talk about racist groups gives those groups sanction, something no politician or pastor should ever do,” the letter contends. “As Christian scholars, we affirm the reality that all humans are created in the image of God and should be treated with respect and dignity. There is no good moral, biblical, or theological reason to denigrate others on the basis of race or ethnicity, to exalt one race over others, or to countenance those who do.” READ MORE

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