RACISM AND THE CHURCH By Samuel Pipim

Racism in the Church

    The world today has become one global city whose highways are interconnected by advanced networks of transportation and communication technology. However, we are yet able to find a sound basis for overcoming hostilities among people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds.

    While it is true that many lands are expending much effort to kill racism in its various forms, one can still point to the Rodney King race riots in Los Angeles, the ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia, the hundreds of thousands being killed in tribal warfare in Africa, the violence and bloodshed in Asia, the Middle East and Russia, the activities of neo-Nazi hate groups in Europe, the USA and South Africa, as evidences of the fact that racism, “although repeatedly killed, is nevertheless undying.” [1]

    Racism may be outlawed in the books and laws of the lands, but it remains written in the hearts of people. Unfortunately, the Christian church, the body of people constituted and appointed by Christ to be a counter-voice in our world, is not totally immune to the virus of racism. Forgetting their status as “resident aliens” in this world, and perhaps, out of comfort, fear or blindness, Christians, by and large, have capitulated to the racism of the world. [2] "By and large, the people who have been the racists of the modern world have also been Christians or the heirs of Christian civilization. Among large numbers of Christians, racism has been the other faith or one of the other faiths." [3]

    Decades of research offer compelling, but sobering, evidence that more racial prejudice exists in the Christian church than outside of it. For example, several years ago two sociologists concluded their major study on racism in the following words: “Although the Protestant churches stress (1) the dignity and worth of the individual and (2) the brotherhood of man, the racial behavior patterns of most church members have not been substantially affected by these principles.” [4]

    Recently, an Adventist sociologist and research scientist at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, also updated Adventist Review readers on current studies that have been conducted in the United States on the relationship between racial prejudice and religion. He reported that “there is more racial prejudice in the Christian church than outside it, that church members are more prejudiced than nonmembers, that churchgoers are more biased than those who do not attend, and that regular attenders are more prejudiced than those who attend less often. It’s also been shown that persons who hold conservative theological beliefs are more likely to be prejudiced than those who do not. [5]

    The above scientific studies have yet to be contradicted. Despite the claims by some that there is “racial progress” in the church, very little is being done. Not too long ago, Christianity Today Institute devoted an entire issue to the “The Myth of Racial Progress.” Billy Graham remarked in that publication that even though racial and ethnic hostility is the number one social problem facing the world and the church, “evangelical Christians have turned a blind eye to racism or have been willing to stand aside while others take the lead in racial reconciliation, saying it was not our responsibility.” [6]

    Racism and the Adventist Church. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is not altogether immune from this infection of racism. Adventist history bears eloquent testimony to the fact that not only has their church been silent and insensitive to racial issues, but also it has often been guilty of ethnic or racial prejudice, discrimination, pride, condescension, paternalism, and scorn to some groups within its membership. [7]

    After noting “some marginal progress” during the past three decades in the area of race relations, one prominent North American church leader concedes that “Adventists remain as racially separated as the rest of Christianity and the rest of society. It is still true that 11 o’clock Sabbath morning is the most segregated hour for Adventism in North America. . . . Our church is still riddled with racism and segregation.” The church administrator continues:
Institutional racism is a costly separation, and when African Americans speak frankly to their white counterparts, they receive apathy, indifference, or the attitude that the issue is not really important. Blacks feel angry, hurt, and betrayed by what they see as society’s and the Church’s failure. White racism in white institutions must be eradicated by white people and not just black people. In fact, white racism is primarily a white problem and responsibility. This includes the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We must get our house in order. [8]



Samuel Koranteng Pipim, PhD—a US-based Ghanaian author, inspirational speaker, leadership trainer, and advocate for youth empowerment—was trained in engineering and systematic theology. He promotes excellence and “mind liberation” as the basis of transformational social change on the continent of Africa. Dr. Pipim is a provocative and inspirational writer, having authored and co-authored about eighteen books—including his bestselling works Patience in the Midst of Trials and Afflictions, Healed Wounds but Ugly Scars, and Not for Sale.