Deafening Silence from the Prophets of Anti-Racism

The Karmelo Anthony/Austin Metcalf Case

I am still resentful about how many Christian voices spent the summer of 2020 lecturing good-hearted Christians for their alleged complicity in racism and white supremacy.

Sermons were preached, articles were written, podcasts and roundtable discussions were posted, all lamenting the problem of “systemic racism” in our majority-white country.

People who don’t have a racist bone in their bodies sat in the pews and were scolded for their part in “biases” and “injustices” in sermons taken from Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi books rather than God’s Word.

On social media, we were scolded for not participating in the “say Black Lives Matter” game. Of course we think they matter. Having to say it to prove it is like answering the “have you stopped beating your wife” question.

Performative self-flagellation was the only way to avoid suspicion: “As a white person, I know I haven’t done enough… It’s my turn to listen.” Any who denied their racism only proved how racist they are, because such claims showed their “white fragility.” It was awful.

And now there’s the Karmelo Anthony/Austin Metcalf issue...

A young black man killed a young white man. The trial is yet to happen, though the details seem clear enough. If the roles were reversed, we would have had racism sermons yet again, blaming white Christians. No such sermons were preached.

The black community has rallied around the young black man, with many insisting he did nothing wrong and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for him and his family, essentially rewarding him for his actions. The family has moved into an upscale house and purchased a Cadillac with their donations. A few comments from the donors:

You did the right thing Karmelo. You will win this war. The FBA [Foundational Black American-JW] family has your back. Don't let these demonic racists and [slur] make you feel guilty for defending yourself.

slavics/colonizer/🦝 you mad or naw? FBA Protecting Our Own Karmelo Anthony🫶🏽 We Call On Our Ancestors To Help Fight 🏹We Know The Truth🪶Stronger Together💪🏾God’s People🤲🏾 #StandYourGround #FAFO🪑 #SelfDefense ✌🏾 Peace 🤎Love☀️Light!

This is for justice and equity. I am donating because this country is inherently racist and has not treated people of our skin tone fairly. This does not make up for legacies of racism and white violence, but it is a small ripple in a larger fight for justice.

It's cool when they do it. But it's a problem when we do it? (You know the rest) US AGAINST THEM! PERIOD! Praying for the family..

And I hope we help you raise 1MIL! These white people can die mad like they ancestors did🤣

Though a few do, most of the comments do not say “Let’s wait for a trial to hear all the facts.” Most say, in some way or another, “Race first, justice later.”

If the roles were reversed, these quotes would be plastered everywhere as evidence of the massive problem we face. We would have had sermons on white supremacy and putting our race over our fellow man. No posts were made, and no such sermons were preached.

Then a black judge reduced Anthony’s bail from $1 million to $250k. If the roles were reversed, we would have heard about how this is proof of systemic biases, and how it’s our duty to speak out about injustice - “We cannot be silent.” No such sermons were preached.

The question we have to ask: where have the stalwart crusaders of anti-racism gone?

Justice is being thrown aside in favor of skin color. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to oppose? What happened to “we cannot be silent” and “the world must see a church that speaks out against racism?”

Why hasn’t the Gospel Coalition spoken up? Why hasn’t every big-name megachurch leader been asked to weigh in? What does Andy Stanley think about this? In the churches of Christ, where is the dismayed Dr. Jeremie Beller op-ed in the Chronicle, the Dr. John Mark Hicks Facebook post, the Radically Christian Podcast episode?

To be honest, I really don’t think most churches need to spend time discussing the Metcalf/Anthony case from the pulpit. Most in the pews are well aware of right and wrong in this situation. I didn’t preach on it last week, and I don’t think most need to this week. We shouldn’t latch on to every news item that arises from Sunday to Sunday.

But, on the other hand, if a church spent the last 5 years talking about race issues and lamenting every story that’s been in the national spotlight, yet looks the other way on this one… it’ll speak volumes.

Do they care about hatred or injustice—or do they care about being in step with the latest TV outrage? Were they taking courageous stands—or were they swimming with the current? Were they confronting racism—or were they proclaiming Critical Theory?

That’s the bigger picture here

One of the clearest proofs that churches have been captured by Critical Theory is in the issue of race. All of the attention that has been given to racism has been in one direction. The “oppressor” majority can be blamed and guilted, but no one else can.

As I wrote last year (‘The Church’s Coming Race Decision’), Christians need to make up their minds regarding racial in-group preferences. Thanks to Critical Theory, prioritizing one’s own race has been accepted as a necessary strategy for some, and condemned as the worst sin possible for others. It’s either wrong for everybody, or ok for everybody, but it can’t be right for some and wrong for others. In either case, everybody should be able to agree that preemptively taking sides in a criminal trial because of skin color is wrong.

This is why it’s so common for churches to speak of the sins of domineering males, but never of feminism. Many will speak of how the church has been mean to LGBT people, but won’t preach God’s true feelings toward sexual perversion. They’re spraying fire extinguishers all over the floods, to paraphrase Lewis (see: ‘The CS Lewis Quote You Need to Memorize’).

A Biblical view calls out sin, whether it’s done by White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Male, Female, Young, Old, Straight, Homosexual, or any other combination of demographic markers. It’s time we get back to letting the Word shape our views rather than the world.