The subtle racism in our society

With the big "S" word being uttered in Canberra tomorrow, here is an article from "Sojourners" about how racism infiltrates our thinking at every level. The article, though written about North America applies equally to Australia. How many aboriginal parliamentarians are there? Corporate CEOs? Pastors of white congregations?

How do we think specifically about people, their ethnicity and their abilities?

Here's the article.

A pastor of a large metropolitan church once sought me out for some advice. He was told by several other people that as far as solving his church growth dilemma, namely, drawing Native Americans to the church, I was the "go to guy." Disregarding whether or not those assumptions were correct, I agreed to have a meeting with him over breakfast the next day. He began our meeting by laying out his failures in attracting a significant First Nations crowd, even though the neighborhood demographics suggested they should have a much larger native constituency. He summed up his case, and then looked at his watch to inform me we had about 10 minutes before he needed to leave. I saved him nine minutes that morning. …
My short answer was simple. I told him to put Native Americans in real leadership positions and he would see the growth he was looking for. His response: "but they are not ready for the responsibility." To most ethnic minorities this retort is very familiar. I perceived that what he really meant was that, "we," (meaning the White majority) "are not ready for them to lead us." And when it comes to healing the old racial divides in the United States, this could be the rub.
With just a few exceptions, this may be especially true among evangelicals. Pick any evangelical college, seminary, church, new movement, etc. and go to their website. Unless it began as a minority institution out of reaction to this problem, you will find very few (and often no) ethnic minorities in key leadership positions. While most of us would like to believe that we have left racism behind in the 20th century, this one test could determine our progress.
And, if there are models out there of Blacks leading Hispanic churches, Native Americans leading White Christian seminaries, Asians leading black colleges or a whole host of other wonderfully multi-hued possibilities—then by all means—let's make them known!
The causes of the problem are historic, deeply imbedded and multi-faceted, but they are not complex. It boils down to trust and humility. In the case of Christians, this trust and humility becomes a weapon in a stance of faith against an evil social construction that has kept us away from "the other" for far too long. We must ask ourselves uncomfortable questions such as, "Is the cross really the great leveler of all humanity? Do I believe the equality that Christ brings to the point of losing my own social/personal controls? Do I believe in the dignity of others enough to prove it by submitting myself to other ethnic/cultural norms and expectations?"
What I am calling for is truly uncomfortable and it will take years to work out - but it is a clear possibility. I am not saying that solving the crisis of multi-ethnic leadership will end all racism. I am saying it is about as practical and as serious a solution as could be enacted in the very near future. I believe actions leading to increased ethnic minority leadership among Whites will not only show good faith in resolving racism, but it will result in greater paradigms of respect and healing than we could imagine. Given the United States' history, such paradigms would resemble what Jesus referred to as the "kingdom of God."
Rev. Randy Woodley is a Keetoowah Cherokee Indian teacher, lecturer, poet, activist, pastor and the author of Living in Color: Embracing God's Passion for Ethnic Diversity (InterVarsity Press). http://www.eagleswingsministry.com/