By Andy Hale 

If you had asked me a few years ago if the American culture could be at least managing with prescribed social medication or cured of racism, bigotry, homophobia, xenophobia, and sexism, I probably would have believed it possible. It just seemed like the direction we are heading.

And yet, I wake up at the beginning of each week, thinking to myself, “Well, it can’t get any weirder and more ludicrous than last week.” Never in my life have I seen such positive social advancements, only to pulled back by civil, economic, political, religious, and ideological resistance.

“An honest assessment of racism should acknowledge that racism never fully goes away; it just adapts to changing times and contexts,” said Jemar Tisby, author of The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism.

To help us understand that recent efforts are a mere Band-Aid on the wound of racism, Tisby penned a deeply historical survey of the continued systemic racism in America through politics and the church from during and after slavery to today.

We sat down with the author to discuss how and what it looks like for the church to be active participants in the new civil rights movement.

“The only wrong action is inaction,” stated Tisby.

Jemar Tisby is the co-host of the Pass the Mic podcast and the president of The Witness.

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CBF’s podcast shares stories from across the Fellowship and innovative practices of those working to renew God’s world. The vision is to share ideas, stories, and innovations from ministers, authors, and practitioners.

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Sponsorship

This podcast episode is brought to you by Fuller Seminary, The Center for Congregational Health, Wake Forest School of Divinity.

Andy Hale created and hosts the podcast of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Hale is the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, following eight years as the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton and five years as CBF’s church start specialist. Follow on Twitter @haleandy