Pax Pneuma Vol. 5, Issue 2 (Fall 2009)

Editorial

“Who Make All Those Race Cards?”

Paul Alexander

Azusa Pacific University

(click here for PDF)

I know a Christian woman who had a house for rent next door to her own home, so she put up a sign. A black woman with a small child knocked on her front door to ask if she could apply to rent the house. The Christian landlord told her that it had already been rented, so the young woman said, “thank you,” and walked away. The owner came back in and explained to her family, “I don’t ever rent to blacks or Mexicans. I don’t trust them.”  That day, the Christian landlord dealt that young black woman a race card. The owner played the race card in this transaction. So now the young black woman and her child, through no fault of her own, can’t rent the home and is left to wonder if the house is really rented. This happens repeatedly, even though it is illegal (thankfully), and in my experience it is common knowledge in African-American, Latino, and other minority communities.[1] It is also common knowledge among those who rent homes; at least it was in Texas where I often heard it from landlords (and realtors) who didn’t know me very well.

As a male of European descent, who in my youth told hundreds of racist jokes (most of which I learned at my Pentecostal church), I have little doubt as to where the thousands of "race cards" that are decried actually come from. Isn't it obvious? Who dealt the race cards in the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s when only land-owning ‘white’ males could vote and pass on inheritance? Who dealt the race cards in the 1900s when the KKK lynched African-Americans by the hundreds? It took colossal effort just to pass voting rights acts and try to limit and end discrimination in housing and employment.  Millions of race cards have been dealt by those of us who were experts in making and printing them – ‘white’ people have been in power in this country for centuries and we have manufactured race cards by the millions.[2] The race card game is our game.

When a person of color dares to suggest that perhaps they were discriminated against because of race, I hear a chorus of white people saying, “How dare they play a race card!” Well, sisters and brothers, they have stacks and stacks and stacks of them that they’ve been given. They just store most of them in the closets, garages, and attics of their souls and we ‘white’ folks never hear a word about them. But every once in a while the wrong colored hand puts the card on the table and it makes those of us who thought we had a monopoly on the cards, a corner on the game, squirm with discomfort.

It is possible that a person of color might think they’re being discriminated against when they aren’t – this just seems to be an obvious possibility to the non-Anglo friends that I’ve talked to – but that’s another deeply destructive aspect of the race card game. So many ‘white’ folks have handed out so many race cards over the years that it is difficult for that young woman to know whether she really received a race card or whether she’s being overly skeptical. If in this instance she thought, “I’m just too skeptical,” she was wrong.

So what should we ‘white’ people do?  Accept the fact that racism, discrimination, and racial insensitivity are still alive and well – stop denying and tell the truth.  Reflect on how often in your own experience you’ve heard a ‘white’ person say something negative about people of color (it happened again to me last week, “Not pure bred, you know what I mean?  They should have their own lines at Wal-Mart since they have to use food stamps and it holds up the rest of us who have money.”)  Then, say something right at that moment – silence or changing the subject is not enough.  The Holy Spirit is at work in these situations to guide us and I have found that if I gently bring God into the conversation then the person either backpedals so quickly they almost fall over or they get defensive and a substantive conversation ensues.  I’ve said things like, “Well, everyone is made in the image of God and Jesus loves everybody, even us white Gentile dogs – as crazy as that is.”  After recovering from my shock at the “not pure bred” statement last week, I said (nonchalantly and with a smile) something like, “Well, none of us humans are ‘pure’ bred anyway – I bet you’ve got all kinds of different European ancestries in you, I sure do, not to mention some Cherokee.  And I’m sure my wife has some African in her heritage.  Pure bred dogs and stock have a tendency to have a lot more health problems anyway, you know?  Mixed breeds are the strongest, you’re a farmer; you know that.  That’s why all those inbred royal families in Europe got sick.  And you know there are a whole lot of white people on food stamps or welfare, it’s not really a ‘race’ thing at all.  But I guess the most important thing is that God loves everybody and we should love everybody too – even people who look different than us.”  I know, that’s very basic and more powerful and persuasive points could (and should) be made.  But we have to start somewhere, and I think speaking up at the point of infraction – no matter how jumbled or ineloquent our words are – opens an avenue for the Spirit to work in both us and the people with whom we are conversing.  I think we can plan beforehand and be ready in season and out to explain the hope that is within us, but we can also safely apply Mark 13:11 to these situations, “Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”  White Pentecostals need to engage in conversations and actions that counter racist discourse wherever it exists.

Beyond silence and alongside interpersonal communication we should also address systemic racism, racial insensitivy, and discrimination in our churches, organizations, and societies. Here’s what I said to my white Christian landlord friend and what I have said to many landlords who advocate, sometimes with code words, exclusionary rental practices, “In my experience owning rental property, I’ve lost the least money to minorities.  I’ve lost significantly more money to white people who trash a place and won’t move out, but I’ve lost absolutely the most money to white Christians.  So from a financial perspective, I recommend that you avoid white Christians and rent to African-Americans and Latinos.” I’m clearly making a (true in my experience) point and it always changes the mood of the conversation, if not their actions. But we must also be willing to appeal to the Fair Housing Act if necessary and engage in public arguments and action regarding the racial insensitivities and slurs that we hear, for the Spirit empowers us to be transformed ourselves, to tell counternarratives that undermine dominant and prejudiced discourses, and to know when and how to act publicly to resist and possibly transform the (ecclesial, governmental, media) powers.[3]