Racism and Christianity seems like a contradiction, but unfortunately its been a real one historically in the church community.
The new Asian American Christian Collaborative aims to tackle racism in the church head on.
Raymond Chang told The Christian Century he came up with the idea after a trucker driving by screamed out the window toward Chang, calling him a “yellow piece of sh*t.”
When he brought up the issue of racism with church leaders, Chang says he was met with indifference and some even ridiculed him.
He would soon launch the Asian American Christian Collaborative.
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“Racism lives as much inside of the church as it lives outside of the church,” Chang said, “because we’re not doing enough work to address it.”
The Collaborative released a statement condemning the rise of racism and criticized the church for its complexity. Faithfully Magazine published the statement in its entirety.
“Throughout our history, many of us have attempted to raise awareness of anti-Asian bias and racism in the church and the broader culture. There have been many encouraging advances and movements, yet the hate and discrimination persists. While anti-Asian racism is inflamed around the globe, we also hope that our Asian American community remembers that other communities of color have experienced and continue to experience racism daily; even at times as a result of our own colorism and anti-Blackness. We ask that Asian Americans seek opportunities for solidarity with other ethnic and racial minorities and advocate for them as many have done for us, for such a time as this. Finally, for those of you who have not personally experienced anti-Asian racism, we ask that you listen, empathize, and provide support.“
According to EastWind, Michelle Ami Reyes, a minister from the South Asian community in Texas, reported that several of her congregants have been spat on and others have even been chased by people shouting “coronavirus.”
“A lot of what ministry on the ground lately has looked like is caring for people who are experiencing racism and the grief and pain and the trauma that comes from that,” said Reyes to the Religious News Service.
Jeff M. Liou, National Director of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship added, “Many of us have been speaking out against this kind of stuff for a long time and have felt the need to call our leaders to account and invite them to join us. The way things are going right now just reached a breaking point for some of us.”
The Collaborative hopes its statement will inspire a conversation within the church and lead to greater awareness and change.
“We wanted to say something about the shape of faithfulness in this current context,” said Jeff Liou of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship to Christian Century. “We wanted to state it positively, that this is what faithfulness looks like. But there’s a flip side: that it would be unfaithful to leave the pain of Asian Americans unaddressed [in contexts] from pulpits to lesson planning to family conversations. Following Jesus requires us to walk with those who are hurting, and that’s essentially what we mean by faithfulness.”
To date, some 10-thousand people have signed the Collaborative’s statement in support.
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