Well, we’re movin’ on up to the east side
To a deluxe apartment in the sky
Movin’ on up to the east side
We finally got a piece of the pie
I always loved the theme song of the 1970s sitcom “The Jeffersons”, which chronicles the life of George and Louise Jefferson, a black husband and wife and owners of a successful dry cleaning business in New York. They lived in an upscale and predominantly white section of Manhattan. The show’s premise was as rare as it was for African Americans in real life.
At the start of the decade, just roughly 55% of blacks graduated from high school compared to 75% of their white counterparts. Since that period, the black unemployment rate has been twice that of whites. From 1979 on, the wage gap between black and white workers increased even after civil rights legislation.
North America’s racial makeup in the 1970s was 87% white, 11% black, and slightly over 1% among other races. Thirty years later, the United States’s white population shrunk to 75%, 12% were black, and there was a dramatic increase for other races to 13%. This came from a surge in immigration from other countries — particularly from Latin America. Fast forward to the present day, U.S. Census officials report the USA is 57.8% white, 18.7% Hispanic, 12.4% Black, 6% Asian, and 5.9% other.
It’s data like these — speeding towards a more multiethnic society — which prompted a white 18-year-old male on May 14, 2022, to drive 200 miles from his home in Conklin, NY to a densely populated African-American neighborhood in Buffalo, NY to kill as many black people as possible. According to police reports, he entered a local supermarket and used an AR-15-style rifle, wore body armor, and used a helmet camera to live-stream the carnage on the internet. Police apprehended the shooter who faces racially motivated hate crime charges.
He murdered ten innocent people — eight African American, and two white:
- Roberta A. Drury, 32
- Margus D. Morrison, 52
- Andre Mackneil, 53
- Aaron Salter, 55
- Geraldine Talley, 62
- Celestine Chaney, 65
- Heyward Patterson, 67
- Katherine Massey, 72
- Pearl Young, 77
- Ruth Whitfield, 86
My heart hurts for the families they leave behind. The assailant, who will remain nameless in honor of the victims, vowed to kill more black people if he could evade the authorities. Days prior, the attacker posted a 180-page document foretelling his intentions. He espoused white supremacist ideology in his post, which has its roots in what is known as The Great Replacement Theory. French author, Renaud Camus, first postulated the assumption in his 2011 book of the same name.
Camus suggests that minorities and allowing immigrants into Western countries are part of a grand scheme to replace white people, their political power, and overall way of life. The first signal he claims as evidence is the common use of foreign languages alongside English.
Throughout the past decade, Camus’s premise has infiltrated the political sphere and the news media. If there’s one arena where it ought to have little impact is the church — the body of Christ — compromised of people from all ethnic backgrounds and languages.
That said, recent data indicate it’ll be a formidable challenge. In an October 2021 research article, writer Jack Jenkins asked a sample of Christians whether “God intended America to be a new promised land where European Christians could create a society that could be an example to the rest of the world.” Jenkins discovered that 52% of white evangelical Protestants completely or mostly agreed with the statement.
This belief ties directly into Christian nationalism, the notion that the United States is inherently Christian, and that government should enact laws to maintain and expand Christianity’s influence. Jesus, however, says in John 13:35, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.” That love is evident when we embrace brothers and sisters from other races and help each other to flourish. Then, we can be influential and appeal to humanity with the Gospel to reconcile with God (Habakkuk 2:14, 2 Corinthians 5:16-20).
As much of an uphill climb as achieving racial harmony can be, it’s possible if the body of Christ exercises His power flowing through its veins. The Apostle Paul, in a moment of unbridled praise, writes in Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
God desires unity more than we do. Before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed to His Father in John 17:20-21, “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one—as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe You sent Me.”
The fear of loss can provoke the most rational and even the most spiritual person to consider the unthinkable. To any of my brothers and sisters reading this and harboring the fears expressed by Mr. Camus and the attacker in the senseless massacre in Buffalo, I say this in closing. I share the great honor and privilege of being a U.S. citizen. However, the mission of Christ has never been to save the American way of life. Better yet, it’s to redeem humanity and to grant them a new life.
Here’s what I know about you:
- You’re one of a kind, and you’re irreplaceable (Psalms 139:14).
- The Lord has a plan for you, and it’s irreversible (Job 42:2).
- He gave you gifts to use, and they’re irrevocable (Romans 11:29, 1 Peter 4:10).
- He adopted you into a community with others who look and employ methods different from you but share the common purpose of sharing God’s love and truth (1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Ephesians 1:3-11).
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is the Prince of peace, and He’s our peace. Because of His sacrifice, He tore down the wall separating us (Ephesians 2:14). No matter our ethnicity, we all have a seat at God’s dinner table. At His feast, there’s so much there that we can share with each other.
If we allow Him to have fellowship with us and we with one another, we can serve a piece of heaven on earth.
Sources:
All Biblical references are from the New Living Translation
Article: “50 years after the riots: Continued economic inequality for African Americans” by Valerie Wilson — published February 26, 2018
Research: “U.S. Population by Race and Age, 1970 – 2000” — compiled by Audrey Singer
Article: “Census: US sees unprecedented multiracial growth, decline in the white population for first time in history” by Mabinty Quarshie and Donovan Slack — published August 21, 2021
Article: “Blacks in the 1970’s: Did they scale the job ladder?” by Diane Nilsen Wescott — published June 1982
Video: “Police: Buffalo gunman had plans to keep killing if he got away” by Derick Waller — published May 16, 2022
Article: “The French Origins of ‘You Will Not Replace Us’” by Thomas Chatterton Williams — published November 27, 2017
Article: “Survey: ‘Great replacement’ belief correlates with Christian nationalist views” by Jack Jenkins — published October 12, 2021
Article: “The Great Replacement is a lie and not Christian, Southern Baptist pastor explains” by Jeff Brumley — published January 11, 2022
Article: “What Is Christian Nationalism?” by Paul D. Miller — published February 3, 2021
Scripture: John 13:35
Scripture: Ephesians 3:20
Scripture: Habakkuk 2:14
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:16-20
Scripture: John 17:20-21
Scripture: Psalms 139:14
Scripture: Job 42:2
Scripture: Romans 11:29
Scripture: 1 Peter 4:10
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-11
Scripture: Ephesians 2:14
