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05-01-2007, 11:30 AM Justified854 Joined on 03-14-2007 Mazeppa, Minnesota, United States Posts 1 Race relations: We as a people I believe that in this country we have a long way to go. Within our own communities we have done more to destroy ourselves than whites. One of the bigest problems with our people is that there is no unity. Pride in ourselves and the beauty of our people is not being taught to the young by the elder of us. WWe look across color lines and our children see white as more beautiful. Those that are educated forget about the neighborhood in wihich they came from, they don't want to remember so how do we tell the disadvantaged among us that there  is a better way, that you can make it. We here about MLK in January and forget about the dream afterwards. Our young peoplethink that gangs and drugs is the way when it only serves to house them in prisons or put them in a grave. The law has been written to further take away any rights that the civil rights movement marched and fought for, if you are a convicted felon you cannot vote, you cannot find a decent job. You are housed in prison and upon release told to be a productive citizen, of society. What happens, you can't get a job, because the employers do background checks , so what do you do, you go back to the streets and back to prison. Let not forget about housing, what a joke, they are building Condos and either are renting or selling at prices that they know you can't afford. They do credit checks, and the average afro- american has bad credit, they have low paying jobs, they loose their jobs. Ever heard the term "last one hired, first one fored"/ Think about it. That was not MLK's dream. Yes we have a long way to go. Our Churches have to take a more active role in the communities. Open the doors of Churches that only open on Sunday, on Wed. for bible class and on Friday for Choir rehersal. Go out in the community, Preach from the Pulpit; that is not being political. We as a people can make it, we can make a difference in our lives and be a stronger people and community if we can be united.    Report

07-03-2007, 8:02 PM david_katende@yahoo.com Joined on 06-23-2007 N.Waterboro, Maine, United States Posts 3 Re: Race relations: We as a people That is nice of you to think that way, about your community, your people. My opinion is, i always thought that charity begins at home, we have to start getting involved with our kids, by being good role modals. Loving our wives and the wives to respect us as the bible says. Pray for the spirit of divorce to go away in the name of jesus. The happieness of a kid is when the parents are together. Pray all the time for God's guidance in our marriages. Teach our kids to always choose better friends , imean friends they can learn from, my Dad always told me to choose someone who does something Good i don't know so that i can learn from him. It is always good to love not hate, that is the greatest commandment because it is repeated many times, it good to forgive too. also to be accepting, i mean other races too, because we have one creator , he does not see our differences, although we do.    Report

07-30-2007, 12:48 PM Pocahontas1875 Joined on 07-25-2007 Seatac, Washington, United States Posts 3 Re: Race relations: We as a people I think we need 2 need 2 welcome race relations in a positive form .We do have a long way 2 go within each other.B/c the stereo typing has always been not only in the black community but other minority communitys as well.We need 2 see each other as brothers and sisters of the body of christ,and know that being a child of God we are highly favored together.Iv gone 2 hispanic churches w/blacks populated in there,And Iv been 2 predominately black churches. I think theres going 2 be problems in all churches,the change comes from within.We shouldnt  limit God in what he wants-and 2 always make ppl feel welcomed no matter what race or color they are.Black & hispanic american churches welcomes everybody far as what Iv witnessed and I think this needs 2 continue and not be segrated even as their are certain cliques in churches.There needs 2 be unity.And 2 be positive romodels in embracing Unity.    Report

10-04-2008, 11:13 PM buffaloacademy Joined on 10-05-2008 Olympia, Washington, United States Posts 2 Re: Race relations: We as a people I have a lot of questions for the black church community. I don't know where or how to begin. If I offend you... please forgive me. I'm trying to learn. Why is there a division between the white and black churches? Is it belief systems? Is it offense? Is it just different goals? Is it simply we live in different areas and it's too far to drive? Personally, after working for many years against abortion, I turned around one day and noticed there were no blacks around fighting with me. What happened? This was my 'wake up call' to notice there was a problem. I'm sure there are other problems as well. Talk to me!    Report

02-25-2009, 3:45 PM dream star Joined on 02-24-2009 Posts 3 Re: Race relations: We as a people To Buffalo Academy....I just read your post about division between black and white churches. I am white, but I am very unprejudiced and can enjoy black ministers and churches just as much as predominantly white churches, but everyone is not like me. I relate better to black people and black church ministries because I lived in Los Angeles for many years and met a lot of black people and I lived in some predominantly black neighborhoods. I want to say that I see this trend of separation between black and white churches changing a bit due to TBN's television ministries. TBN has done a great deal to heal the prejudices by supporting black ministries a lot and although run by a white couple, they have no prejudices or divisions in this regard. I love them for helping to heal racism. If you watch the black and white churches on TBN, you'll notice that now there are a lot more whites appearing in black churches and a lot more blacks appearing in white churches, or at least with the TBN ministers' churches. I can't speak for every church in the U.S. and have no statistics on this. However, in answer to your basic question about why the divisions between black and white churches, not all are as nonprejudiced as TBN, or myself. I think that part of it is prejudices on both sides, with whites and blacks having a generalized discomfort zone due to environmental and cultural differences. Black people tend to think that white people cannot possibly empathize or understand what they are going through because they think that white people haven't experienced what they have experienced with poverty and dealing with prejudice and gangs and drugs and crime and abusive negative parenting in their neighborhoods. They often also do not trust white people because perhaps they have never in their life met a genuinely nice, nonprejudiced white person. Therefore, they will not attend a predominantly white church, and whites will not attend a black church because they fear reverse prejudice or they know they won't be understood by black people because the whites and blacks are sort of living in different worlds of experience and culture. The white middle class is dealing with different issues than the issues that black people in poor neighborhoods are facing and so yes, their goals might be very different, that is, the preacher would be talking to his audience and what they are generally and usually dealing with in that community. White people who have never had to deal with prejudice, poverty, bad dangerous neighborhoods, welfare, abuse and intense suffering in life could not very well relate to the problems being addressed and spoken of within some of the black churches. There are cultural differences due to prejudice, environments, and income levels. Perhaps some white people might be very sympathetic to the black peoples' problems, and even want to help, but they have never experienced these problems themselves and so for them to go to a black church, well, they couldn't relate to the issues the minister and the congregation is speaking about amongst each other, I mean, they can't know exactly how they feel and what all they have to deal with in life, they have no experience with it themselves. And so, the black people there see this, and have no way to discuss things with them, there is not much commonality between them. And the white person listening to that black minister isn't going to relate to the message because they haven't experienced what that minister is referring to in his sermons to his community people. On the other hand, if we are talking about black working middle class and white working middle class, then there is more commonality between the white and the black churches and perhaps more unity. However, the white person may not be able to relate to and understand how the black person grew up in poverty and abuse and what that was like. Black people tend to have a intense comradery and loyalty to their own race of people, and they still tend to separate themselves from whites to at least some extent, even if they work with whites and live in white neighborhoods. It would be hard for them to attain a really close friendship with a white person who has no understanding or experience with their background and their black culture, which is different than the white culture. Its a kind of tribal mentality which is pretty understandable really. It's kind of like the way Jewish people stick together and relate to each other more because of their religion and its culture and behaviors relating to the Jewish upbringing and religion. It is also partly that often it is too far to drive to attend a church in another neighborhood, plus whites may fear the crime and reverse prejudice in their traveling into a poor black neighborhood to attend a black church, and blacks would probably feel unwelcome and prejudiced against if they tried to attend a white church outside of their neighborhood. I would say that it all would depend on the parishoners and the minister and their attitudes towards different races as to whether one could feel comfortable in and enjoy any particular church, and I suppose the best way to find out is to attend that church and see how the people relate to you and to other races and see if you get something out of that preacher's messages or not. Also, if you are a white person who has experienced similar problems to what blacks have experienced, as to suffering, abuse, poverty, living in bad neighborhoods, dealing with prejudices, job losses, homelessness, drugs, etc., then you would be better able to learn something from the black preachers in those bad neighborhoods and better able to relate to and understand black people who are in or have come up out of those types of issues and conditions. I fit that category, as I dealt with a lot of poverty, job losses, on the verge of homelessness, and lived in predominantly black poor neighborhoods a lot of my life. (I haven't lived in black neighborhoods since 1999, however, and I moved out of California and have been living in northern Arizona, a very different and much calmer environment, although it has its own types of issues and problems to deal with). Also, reverse prejudice of blacks against whites needs to be looked at and dealt with in order to attain more unity between black and white churches. I myself have been burned too many times by trying to be friends with black people who hated white people yet pretended to be my friend. I had no clue that they were prejudiced against white people, they kept it hidden from me and were nice to my face, but would end up setting me up for some sort of disappointment or fall every time. So, I am now a bit more wary. Reverse prejudice is alive and well in America.  See my post herein about reverse prejudice.    Report

02-25-2009, 3:49 PM dream star Joined on 02-24-2009 Posts 3 Re: Race relations: We as a people To Justified 854, I just want to say Amen to what you said. You are right on. I hope a lot of people read what you have said herein! I know how it is, I used to live in Los Angeles and Long Beach for a long time, grew up in south central L.A. I'm white, but I know how it is with the black community and I deeply empathize. And I really loved Martin Luther King Jr, by the way. No one has carried on what he started enough to please my expectations, however. There are still a lot of problems. But we can remain positive and hopeful.    Report

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