Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation

by LaTasha Morrison

The truth is that each ethnicity reflects a unique aspect of God’s image. No one tribe or group of people can adequately display the fullness of God. The truth is that it takes every tribe, tongue, and nation to reflect the image of God in his fullness.

In the love of the family of God, we must become color brave, color caring, color honoring, and not color blind. We have to recognize the image of God in one another. We have to love despite, and even because of, our differences.

If we avoid hard truths to preserve personal comfort or to fashion a facade of peace, our division will only widen.

Jesus can make beauty from ashes, but the family of God must first see and acknowledge the ashes.

And Canada’s commitment to continuing repentance stands in stark contrast to the nonaction of the United States, where the government (and most American churches) has never made a formal confession and apology, where the government has never attempted to make wrongs right. Instead, the United States has tried to erase and change history and minimize the horrific atrocities against slaves, Native Americans, and other people of color.

The abuse and marginalization that permeate our history have created wounds, triggered mistrust, given rise to anger, and prompted whitewashing that has perpetuated more and more abuse. It’s time we stop pretending that the past doesn’t shape our present and start making reparations for this abuse and marginalization.