How does the Bible address racism?

Jan 15, 2015

By Fr Lawrence E. Mick
Some religious groups teach that we should only believe what we can find explicitly taught in the Bible.The Catholic Church does not deal with the Bible that way. We recognize that the Bible, as an ancient book, should not be expected to address every issue that arises centuries later.

For example, I cannot find the word “racism” anywhere in the Bible. I can find the word “race” many times. Some of them refer to footraces, some to the human race and many to the Jewish race. But I find no discussion of how we should treat people whose skin colour is different from our own.

However, that doesn’t mean that the Bible teaches us nothing about racism. Racial relations are part of how we treat other people among us and the Bible has a lot to say about that.

The most obvious example, perhaps, is the teaching of Jesus about the greatest commandment. He combines two commandments into one: Love God completely and love your neighbour as yourself. How we treat those of other races or ethnicities certainly falls under that dual command.

Of course, like the scholar in Jesus’ time, we might ask, “Who is my neighbour?” And we know how Jesus answered. He answered with the parable of the good Samaritan. The Samaritan was not part of the Jewish race, yet he reached out in love to care for the wounded Jew on the side of the road. And at the end of the parable, Jesus tells us to “go and do likewise”.

Pushing the point even further, Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:43: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”

That teaching may point us to the crux of the matter. One reason for racism, in some cases, is simply our tendency, whether learned or ingrained in us, to stick with our own kind. Perhaps these tendencies are so deep that we can’t change them. For some, what is different from them seems threatening to his or her identity or group.

But it is obvious that people respond very differently to racial issues in society. Some give in fully to that instinct to stick with people who are like them and treat those of other races or ethnicities as enemies to be feared, or even destroyed.

Others have learned how to behave in a more loving manner, trying to treat each person as a neighbour, or even as a brother or sister. That kind of learning can trump our responses so that we do not act out of fear or prejudice.

Acting in a loving manner toward others, we are able to follow Christ and love our neighbours as ourselves, regardless of their race, ethnicity or background.