February is Black History Month, or more appropriately, African American History Month. Although African American history IS American history and, as such, should be honored, considered, and studied all year, our family wanted to take the opportunity this month to focus in, with greater intentionality, on this specific piece of our nation’s story. The topic of race and racial reconciliation in our country has been on our minds for quite some time. But, becoming parents who wanted to cultivate a love, appreciation, and value for all races in our children, adopting Brooks (who’s paternal side is African American), learning more about the housing disparity among minorities as a real estate agent, and witnessing the heightened visible racial tension over this past year, have all served to deepen our desire to better understand the story of racial division in our nation’s past and become bridge builders for racial reconciliation in our nation’s present and future.
This desire moved us to purchase and begin working through the book The Gospel in Color as a family. The book delves into the very real, complex, painful, and challenging issue of racism and helps kids and parents engage in honest conversations about race, the division and suffering around race, and how the good news of Jesus provides the healing power we need to experience racial reconciliation.
There’s no question that America’s history reveals a very dark and sinful past when it comes to racism and injustices done to people of color. We want our kids to know and learn from the past but also to trust in and move toward our future hope. We have seen the outworking of this hope as movement over the years, albeit often small and slow, has been made in exposing racial injustices and working to correct past wrongs. More importantly, we have confidence in a future end to racism, as promised through the gospel of Jesus. Galatians 1:4 says, “Jesus gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” Racism is a detestable work of the devil and a very real part of this present evil age. It is the will of our God and Father to see all sin destroyed, including racism. Jesus came and died to do exactly that! God wins, and we have a sure hope in His victory! In light of that future victory, we don’t want to be a family who waits idly by, but rather, by God’s grace, we want to be encouraged forward in a daily pursuit of racial reconciliation—a pursuit marked by the bringing of past injustices to light, repenting, seeking and granting forgiveness, healing, growing in God’s love and value of all people, rejoicing in the beauty of God’s diversity, deepening our relationships with those who may be different from us, and relying on His Spirit to make us more like Him and what He’s about.
If you have any resources or movies you’ve watched recently that have informed you on African American history or inspired you toward racial reconciliation and healing, I would love if you would share them. This past week we watched Remember the Titans as a family, and Luke and I watched a good documentary called Long Time Coming. Both of these movies emphasize the beauty and healing God has to offer when we demonstrate His heart by getting to know, love, value, and grow in relationship with all members of the human race—each of whom is created in God’s image to uniquely reflect the vastness of His beauty, goodness, and glory!
By Katie Miller
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