"I mean no disrespect to Dr. Land."
This article is full of disrespect. You might as well have said Dr Land you're a Southern Baptist. Because some SBC three generations before you were racist, you should shut up. You have no right to speak. Only I can speak. I'm not SBC. I really care more than you do. I know more blacks than you do."

Racism is not making progress, and may be degenerating. I will not "dismiss" that the evidence shows it is due primarily to the system or religion of the progressive media, public education, Democrat and associated political machines need to distract attention from the gross economic irresponsibility of Obama and try to blame anyone who is against him as racist, anti-poor, etc. They want racism to be inflamed, just as the Occupiers want envy to be enflamed. The lying and false witness is huge. They don't want any uniting. They want division. For every Tayvon there are a hundreds black young men killed by fellow blacks possibly every year, without any attention from anyone. I don't believe for a minute that the outrage is because there was no immediate arrest or charge. Obama is championing economic envy. It is all so obvious. Yes, the way liberals talk about racism is full of lies. Maybe Dr. Land failed to identify the talkers he meant. I will name the system.

Blacks are being used by the progressive religion complex, and you have joined their chorus. Their solutions are all lies. Blacks need more access to abortion - make it free and within a few blocks. Right? Blacks need more entitlements. If we give them more hand outs they will do less crime and make better choices. Right? If every ex-fellon gets a free private home and a good union job right out of jail, they won't do crime any more. Right? If you tear down the old inner city schools and build shiny new ones, the graffiti, disrespect and destruction will stop and the students will all study hard. Right? Theory and myth.

"… almost 90 percent of those sentenced to prison for drug use are African American; this despite the relatively equal drug use among white and black people."
Based on my reading of how easily and cleverly the social "scientist's" lie, just like the natural "scientists" lie characterizing beliefs as "facts" when in reality they are assumptions and massaged numbers designed to prove their preconceived religion, I have a hard time believing this claim. Just because someone from the ACLU puts it in a book does not make me a believer.

All of us privileged folk have zero ability to understand any of the problem and come up with any viable solution because we have not been there. We're just "theorists". Right? Is it not true that the cities in America with the biggest crime and poverty problems the ones with the most progressive religion control voted in by the blacks who live there? It's the justice system. It's the rich folk. It's the republicans. It's the free enterprise folk. It's the slavery generations ago. The serpent deceived me… The wife you gave me… No, it's the people you voted for and the system they have fooled you with to give them power. Is my theory off or is this reality?

My Bible tells me sin, and all the destruction and death that comes with it comes from within myself, not from without. Cleaning the outside of cup won't help. Right? Does Jesus own words on this hold any sway with you? You can't help anyone unless you help them clean the inside of the cup first. Is this a theory or reality?

For the household of faith, the current system of church life dominating both black and white churches makes it very difficult to bring reconciliation. The system is set to consume 75 - 85% of the money just to pay for hired experts to dominate the weekly gathering of believers and pay for crowd oriented gatherings. The leadership system dumbs down the men, the spiritual heads of the home, so they are perpetually dependent on the hired expert for the rest of their life. This system is so corrupt and self serving, it is amazing that any discipleship and evangelism occurs at all. God's grace is big enough to make some happen in spite of the systemic blindness to clear revelation. The supernatural power of EVERY member participation is nullified so paralysis mode is in play. Worship is now face the pulpit and follow instructions. Neighborhoods are struggling and the saints are happy to consume their giving on themselves. Does this make any sense to you or do you believe every 150 saints needs a hired expert, a weekly professional Bible lecture, and a special temple for worship?

Please re-read your article and see the cliches and stereotypes of your own that show you are in sync with progressivist liers are offering man centered solutions, not God centered solutions.

"What might change if those of us who aren’t regularly subject to systemic racism were to identify and empathize with the members of our Christian family who regularly experience the indignities and injustices of an unfair system?"

It is God's loving solidarity with the entire sinful human race in His Incarnation that has enabled our healing and salvation. He became poor that we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Identification with the other (which requires actually getting to know them and sharing their condition--living in their neighborhood as David does with his family) is the very definition of Christian love and mission as seen in the face of Christ.

Yes, I agree, David. It seems to me believers in this country still have a long way to go in this area and many others in taking Christ's call to heart to take up our crosses and follow Him.

wow. reading this article and tim's response in quick succession was shocking and not a little depressing to me. it would take way too much space to write a detailed response, but i will ask tim: is it really so hard to believe that racism is still a reality and a problem in the 2012 version of america? i ask that as someone who is sympathetic to many of your point -- that the issue is too often politicized and associated with left wing solutions, that some demagogue on the issue of race or use it to divide rather than bring people together, that many of the well-intended remedies for racial injustice have exacerbated the problem rather than alleviating it. is it really so disrespectful or insulting to say that on the subject of racism, dr. land and others might do well to listen more and speak less on the front end (james 1:19)? no one is suggesting that they not participate in the conversation; trust me, ethnic minorities LONG for whites to be a part of that conversation. but to listen and understand, even if one disagrees, is loving, respectful, and wise.

also, while there is no doubt that sin comes from inside and we cannot push the blame off on to others, it also becomes embodied in social structures that are unhelpful and even evil -- structures that reinforce and enable injustice rather than rooting it out.you even address some of these in your comment(!). christians should agree that each person's sin must be addressed, but surely that is not incompatible with addressing structures that make our individual and social problems worse, and we should not be blind to the affect that those structures have on individual behavior.

finally, as a brother, i guess i want to plead for love in Jesus' name -- not just for tim but for all of us. race relations, however one understands them, are not just a matter of statistics and culpability. they are a matter of peoples' lives and future. are we willing to have the mind of Christ, to look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others, and to lay down our rights and privileges for their sakes? i understand that there would still be a lot of specifics to work out politically, and that's liable to be fraught with conflict and danger, but if we don't even care for one another, what's the point of even having the conversation?

"Please re-read your article and see the cliches and stereotypes of your own that show you are in sync with progressivist liers are offering man centered solutions, not God centered solutions."

Tim,
I read some very disturbing things in your post, and by disturbing I mean some insight into your thinking. You should reread your own post...you don't come off well in it...in fact, you come off sounding like the Republican Right Wing Conservative Christian Political arm of the GOP.

Isn't racism essentially ethnocentrism? And isn't ethnocentrism a basic fact of normal (sinful) human enculturation? And is there a political solution to this?

Wasn't it James and John who wanted to call down fire on the Samaritan village?

Seems to me that part of our aim in discipleship is to teach Jesus' ethics to believers. “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of..." Hopefully this will lead to less ethnocentrism, more understanding and loving care for people of various cultures.

Meanwhile the various political and social solutions will fail. Frankly, they do more to build the walls that separate people. We need spiritual solutions.

dave: racism is a notoriously difficult term to define (which is one of the reasons why talking about it is so thorny). but i would say that racism, while rooted in ethnocentrism, goes far beyond that. racism has to do with power and social structures, not just individual attitudes. by that definition, even a person who does not harbor bigotry or racial superiority can be a party to racism. in the pre-civil rights south, the system of segregation and jim crow ensured that black americans would never have equal access to resources like wealth and education, but that didn't mean that each individual southerner was ethnocentric or was trying to keep black people down.

likewise, race itself is difficult to define, as we're seeing again in the trayvon martin-george zimmerman affair.

while i will agree with you that we need a spiritual solution, i disagree that such a solution is mutually exclusive of a social or political solution. in fact, when Jesus has uprooted the sin in our hearts, the results MUST be fleshed out politically and socially. it's imperative that my heart be changed -- but not just my heart, if Jesus is the King of everything.

Thanks to Karen and bw for your additional insight and perspective.

Dave, I agree with the way bw defines the difference between racism and prejudice. I've found this definition helpful: prejudice + power = racism. As such, when we talk about racism I think it's helpful to consider the systems and structures that give shape to our society. This doesn't mean we don't "pursue spiritual solutions", only that we who are citizens of a heavenly kingdom pursue those solutions in a manner that acknowledges and affects unjust systems.

"predjudice + power = racism"... a handy slogan for people of color to use to deny their own racism.
I suppose an unexpected fist to the head, a mob attack or an armed assault on unsuspecting innocents do not involve 'power'.
We are called to love our neighbor, but we are not required to submit to brutality, or to stand idly by when it is directed at the weak, no matter what direction it comes from, policeman or gangster.

May I remind you what Solshenitsyn had to say about the line that separates good and evil? To paraphrase, it does not pass between political parties, races, classes, or nations....but right through the middle of each of us, through all our hearts, rich,poor, black, and white.

"I wonder how Dr. Land would explain why in my state of Illinois almost 90 percent of those sentenced to prison for drug use are African American; this despite the relatively equal drug use among white and black people."

Evidence please. Show that drug use in Illinois is 'relatively equal among whites and blacks'. Also, there are plenty of other explanations even if that -is- the case. For example, minorities are more likely to be members of gangs. So if Police crack down on them, of course most arrests are going to be of minorities. Do I know that's the case? No, but that's a possible explanation that doesn't involve questioning the integrity of an entire state's police force.

"And, apart from ongoing racial injustice, how are we to understand the tragedy that in many cities young black men are more likely to go to prison than to college?"

Simple. Black Youth Culture promotes thuggery. Or haven't you been watching MTV and BET? How drug use, violence, and the objectification of women are all but praised?

Instead of blaming 'racial injustice', maybe the Black Community should look at what their youth culture actually promotes and change it?

"Or that 80 percent of the black male workforce in my city faces the crushing weight of a felony conviction?"

...And? If they commit crimes, they should deal with the consequences. It's the same for Whites.

Do I think racism is alive and well? Yes, but it's just as present in the Black Community as it is in White culture. Fact is, there are just as many 'White Trayvon's' out there whose stories are ignored because it doesn't fit the narrative of 'White Oppression'.

For example, the recent beating of a white couple by a mob of over 30 African Americans in Virginia. Or the gang rape of a 70 year old white man by 4 African American men in Texas? Or the brutal assault against a 13 year old white boy in Kansas by older black teens who set him on fire?

Where's the cries for justice? Where's the media screaming racism?

bw, yes, thanks so much for the compassionate and insightful responses.

Very well spoken with much sensitivity to all. Thanks for writing this article. From the few responses I skimmed through I gather that you just can't win talking about racism. God bless you anyway. Truth is--in 2012 some people still don't like it when 'they' visit or join 'our' church. And, people are profiting on both sides by perpetuating the same old stereotypes and ideas. Keep shining that light, please. Jesus is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle. You are helping all of us get closer to what God wants us to become.

I personally did not think the Martin/Zimmerman had anything to do with race until the race baiters found out a white Hispanic man shot a black teenaged boy who was out prowling in a place where he should have never been. Come on folks, racism goes both ways. I am sick and tired of everything being blamed on race. Mr. Zimmerman is not a racist. He may have made a couple of bad decisions but the incident had nothing to do with race until the President, Jesse Jackson and Al Scharpton got into the picture. Who are the real racists here? It is those who will use race to foward their politcal power and agendas.

In the first place there are no such animals as African-American any more than I'm English-American or whatever. We are Americans. Where did this baloney of specifying the place of your ethic beginnings as what you are come from. Believe me, travel around the world, no matter the color of your skin, you're American, whether you're hated or liked. By using African-American it sets people up as not being quite American but more than likely African and starts up a "get away from me" mood. Start at the beginning as designating all Americans as Americans like the rest of the world does to conquer racism. Oh, and the black youth of America needs to understand education is the way to live your life, not the street. Even if you don't get far in life, you will always have that education to read, think, make "your own" decisions. The street life does nothing for you. And, the men need to be more involved in neighborhood churches not just their women who keep their churches alive.

This article has no place on this forum. Way too politically weighted. We we need more people looking to bring peace and resolution, not just stirring the pot more. This author is not looking to bring unity with this article. Period.

I'm saddened by the haters (Tim & more) in the comments. I thought the article was polite and understated.

America is a racist country. America is a racist country. America is a racist country.

The darker your skin, the worse treatment you get from schools, law enforcement, and the "justice" system. The Martin/Zimmerman case is just one particularly well-publicized example of this fact. It's not that awareness of racial issues is being 'inflamed' by this one case—it's that this is one case among thousands to get press. For a number of factors coinciding: the availability of phone call evidence, the egregiousness of not arresting Zimmerman immediately, the age disparity, and probably more random stuff we don't know about.

But rest assured, racism in law enforcement is the rule, not the exception. And as more and more is recorded, more and more will come out. Folks, look up Kenneth Chamberlain, Howard Morgan, & Rekia Boyd. Make an effort to find out what's really going on in your own country.

(I'm a white guy living in Baltimore. I see obvious racism every day and it breaks my heart. And you know what? I experience a lot *less* real prejudice against me than I would expect, given the history.)

@J, do you know who owns and operates both MTV & BET? Hint: not Black people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viacom

I will not acknowledge racism and deal with it from that standpoint only! That is something that the world may do. Christians have a higher calling, a precedent to set before the world. I will stand with God’s word and stress, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). I am a Christian and don't see black, white, brown or any other color. I see people, human beings made in the image of God.

@Jeff - what?? Out prowling around - you mean, walking home? "Made a few mistakes" - you mean, shooting and killing someone who was unarmed? The flap came about when after all that, the man wasn't arrested! And it is his own words in the 911 call that indicate racism, not what the President said. This is the kind of thing that is so sad. It seems to me that we are so reflexive, that when one of "them" - by that, I mean, those with whose politics we disagree - assert something, we must assert the opposite.

Sue: "And it is his own words in the 911 call that indicate racism ..." Are you actually unaware that the 911 calls were edited, that people at NBC news have been fired because of it, that CNN issued a retraction of one of their statements about the 911 call audio analysis? Have you really been duped by leftist media and not realized it? Please post call transcript statements that you believe indicate racism.

Sue, with all due respect, the young man could not have been very easily identified as black or white in the dark on a rainy night with a black hoodie over his head. Second, how did Mr. Zimmerman know that it was an unarmed kid? He did not. He had some guy on top of him beating him in the head. Further, Mr. Zimmerman made a bad decision chasing the boy but was retreating after told to do so by 911 dispatch. Furthermore, the kid was acting suspicious and was in an area that had been experiencing a lot of crime. that does not make him guilty but it does make the situation worse.
As I said earlier, this incident did not become about race until Jessie Jackson, Al Scharpton and the president weighed in. And, unfortunately these men even inflamed the New Black Panthers into offering a bounty on Mr. Zimmerman.
We need to remember to not judge someone guilty until we have all the facts. I hope and pray Mr. Zimmerman can get a fair trial.

Jeff, I also hope that Mr. Zimmerman gets a fair trail. In our system of justice, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty; and although it doesn't always work out that way in practice (anyone remember Casey Anthony!) it is the standard to which our legal system should aspire.

Having said that, we also need to remember not to judge the victim until we have all the facts. You wrote: "[Mr. Zimmerman] had some guy on top of him beating him in the head." Well, that is what Mr. Zimmerman alleges, but that is not a fact that has been established by evidence yet. It may be established as a fact at trial. Then again, it might not. But as of right now, we don't know that that is what happened.

You also claimed that Mr. Martin was "out prowling in a place where he should have never been" and that he "was acting suspicious." As for the claim that he shouldn't have been there, the girlfriend of Mr. Martin's father lived in that community, so he did have a reason for being there; and, in fact, he was expected back there after having gone to a convenience store; but, of course, he never made it back. As for the claim that he was "prowling" and "acting suspicious", what may have seem that way to Mr. Zimmerman may have simply been a teenage kid trying to find the right house in the dark and in the rain.

So, yes, we should not been too quick to judge the defendant. But let's not be too quick to judge the victim, either. Especially considering the fact that Mr. Zimmerman is alive to defend himself--Mr. Martin is not. It's very easy to pick a side and blindly follow its narrative, whichever side it may be. It's much harder, although much wiser, to be objective and allow each claim to stand on its own merit.

If you haven't seen the photos of the back of Mr Zimmerman's head, you should check it out. The back of his head was very bloodied, and I believe he was trying to defend his life, which of course, he has every right to do. It's terrible that obama and sharpton, etc spoke out about the "innocence" of the so-called victim, and didn't wait for the facts. Obama and the others have done this several times now. It's obvious that the president of the US is doing all he can do to stir up divisiveness in this country, and it's no surprise that a large percentage of Americans think he is the worst president we have ever had. And it has nothing to do with his color, it's due to his actions and inaction. Our economy is in the tank, and he has refused things like the oil pipeline which would have generated hundreds of thousands of jobs. Every action he has taken seems to be to deliberately hurt our country so that the puppets pulling his strings can lead us to a one world government. Since you can't name any good that he has done for our country, anyone who votes for him simply because he is black is racist. We need a president who will help this country, not destroy it.

I have seen the photos of the back of his head, in fact. And at some point during the trail, both the prosecution and the defense will offer intepretations to explain those photos. Those interpretations will be based on evidence, and a jury will have to decide which interpretation is favored by the weight of evidence. But at this point, we don't KNOW that those wounds were caused by Mr. Martin beating Mr. Zimmerman in the head. It's pure speculation. We don't know how innocent Mr. Martin was or how guilty Mr. Zimmerman was. All I'm saying is, the call not to jump to conclusions has to go both ways! Let's try to be as objective as possible. It's certainly fine to have a theory as to what happened. But let's not present our theories as if they were indisputable facts.

This was a fabricated story from the beginning, for the purpose of moving against the "stand your ground" laws all over this country. That was the agenda from the beginning, and the media was behind it. Inflame racial tensions, in order to incite trouble, so that it would be made a national issue, so that we would address "stand your ground" on a national level. This is why Zimmerman was described as "white" before the discovery that he in fact is more hispanic than white. So many details were made-up and lied about, I cannot fit them into one quick response. Suffice to say that 3 reporters have now been FIRED because they doctored the tape of Zimmerman's 911 call, in order to MAKE him appear racist, when the conversation does not make him appear so.

Blacks were deliberately stirred up into a TIZZY over this local issue, but somehow they don't get more mad over the 93% of black killings being black-on-black. Somehow, that just doesn't make headlines. That's not tragic enough. Let's focus on the hispanic-on-black which was initially reported as "white-on-black". Let's pretend that Trayvon was this small little thing, and that Zimmerman was larger, and that Trayvon wasn't 17 years old, and entering that phase of life when you want to prove yourself and you don't take kindly to confrontation. Trayvon was 17, 6'3" and weighed only 10 lbs less than Zimmerman who was 5'8". The eye witness agrees with the injuries on Zimmerman and (the lack of injury) on Trayvon's body. The police had no probable cause for assuming that Zimmerman attacked Trayvon. What were they supposed to charge him with?

But the press found a picture that was 3 years old, smoothed it out, brightened it up a little, to make Trayvon look angelic. And they found a bad picture of Zimmerman that was also from a ways back, to make him look fatter and meaner. They started trumping up the calls of "racism". They started demonizing Zimmerman, and misreporting facts about the story. And then people started hitting the streets with skittles and hoodies, after Al Sharpton showed up, pretending that that was all there was to it.

But we're supposed to focus on this one incident and make it a national issue, and actually put the "stand your ground" law on trial. Right? Would that make you feel better? This whole thing was an orchestrated sham, an event that was SHOE-HORNED into a narrative that it didn't fit... for the purpose of further disarming the American public. The UN condemned a local law-enforcement decision in Florida. The president commeted on Trayvon's death (even though other Trayvons have died recently - at black hands). The Democrats recently tried to put a bill on the floor for a vote that would have denied funding to states that had "stand your ground" laws.

Oh, but this is just about Trayvon. And Racism. And the White Establishment. Right? I can always count on liberal writers to write liberally, regardless of facts.

Eric Holder, DOJ, sold American guns to Mexican drug lords, for the purpose of pretending that those guns came from American gun shops (so there would be a crackdown on American gun ownership).

This same guy just happened to mention Trayvon's name, the moment the Dems push a bill that would have denied funding to states that have the "stand your ground" law.

Do you see a pattern?

Because the pattern keeps going on and on...even toward Arizona and the American border. The pattern is: re-distribute the guns toward America's enemies...and DENY that Americans have the right to own and use guns. And ignore (or encourage) violence to be done to Americans. Don't protect the borders. But continue to criticize Americans, SELL GUNS to America's enemies (in secret), and then don't protect the border. And when people say that you're not doing enough about the border, turn your security toward monitoring American citizens inside the border. And when Holder's "Fast and Furious" guns kill American border patrol agents? Don't investigate. Stay silent. Maybe our enemies who have the guns will get the hint.

Do I sound racist now?

The Trayvon story was simply a means to an end. Disarm the American people (while arming enemies), and criticize the American people at the same time, while stirring up unrest leading up to the 2012 election. But I have nothing to worry about. Our DOJ will make sure that we are safe and secure. (The same DOJ which dropped all charges against two New Black Panthers who were standing outside of a polling place in the 2008 election, holding batons; and didn't so much as investigate when the same group advertized an illegal bounty on Zimmerman's head.) The DOJ which cracks down on Americans, while REPEATEDLY selling thousands of guns to Mexican drug lords... we should trust that they are protecting us. So, I guess I should feel ok when the "stand your ground" law comes under attack, when a guy named Zimmerman isn't charged for a crime because it appears he may have abided by the law.

The whole case against Zimmerman is predicated on the idea that Trayvon did not attack first. We don't know that's the case. ALL evidence so far, indicates that Trayvon did, in fact, attack first. But because of one case (whether Zimmerman was right or wrong) we're supposed to deprive the ability of ALL law-abiding Americans to protect themselves in public???

Thank you Mr. Harris for giving me some information that I need to confirm.

However, that being said, I also want to point out that owning a gun is not displaying your faith in G-d to the world, nor does it single you out as a "G-d fearing man."

All a gun, and "stand your ground" says is that we live in a world of worldly problems filled with worldly solutions, and that gun in your hand says is that you have a worldly solution to a worldly problem.