Ten Things I Learned While Studying Racial Reconciliation by Dan Van Ness

I recently participated in a 12-week Study on racial history, healing, and reconciliation. It was sponsored by the Racial Reconciliation Group (RRG), an informal collection of people initially made up of members of churches in the Northern Virginia area, but with the pandemic forcing them to use Zoom, increasingly from churches across the country. There were roughly the same number of Black people and white people participating.

We started out learning about Reconstruction, the period immediately after the Civil War when the federal government attempted to ensure that formerly enslaved people in the Southern States enjoyed all the rights of US citizens. Over time, however, these civil rights protections were effectively lost through political compromises, neglect, and terror. For these four sessions, we used a four-part PBS documentary called Reconstruction: America After the Civil War narrated by Henry Louis Gates as a launching point for discussion.

I had heard of the Reconstruction era but had no idea of how much was initially gained (W.E.B. Du Bois called it a “brief moment in the sun” for the formerly enslaved) or how quickly those gains were lost. Nor did I understand the ongoing effect of that loss. My eyes were opened by reading a rich daily devotional originally prepared by the Repentance Project called An American Lament. This exceptionally helpful resource helped connect the failure of Reconstruction to many of the long-term, apparently intractable, problems in the US dealing with race.

What have I learned from the class? Let me review ten take-aways for me:

1. White and Black people can have civil, courteous, grace-filled conversations about the issue of race. Perhaps this doesn’t surprise you, but it did me, because so much of our public discourse today is angry and divisive. Instead, I found friendships forming that I was reluctant to give up. One African American pastor began greeting us with, “Hello, family!” This wasn’t because we agreed on everything, but because of the mutual commitment and compassion that developed. Joy is being with people who are happy to be with you. The Study became, for me, a place of joy.

2. A posture of humility is key. Rather than adopting a code of conduct, which felt heavy-handed and would require “policing,” we committed ourselves to take a particular posture in the conversations. Here is how we described this: We gather as a community of diverse people to better understand racism and its effects on American history. We listen to each other in humility to learn and to understand, not to debate or win points.

So that this remains a safe and sacred space for discussion, we agree to avoid judging or finger pointing. It's a difficult topic, so we understand that it will sometimes require that we be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

While the Study is based on Christian teaching, and prayer is a recurring part of the Study, participants do not need to be Christians. The purpose of the Study is not to proselytize, but we do seek to change and build strong relationships. This is a non-partisan group, although we will discuss government policies from time to time.

We show respect and kindness to each other by being present in our conversations, giving grace to one another and allowing room for lament, confession, and repentance. We anticipate that this will lead us to engage together in actions or projects that heal and repair.

3. Being heard is important, which means we must listen carefully. If humility means that I need to acknowledge the limitations of my perceptions and assumptions, then acting in humility means I will do far more listening than talking. This was harder for some of us than others.

Before the Study, I thought that the way to show respect for Black people participating in the program was to signal to them that I already understood their experience. I quickly learned that they were the ones with the experiences, that I had only a generalized (and sometimes woefully mistaken) sense of those, and that the way to show respect was for me to listen. Being respectfully heard can be healing to people who too often feel there is no safe place to talk about their painful experiences.

4. Godly sorrow (feeling) leads to repentance (action). The point of the Study was not to make anyone feel shame for the color of their skin, although the history we reviewed made us grieve. The purpose was to bring repentance. As I thought about this, I realized that this was consistent with Christian doctrine. We confess our sins not to be humiliated but to allow the Holy Spirit to change us. As one participant noted, what marks the difference between sentiment and actual repentance is that repentance produces changed behavior.

5. Slavery has had lingering negative effects on our country. Some of these effects are relational, for example when we instantly and automatically assess people based on the color of their skin. I began watching how I responded to the Black people I met around town and was surprised at how much I was influenced by their skin color. Part of the solution lies in my getting to know individual Black people so that I come to know the person who is inside that skin.

But some of the effects are structural. For example, Black parents generally have far less wealth than white parents to pass along to their children. And there is a reason for this: after World War 2, as Black and white soldiers returned from the war, Congress adopted the GI bill, which helped with college tuition. As the demand for post-war housing expanded, the government offered FHA-insured loans, meaning that only 10% of a down payment was required. But Black soldiers were not allowed to participate in either program. Consequently, the opportunities for Black people to pass along wealth to their children has been far more limited than for white people, contributing to the wealth disparity in the US.

6. Agreement about facts is a prerequisite for reconciliation. Truth is important. This means that we need to study our past to understand the present. Because the course has exposed me to many things I had not known before, my desire to learn more has grown, as has my desire to help others learn. So, I have invited friends to join the summer and fall Studies. I have agreed to help RRG deliver those Studies. And I continue to learn through books and other media and through conversations. I have begun reading some remarkable books on this topic.

But we also need to speak together about our lived experiences today. This Study helped me see that racial fear is still real and creates and perpetuates conflict between, for example, some Black communities and law enforcement.

7. History is not destiny, but history influences destiny. Slavery began in the United States in the early part of the 17th century, and officially ended with Lincoln’s Emancipation Declaration 250 years later. The failure of Reconstruction meant that for another 100 years, most formerly enslaved people lived in communities where they were denied rights such as the right to vote, to serve on juries, or to purchase land.

The intransigence of such limitations can make racial justice seem like an empty promise that will never be fulfilled. But that does not excuse inaction. Change will never happen if we don’t try to bring it about.

8. When making amends, repair is more important than punishment. When Zacchaeus, the corrupt tax collector encountered Jesus (Luke 19), he promised to pay fourfold anything he had stolen from the citizens of Jericho. He was referring to the Old Testament penalty of financial restitution for non-capital crimes (e.g., Ex. 22:1). If someone harmed another person, the appropriate response was to repay the person harmed for their loss.

The issue of how to repair the damage done by slavery is a complicated one, and there will be problems with implementing any specific proposal. But there are many experiments taking place at the municipal, state, and national levels here in the US and abroad that may help learn what steps might be most effective.

9. There are no easy answers, but that is not an excuse to do nothing. We realized that on issues with such deep histories. How can we assess the full impact of the harm done to formerly enslaved people, their descendants, and to other Black people by the institution of slavery and its legacy? What can be done to repair past harm? What changes need to be made to avoid a future that continues to harm Black people? The answer will require good-faith efforts, fortitude, creativity, and a willingness to cooperate. That requires that we play the long game. The Study encouraged us to start by taking “baby steps” toward change, which is good advice. For me, this meant writing an article about 10 things I learned while taking a racial reconciliation study!

10. The Holy Spirit will help us find creative solutions. Racism is a spiritual problem. In its most extreme form, racial supremacy, becomes a form of idolatry. Ultimately, a spiritual problem can only be fully resolved with a spiritual solution.

When Adam and Eve sinned, God’s creation was ruined. God could have responded in any number of ways, but chose instead an extraordinary, unexpected, approach, one that was very costly to God. We know that God loves us and longs for us to return when we have gone astray (somehow “astray” seems too mild a verb to apply to the institution of chattel slavery!). But we don’t have to figure this out perfectly or alone. Jesus told us that God would send us a Helper, the Holy Spirit, who will convict the world of sin (John 16:8-11), teach us all things (John 14:26) and lead us into truth (John 16:13). I believe that the Holy Spirit is able to help us repent, forgive, make amends, and reconcile.

To recap: My overwhelming feeling at the end of the Study was joy! By adopting a posture of humility, I had come to know some things about our country’s history that were disturbing. This led me to lament and to reflect on ways I have benefited from and even participated in the perpetuation of this disturbing history. This was not a reason for despair because Jesus has sent his followers a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to lead to us true repentance and to show us the way forward. This led to hope that things can become better. This is a long-term problem; the solution will take time as well.

The Study opened my eyes to many things I did not know. I am grateful to the Black brothers and sisters in the Study who helped me begin to understand how even now, 125 years after its abolition, slavery continues to adversely affect the realities of their lives. They taught me about compassion and forgiveness. They listened to me patiently. They agreed that tomorrow can be different. I want to be worthy of those gifts.