On 21 March we mark International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, as all over the globe overt racist rhetoric and practice is growing at an alarming rate, legitimised by democratically elected politicians across much of the west. So how did we get here after so much effort and time to eliminate this scourge?

Immediately after the Israelites left Egypt, Pharoah and his officials regretted their decision and set out to capture and re-enslave them (Exodus 14: 5 – 9). Power and privilege, accrued through oppressive discriminatory practices are never willingly relinquished, which is borne out in history. 

In Racial Conflict in Global Society, Stone and Rizova cite the work of Van den Berghe who compared race relations in apartheid-era South Africa (1948−1960), with ​“relationships between Blacks and Whites that characterised the American South prior to the 1960s Civil Rights movement.” In both contexts, he observed a ​“shift towards greater openly expressed hostility once the stability of the racial order was being challenged.”

After Obama’s election as US president in 2008, I heard some say we’d entered a post-racial era, when in fact it heralded the re-emergence of the nationalist MAGA movement and Donald Trump’s election in 2016 and 2024.

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Additionally, recent global conflicts, climate crises and natural disasters have seen increasing levels of migration, leading to greater xenophobia. Millennia Britain has exhibited an ambivalent attitude to migration, so it’s not surprising that recent migration is causing all sections of the dominant society to display hostility.

British-born Black, Asian and minority ethnics are not immune to such hostility and discrimination. In 2017, John Allan former chairman of Tesco, said to aspiring non-executive directors, ​“If you are female and from an ethnic background – and preferably both – then you are in an extremely propitious period. If you are a White male, tough. You are an endangered species and you are going to have to work twice as hard.”

Eight years later the Trump administration’s and corporate America’s removal of diversity equity and inclusion programs is simply White male America reclaiming power and privilege, which currently, in less overt ways, is present in Britain. Therefore, scripture and history clearly reveal that efforts to overcome racial discrimination will always encounter setbacks. 

So, in what may appear a bleak, hopeless situation, how, as Christians, should we forge a way forward for church and society?

"So, in what may appear a bleak, hopeless situation, how, as Christians, should we forge a way forward for church and society?"

Through my spiritual journey, God has taught me many lessons, which I think could be helpful to share when faced with this question. 

I am a first-generation immigrant from Chennai, south India, who was raised in a Hindu home. Whilst I experienced and benefitted from unearned caste privilege and power in both contexts, it was during my teenage years here that I saw its discriminatory effects on those who weren’t Brahmins. This led me to reject Hinduism and embrace atheism. Through a believer’s faithful witness and reading Luke’s gospel, I came to faith in Christ in 1985. 

Galatians 3:28 which states, ​“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, here is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” encapsulates my spiritual journey from caste division to unity in Christ, and my deep commitment to race and caste justice within the church.

Many years ago, whilst attending my sister’s wedding in Chennai, a particular conversation with someone from another caste, led Georgina, my wife, who is White Northern Irish to privately ask me: ​“Have you slipped back into your caste prejudiced practices?” I was shocked and ashamed of my behaviour. Her challenge was painful, but necessary, because she spoke into my blind spot, for which I am truly grateful. Through similar experiences in India and Britain the Lord has taught me that because of my socialisation within a caste-discriminatory society, I’ll always be discovering latent caste prejudice for which I’ll need to seek His and others’ forgiveness. 

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, here is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

In 1995, the Lord took me back to an incident 20 years earlier shortly after arriving in Britain. As I boarded a bus, I knew two young White men meant to harm me. Just before they got off, they turned, cleared their throats and repeatedly spat on me. Fear pinned my arms to my side as their spit ran down my face. Whilst I have experienced other verbal and physical racist abuse, this incident had the deepest impact on me. I harboured deep hatred towards them, unable to share this story without my voice cracking with emotion.

However, the Holy Spirit convicted me of my need to forgive them, bless them and move on, which I did, experiencing release and peace. Whilst I expected racism within British society, I was shocked by its presence within the church. Thankfully through my experience of forgiving these men, the Lord had taught me that in addition to challenging and confronting racism, I also need to forgive racist behaviour of fellow believers, which at times has been hard.

These experiences taught me the following lessons. First, as disciples called to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8: 29), each of us must ask the Spirit to show us either directly or through others the specks of prejudice and discrimination which we exhibit in our lives. Then we must ask God, and where appropriate others, to forgive us. Personally, during my tenure as regional minister for racial justice with the London Baptist Association, admitting the caste prejudice I need to address, placed me in a better position to invite others to address their racial prejudice and discrimination. Equally, I have always asserted that it is important to forgive others so that we are authentic to the gospel of reconciliation we preach, which as stated above I’ve had to do.

Next, no one tutored me on how to be caste discriminatory, but in such a society, I simply absorbed it. It is no different in our racialised society. Too often I have heard British-born people from all different ethnicities express racist views. Therefore, we should immediately drop the false ​‘racist’ ​‘not racist’ dichotomy to adopt Barbara Trepagnier’s assertion in Silent Racism that we’re all on a more to less racist continuum. Trepagnier states that people can become less racist by becoming more race aware, through building inter-ethnic friendships with people of equal power standing, in which race matters are openly discussed. I find Trepagnier’s approach to be a genuinely incarnational and helpful method to address and challenge racism.

Lastly, as believers, we need to recognise that racist rhetoric is built on the devil’s pernicious lies. Therefore, when we confront racism, we are in a spiritual battle described in Ephesians 6: 10 – 20. Therefore, individually and collectively we must ask the Spirit to lead us in prayer and strengthen and empower us to speak His words of truth and justice that there may be true peace (Isaiah 59).

Today, I encourage you to pray through these three steps and engage with someone of a different ethnicity, so that together you can begin to chart a path to becoming the prophetic community we see in Revelation 7: 9. Consequently, we can demonstrate to our broken and fractured world that in Christ and Him alone, there is a far more wholesome way for us to live and flourish together.

Shalom Shanti!