Episode 126

All of us can remember times in our lives when we pretty much solved some of the world’s problems right from our living rooms. “If I were in a position, I would do this or that!” Indeed, there are some problems that are only as complex as we allow our flesh to make them, but others are quite complex even without the added curse of sin and all its atrocious effects. Could racism be one of those problems? What is the answer to racism? In any country where the scourge has been outlawed and citizens seek to live peaceably together without discrimination, it has been a persistent thorn in the side. In this episode of the Removing Barriers podcast McG and Jay sit down with recurring guest Sam to discuss how we can find the answer to this monumental problem in the U.S.

[MCG]

You can implement all the policies you want. If the heart never changes, the people are going to be the same.

[Jay]

Thank you for tuning in to the Removing Barriers podcast. I’m Jay and I’m MCG and we’re attempting to remove barriers so we can all have a clear view of the cost.

[MCG]

This is episode 126 of the Removing Barriers Podcast, and in this episode. We will be sitting down with Sam to discuss the answer to racism.

Sam, this is a big topic. Thank you for joining us and welcome back to the Removing Barriers Podcast.

[Sam]

MCG, thanks for having me.

[MCG]

Well, let’s get started. You know, many times we discussed these topics. We go in and we use terms, but we tend at times not to define them. And also we tend to allow. So you know the world, so to speak, to create language and clean definitions that sometimes not supported traditionally, whatever the case may be. So Jay, I’m going to ask you, what are some terms you think we should reclaim and define before we get into this every topic?

[Jay]

Yeah, this is a heavy topic and so I think if we’re going to try and discover the answer to racism, we should probably define racism. I don’t know if you all want to use. The Webster Dictionary or what? I certainly don’t think that we can use what the world thinks racism is now, because that changes almost on a monthly basis now. But for maybe a baseline, let’s take the definition from Webster. It says that racism is the belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and. Capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. What do you think about that definition, Sam? That sounds pretty accurate to me. I don’t know what. Do you think?

[Sam]

Yeah, that sounds about right to me too. It’s certainly not the definitions that I’ve heard from people recently where if you say anything that might be construed as offensive by a race, then they say, well, that’s racist. So yeah, I would agree. I think that racism is where a person or persons think that one race is superior to the other, you know, generally superior. For the other.

[Jay]

Right. Or that certain traits that are favorable are characteristic of a certain so-called race, while certain undesirable ones would be associated with another race. But as we look at that definition, I think we also have to define what the word race means.

[MCG]

Yeah, but before we go there though, I think that a lot of folks will push back on the definition and say, hey, in order for you to exhibit racism. Or be racist against me. You must have some sort of. Four and that kind of put the boss really in the feel of the white man can be racist, quote UN quote. But the black man can’t be racist because the black man doesn’t have that power. That definition that we got from Webster did not include power. Should we considering power as part of your capacity to be racist?

[Sam]

So for me, no, because. At least the way I look at racism, it’s a pattern of thought, you know? So just like you could have somebody. This is closely related. You could have one person hate another person, but you wouldn’t say that somebody doesn’t hate somebody because they didn’t have the power to harm them. You know, if somebody is thinking hateful thoughts about another person. And then they are hating somebody, you know. But the problem, I guess, is more obvious. Obviously, when they can actually do something with that hatred. So if they decide you know what, I’m going to harm somebody in some way because of my hatred, and they have the capacity to do that, then it becomes a more obvious problem. You know you can hate somebody without actually acting on it, at least for a time.

[MCG]

Yeah, I think what you get in that is that racism is a condition of the heart and not the actions per se towards the person. Yeah, I definitely agree with that because I think that a lot of times we’ll look at it and say, Oh well, quote UN quote, the white man is racist because they did such and such and such rather than coming back to their condition of their heart, which. If we make it the condition of the heart, then we can see all of ourselves as the Sinner and the wretched Sinner that all of us are, and all of us are capable of. Being prejudice or acting upon that prejudice against anybody, regardless of what over quote UN quote race we are.

[Jay]

I’m glad you brought up the issue. Basically what we’re talking about here is the intersectionality principle, and I’m glad you brought that up because that is how racism is being defined. That’s how racism is defined in our world today. Some people have gone so far as to purport that black people can’t be racist because we’re not the ones with the quote, hegemony or the power. But as you all said, it’s a condition of the heart and anyone, even the powerless or even the so-called oppressed can be racist. Now when I was looking at the definition of racism, the 1st 4 words, a belief that race and I think that the term race needs to be defined because in the United States race means something that it doesn’t quite mean in a majority of the other countries of the world and America. Race basically means the color of your skin, whereas in other places in the world there are significant differences or categories that would define a person in a particular race. Let’s take I don’t know. I’m speaking out of the side of my face here, but I would imagine in a country like Nigeria, for example, where there are many. Different tribe. Kids in the history of Nigeria, I’m sure there’s been intertribal warfare, they would have considered the other tribe as the other or they wouldn’t probably wouldn’t call it race. But it’s this idea of the other, so I think perhaps we need to define what race is because in America it just means the color of your skin. And of course I think not only is it shallow, it’s incorrect. I think a definition for races which if we define race and we know it to be just the color of your skin then and we know that to be incorrect. And we have a problem with the issue of racism as well, because everything else is predicated on what is defined as race.

[MCG]

Yeah, I think that’s a good point and also something we need to keep in mind. We did episode called Whoopee the Holocaust and race when Whoopi made that statement about the Nazis and we discussed a little bit about that. But we are going into ethnicity and also race because at the time we kind of separate the two. But if you check the dictionary. And stuff like that. The dictionary have basically the same meaning for. Both of them. But if you remove the color of your skin, which is very important here, you remove the color of your skin. You realize that your ethnicity has a much deeper meaning than just the color of your skin. As we look at in America, for instance, you know I’m from the Caribbean, you know, in the US, I’ll be considered a black man. But I’m not African American. I don’t see the culture. I don’t share a lot of the the upbringing and all the stuff that will. Uniquely identify me African American. But because I mean the US, a lot of folks look at me and say, hey, there goes and African American or a black man, which is fine. But when I hear Africans talk about when I say Africans, I’m talking people who were born and raised on the continent of Africa, whether they are Nigerian or Ghanaian or whatever the case may be. This similarly referred to itself as being one African or even black. They always tend to refer to themselves from the tribe that they are from, and that seems to be very important. Another important thing I want to mention here as well is that. Thomas Soul, which Jay you know him? Sam, have you ever heard? Of Thomas soul. I have. Yeah, Thomas soul in a stall. This was several years ago, so I don’t know if this information is still true, but he said that the most. Diverse country in. The world and one wants to guess which country it is.

[Jay]

I don’t know.

[Sam]

Ohh wow, I’m trying to think here.

[Jay]

It’s not the US.

[MCG]

No, it’s India.

[Sam]

Brazil

[MCG]

India.

[Sam]

Really.

[MCG]

That’s what Thomas Soul said. I don’t know if it’s still. True, because this is. All statistics, but you think about it. Think about it. I don’t know about you, but I can’t distinguish between Indians and Sri Lankans, right? But in India with 130 something different, people, groups or languages or something that he said that was the most diverse country in the world, at least back then. And I’m like, but you cannot tell. By simply looking at someone from India. And that’s telling because we tend to think ohh because you look a certain way that means this is your race or this is whatever the case may be. But ethnicity goes a lot deeper than just the color of your skin.

[Jay]

I think the history of the US, though, complicates this problem because the slave trade and the subsequent laws of reconstruction after the civil war. Were predicated almost totally on the color of our skin. So maybe we can’t escape that in this country. Race means the color of your skin.

[MCG]

Yeah, I would agree. But I think we also need to go to a biblical view of it and look to it from a biblical view.

[Jay]

OK.

[MCG]

And I’m going to come in here quickly, Sam, but I think that’s the problem. When the world behave one way, you know, we can kind of accept it. As my pastor always say, don’t be surprised when sinners do sinful things. But when Christians behave the same way, that’s a problem because I believe that the Bible never used the term race to mean anything close to what we use the word race today to mean. As a matter of fact, the Bible put all of us in the same bracket. All of us are the same. Humans born sinners destined unto hell Heart that is deceptive above all things that desperately wicked and in in need of a savior. All of us fall in the same bracket no matter where they are highly manipulated or lightly manipulated. We all of us fall in the same bracket, sinners, and that’s what the Bible look at it. If we can look at our fellow men and not, you know, look. At them, as black men are white men, I think that’s they will become way to look at this and not be looking at them and say, oh, well, they go the white man, they go the black man. Christians, I think, hold a lot of things in their hand because the world, yeah, we understand what Christians. It’s a shame.

[Sam]

Yeah, I’m just thinking. Back a moment ago, when you’re talking about racism and the fact that in America there is a very strong emphasis on complex. And it seems to me that racism is an interesting topic to me in America. I feel like a lot of the anxiety that we have today regarding racism comes from the whole time of the slave trade in America, as well as the times of Jim Crow and stuff like that. But what’s interesting to me is that. You know, in America we’ve discriminated on people. Not just for being black or for being white, but for other things as well. You know, we had a lot of discrimination against Jewish folks many decades ago. We had discrimination against the Irish. It’s really bad against the Italians, really bad.

[Jay]

The shininess.

[Sam]

You know, it’s really, honestly, the history of discrimination in America. Seems to me to be along many different ethnical lines, if you will not just skin color now in the South. In particular, and probably in the north as well, but to a lesser degree, it did seem like there was a lot of division based off of your. Skin color and then even subcategories you know, so like in the South where there were slaves, obviously many of the slaves were black. And so we had slaves that worked in the field. They were usually the darker ones then we. Had slaves, that would. Work in the house. They were usually not as dark. Or oftentimes mixed and my understanding of all that is, it helps with keeping control you know, so like if the slave master took some of the lighter blacks and put them in a better spot, then they can feel like they have a better position and that they don’t have a reason to buck the system, if you will. Because they’re doing better than at least the others that are out in the field. And then it also keeps the two groups divided because the blacks in the field didn’t like the blacks that worked in the house, or there were fights between them because they got preferential treatment, you know. But I feel like not only the slave masters pit dark blacks against white blacks. But going through some of American history, it looks to me like they pitted blacks slaves against whites that were technically not slaves, but they were not too far off, and those were a lot of those in the sheer cropping community from which my family comes from, by the way. And my family’s case. Half of my family came into America as slaves, and then they eventually got their freedom. But then they ended up being sharecroppers, which is a rough life. Because you’re pretty much living off of land. The land does not belong. To you. So then to pay for the land that you’re living off of, you have to give a lot of the money or the food that you get from that land goes to the guy who owns the land. And pretty much you would make just enough to get by that year and just enough to pay the landlord off, but not enough to make it out of that difficult situation. And you would pretty much get worked to death in those situations.

[MCG]

Yeah, a vicious cycle of poverty.

[Sam]

Yeah. And so if I understand my family’s story correctly, my grandpa, he was supposed to end up being in that whole sharecropping thing, too. But my great grandpa. Somehow I don’t know how, but it sounds like he and his family, they found a way to get out of it and they ended up getting their own land and he had a bunch of kids and they worked the land together. I don’t know whether it was legal or not, but they did and they finally got a foot ahead and many years later. You know, I get to enjoy the freedom that I do, you know you. Also have things like the civil rights movement and whatnot. Well, what’s interesting to me is, at least from hearing my family stories about shear cropping and then also looking at historic records where I see that when blacks were slaves, a lot of whites were sharecroppers. To me, it’s like, well, wow, then both the blacks and the whites were in bad situations. You know, it makes me wonder if the people like, for lack of a better term, it almost looks to me like the elite of that day would pit the different blacks against each other and the blacks as a whole against the whites, you know. And then none of us would ever get together and. And our freedom, as long as we’re always fighting each other. So it’s just interesting. And I feel like that same pattern is being enacted today. I mean, honestly, I don’t see much in the way of racism like it was in the olden days. I don’t see that much today for the most part. When I get around downtown, I get along with white people, no problem. You know, and then of course, you know. I’m married to a white girl, so. There’s no problem there and so I don’t know why. Way to me, it seems like the prejudice or the racism in America, it’s not been much better than it is today and that people get along and don’t bother each other and seem to genuinely enjoy each other’s presence too. For the most part. But then in the news and elsewhere, we keep hearing about racism here and racism there. And it only seems to me like they’re just trying to stoke and and fan the flames, bring the problem back and my question is why? I think it’s for the sake of control.

[MCG]

And politics, yeah, yeah.

[Jay]

No doubt about it. They absolutely have to have some grievance to proliferate or to promote in order to keep the power that they do have. It only makes sense that they would do that.

[MCG]

Yeah, definitely. So let’s go into some of the solutions to racism, because the world tend to have many solutions to racism, and I think the Bible has the ultimate answer to racism. But before we get into what the Bible answer to racism is, we’re. Going to look. That many of their world answers and see if they’re even feasible to get rid of this issue that the US seems to have been dealing with, for what maybe hundreds of years at this point. So let’s take a break and then when we get back, we will talk about some of the worldly answers to racism. So you’re listening to the Removing Barriers podcast. With Sam and we are talking about the answer to racism, we’ll be right back.

[Jay]

Hey, thanks so much for listening to the Removing Barriers podcast. Did you know that you could find us on Twitter, Gab Parlor, Facebook and Reddit, go to removingbarriers.net/contact and like and follow us on social media, removing barriers, a clear view of the cross?

[MCG]

All right, so let’s look at some of the really solutions to racism. We’re going to split this up by the left ideas and the right ideas. So we’re going to start with. Left so one of the big ideas that the left has is what we call diversity equity and inclusion diversity is that the answer, Sam?

[Sam]

Diversity, that’s a tricky question because there’s a lot of assumptions being made. I feel in this whole talk of diversity. So one of the. Assumptions that seems to be. It is that if you have a company right and your company is not half black, then you must not be half black because you’re trying to keep the blacks out, you know, and therefore you must be racist, which is utterly ridiculous. At least here in America, because half of the US population isn’t black. Maybe a more reasonable person would say, OK well. We want to see it more proportional. So black people make up, last I checked and and these are old figures, but last I checked the black population was about 10% of the US population. I don’t think it’s changed much over the last.

[MCG]

I think it’s 13 right now.

[Sam]

13 OK. So then it’s increased.

[MCG]

13 1/2 somewhere around there.

[Sam]

OK, I’m actually kind of surprised to hear that because I thought that Hispanics had caused our percentage to shrink, but wow.

[MCG]

Well, after George Floyd, a lot of people who weren’t identifying as black. Black started to identify as black. So you’re talking about. You’re talking about your mix, folks. You know, Black Father White mother or vice versa, or whatever the case may be, they would identify as other or identify as white. A lot of them have changed and those that identify as black, so that help bring the population up a little bit.

[Sam]

OK, that’s a good tidbit to know.

[Jay]

I didn’t know that.

[Sam]

Yeah, I didn’t either, but. Yeah, I mean, so to. Me if you want to look at the proportionality, I think that might be. A you know? It can be a rule of thumb to look at, but to me that would just be more like a quick glance to just look. Can see. Do you think there’s a problem here or not? So obviously, if you saw a company that matched the proportionality, so let’s say you have 13% black in America and the company had 13% black employees, then you might say, OK, well, there’s probably not an issue here. Then again, you can play with numbers however you. Want, right? So you could have all of the employees. Let’s say you were racist or prejudice in some way. You could hire all of the people that would add to your diversity quota. But just put them. In a position that doesn’t really mean anything, you know. So just looking at those numbers, looking at diversity numbers, to me doesn’t mean a whole lot in and of itself. And then the other thing that I’m looking at is you have the whole issue of what if a certain group of people just don’t want the job, right? So I’m trying to think of a good example. Right now, I guess I can think more of like men and women. Oftentimes men seem to like jobs that involve a lot of math and science. There are women who like that kind of stuff too, but I have found personally that a lot of women that I know aren’t interested in those kind of jobs. So even though our society is about half women. Maybe just a little bit more. If I go to a company that does a lot of computer science, actually, even the company that I work right now, we’re mostly guys and I don’t think that any of us hate women. But honestly, I can’t think of the last time a woman’s. Even applied to our. You know they don’t apply. Why? Where I work so?

[MCG]

Yeah, but you and I were in college together doing software engineering. We can count on one hand how many girls was in our class. I can remember 1.

[Sam]

Yeah, OK. So our senior year. There were roughly 16 of us, and I can only think of 1 like you’re saying.

[MCG]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sam]

Yep, that was in that class.

[MCG]

I thought, I think you have a point there. It’s not that woman, a dormant, actually growing up, going to school. The girls were always the smartest in the. Plus, it’s just that they kind of lean a little bit differently in terms of jobs that they’re interested in and things they want to do. And I don’t think that that I’m interested in at least that area of STEM, but if you go to nursing, you find more ladies in nursing than men, because women are tend to be caregivers and nurturing and all that stuff that. Kind of lend a little bit more to nursing than man. Who wants to? Go and build stuff and break stuff or whatever the case may be.

[Sam]

So, yeah, I mean, I think that it’s nice to have diversity generally speaking, but I don’t think. That the lack of diversity means you’re racist and I don’t think in and of itself. And I don’t think that the inclusion of diversity means that you’re not racist. In fact, now I think about it, some of the organizations, the job that I worked at previously, they made a huge push for being diverse and all that. In my opinion, that job, they were prejudice. In fact, I think I experienced quite a bit of that. I don’t really want to go into the details there, but the job that I’m at right now, we’re not pushing for diversity at all. But I don’t feel like I’m in a prejudice environment at all. I feel like I’m treated just like a normal person, you know?

[MCG]

Yeah. I think one of the bigger issue I have with diversity because you know in one sense I want to say who cares, you know, it doesn’t bother me whether not I’m the only black person or I’m one among 100 working at a place. So for me it’s not a big deal. Can we work together and get the job done? But the bigger issue for me is that it is never in the reverse. So let’s take the NBA. The NBA is about 72% black. And it’s only 16% white. So if you do the math. People of color is about 84% of the NBA and you never hear anyone on ESPN or any of these port organization complaining that the NBA’s to black or the NBA’s to colored. Let’s diversified and be a little bit. Because we judge and enjoy our sports based on the talent. I don’t care whether or not you’re white or black. Can you shoot the ball? Can you dump the ball? Can you make a fancy pass? That’s what I am interested in. I don’t care the color of your skin. If I’m watching the sports, that’s what I’m interested in. But the commentators don’t comment on that. But if we flip it and the NBA was 72% white, then it would have been a problem in this country. Well, let’s go to the NFL. The NFL is 56% black and 71% of the NFL are people of color, right? But you wouldn’t know that by watching the sport by you listening to the commentators. What you would know by listening to the commentators is that majority of the quarterbacks are white, and that’s a problem because. I’m not saying that there might not be anything there or what the case may be. I’m just simply saying if we’re talking about diversity and we want it over here, let’s make it less white. Why can’t we say let’s make it less black. You know, I’m just looking at seeing this here. And as you said, and I fully agree, if the population is 13%. Then a company is fully diversified. Cortana quote. If there is 13% of the workers are black. But I’ve worked at organizations where I would say upwards to probably 80 something. Percent of the workers are black, whether they be small government agencies or whatever the case may be, we’re. The majority of the workers in that agency were black and there are no complaints now at this caveat. Majority of the people that were in manageable positions were white. But at the same time, they will complain about that, but they won’t complain about the fact that 80% of the workers are black. And I’m just simply saying, if you want to see diversity, let’s act through it in every aspect of the community and not just in the area where white are dominant because obviously. 60% of the population, but there’s always going to be more, but I don’t think sometimes we conceptualize it, because if we think about it, if we have 100 people to represent the US, sixty of them. Would be white. At least 55% or whatever the percentages at this point, you know, only 13 of them will be black. So if we truly have a diversity in the Community and we’re picking from the population that we have, we shouldn’t be expecting 50% in a company. Again, I don’t care if it’s 50%. I don’t care. I’m just simply saying if you got to make diversity an issue, why is it that we’re not doing it the other way around? Going back to the NFL, NFL. Have this rule called the Rooney rule, which is basically the way that they hire head. Coaches that organizations in the NFL must interview at least one black head coach before they make a decision. I don’t know. I don’t remember the name of their head coach, but there’s a lawsuit out there that this head coach is accusing. I think the Dolphins, the Miami Dolphins, I think of only interviewing him. To meet the quarter of interviewing a black head coach.

[Jay]

You can’t win. You can’t win. You don’t interview them. It’s a problem you interview them. It’s a problem you can’t win. And I think that’s the point.

[MCG]

Yeah, but I’m simply saying I don’t have a problem with diversity. I don’t have a problem with the fact that you’re telling me it only goes one way.

[Jay]

Not just it goes only one way. They tell you how it goes and how they say it goes, is how it goes. You could say diversity, but what you mean is diversity in skin color. You don’t mean diversity in thought or in disposition or in ability or in capability. What you mean is diversity in this specific characteristic that we want so that we can appear to be whatever. Passive, forward thinking, whatever. Fill in the blank. None of those things would promote genuine diversity. What DEI actually is. It’s a perversion of each of those words. Diversity, equity and inclusion. Now we know equity is a big problem because equity doesn’t really mean equality in terms of worth and personal dignity and all that sort of thing. What it means. Is making sure that the results are all equal, not opportunities.

[MCG]

Right equal results. That activity.

[Jay]

Not equal opportunity, right. And so all of these things we know is a perversion of those things inclusion as well. What they mean by inclusion is bringing in more people that are not like the Gemini, so that means more black people, more brown people as they define it, more people of various sexual orientation. So basically, when we’re talking about Dei, we’re basically talking about what they deem diversity to be, what they deem an acceptable way to combat racism is because only their way is the accepted way. And you could tell that now because folks are being canceled. Otherwise, folks are being marginalized and ostracized. Otherwise, so DEA is a big no go in my book.

[MCG]

We also, yeah, you mentioned inclusion. The issue with inclusion to me is not very inclusive because do you want inclusion. But if I disagree. Three, with your worldview or your your lifestyle, then no, you can’t be included.

[Jay]

Then you’re not included.

[MCG]

But we want inclusion. We want acceptance. We want more than tolerance, want acceptance, or we want to be placed on the pedestal because my lifestyle is way more important than yours or whatever case may be. But if I disagree. Then all of a sudden, then I can’t be a part of this inclusion and I’m talking about this because most of the time it’s the Christians that have fundamental beliefs that a man is a man, a woman and a woman and stuff like that that are excluded from this inclusion. But they want, OK, they want blacks, they want people of their. 2S LGBTQIA plus people they want, you know, people love different religions and all that stuff, and it sounds good. But if you say that you don’t. Agree with whatever group. Then you’re not included, and so to me, if you say inclusion is not very inclusive.

[Sam]

You know another reason why I would say that the left approach to diversity and inclusion is not very inclusive is I’m just thinking about the. I think it was last month, if I remember correctly, last month was International Women’s Month or something like that. Which I’ve never heard of before. But anyway, if I understand correctly, I saw the ceremony, but I’m having a hard time believing what I saw they had at the White House. They had some kind of awards where they recognized women in America and abroad. I think they had one woman representing the United States and a woman. From Latin America, a woman from somewhere else, there may have been three or four of them, and they were handing out, I guess, prizes, or some kind of a medal or some commendation for. For, I guess what they’ve gone through and how they hopefully are helping future women in the struggles that women face. But the interesting thing is that this again is for women’s History Month and not a single person who got the award or the commendation. As far as I understand, not a single one was a woman. They were all trans women, meaning. They were guys who quote. UN quote transitioned into being women. So to me, I find that incredibly exclusionary because on a month that’s supposed to commemorate women. You don’t have a single natural born woman getting a prize. To me, that’s insane. That’s not inclusive at all, no.

[MCG]

Certainly gonna get cancelled, man. You know they banned the song by Aretha Franklin. You make me feel.

Speaker

Are you serious?

[Jay]

A natural woman, they bet natural woman.

[MCG]

You mentioned it, so I just kind of you mentioned natural woman, so I just mention it, they want to band that song.

[Sam]

I hadn’t heard that. That’s crazy. I mean, to ban it for the reason that I think that they’re suggesting. That’s crazy. So.

[MCG]

Yeah, I want to quote Ben Carson here because I think he wrote a very excellent article. Where he says that rather than equality of opportunity, equity would mandate equality of outcome. Then he went on essay equities worldview, as I see it, start with the proposition that the white majority is guilty of bigotry and oppression, and that all differential outcomes between groups are solely. The results of that bigotry and oppression equity proponents therefore argue that retributive actions against the majority are necessary to correct those wrongs reparations for slavery. Which a House committee has voted to study as such an action. So are hiring programs that specifically recruit racial minorities campaign to support only black-owned businesses and firms that require their board of directors to have a certain percentage of minorities. A perfect example of equity is the anti poverty stipend recently announced. By the city of Oakland, CA offered only to residents who are by. That is black, indigenous or people of color. The program explicitly excludes poor white families, proponents of equity see no problem with treating groups of people differently based solely on race, as long as it serves the agenda. This is what we used to call racism. And those not blind by identity politics still recognize it as such. And that was Ben Carson.

[Sam]

Yeah, I would like to know where that money’s coming from. Are they taking the money from people that aren’t in that group and giving it to people that are in? That group if so.

[Jay]

Of course they are. Where else would they? Get the money from.

[Sam]

They don’t.

[MCG]

You have the money.

[Sam]

So, I mean, if that’s what they’re doing to me, that in a way is almost doubly racist. Because not only are. They you know. Treating one group better than the other based off of race, but then they’re robbing another group essentially, you know.

[Jay]

I’m glad we brought this up because one of the things I wanted to talk about under this heading is the work of, oh, I might be mispronouncing it. Ibram X kendi. Is that how you pronounce his name? Because the Boston University Center for Anti Racist Research is his organization. And that, in a nutshell, what we’ve been describing is what he pushes and is aiming to do According to him, according to the website. Their goal is to quote build an anti racist society that ensures racial equity and social justice, the founding statement says that in the future there are only two choices, either racist or anti racist and they specifically say they want to affect. Policy they want to do this, sort of. Interdisciplinary approach where professionals from across many disciplines come together in order to make quote anti racist policies provide anti racist research, collect data on race and policies affecting different racial groups and when they define how they do their research. Here’s a direct quote. From the website. Quote whereas racist research historically has posed the question what is wrong with people? Anti racist research now asks a different question. A better question, what is wrong with policies? Our belief is that framing research on race and racism around anti racist question. Leads to anti racist narratives, effective policy solutions and impactful advocacy campaigns that cut to the root of racial inequality. So we were talking about how racist that is. Sam, you’re talking about how taking money from a particular race of people to give to another racist people in order to correct racism in the 1st place is doubly racist. That’s exactly what his organization is doing. All of their policies, all of their research efforts, all of their attempts to direct narrative, which is one of their stated goals, is centered around the issue of race. To me, that is racist, fundamentally. Racist, but they’re telling you who they are, and they’re telling you what they’re doing. They make no bones about it. They are basically doing racist things in order to erase racism and what you end up with is this DEI, which I’m surprised most companies have some sort of office or person running DEI for that company. But you end up with something. Basically, the ESG score and equity, social, whatever score where. Your company is evaluated based on not just evaluated, but also economic and investment opportunities are provided based on your companies ESG. Or or how much they’ve embraced this new anti racist DI inclusion narrative that’s being promoted now as an answer to racism. It’s not just one thing they’re doing. It’s like a tree with lots of roots and they’re infiltrating big tech. They’ve already infiltrated the universities, obviously. And their solution to racism is pervasive, for lack of a better word, it is in everything, and it’s not theoretical anymore. It’s actually being implemented.

[Sam]

Yeah, when you mentioned ESG and then you also talk about just like these routes going all over the place, infiltrating different organizations and different sectors of our economy, tech companies and so forth and so on. You bring up a very big, big topic. So ESG as far as I understand it stands for environmental social. And corporate governance.

[Jay]

Yes, you’re right.

[Sam]

So it’s almost like they take the whole environmental move. And then this whole idea of wanting to fight against racism and have more inclusivity, which earlier I remember them talking about taking care of minority. So typically that would be black people, maybe Hispanics and women. But now of course, they’re throwing in all these quote UN quote alternative lifestyles. Which really in reality I call them alternative death styles because it’s a way to accelerate your own death. When you play around with sin. I’m not saying that to be. Mean to those people? I’m saying it to try to alert them as to their own peril, that they’re putting themselves in, not that other people might attack them. I hope people don’t, but they are hurting themselves and it’s going to take a toll on their bodies, you know, and a toll on their mind. One of the things you can look at is. I think it’s like 42% of people who get surgery to transition from one sex to the other. 42% become deeply suicidal, you know, and in that 42% figure, I want to say they’ve even tried to commit suicide. Not all of them succeed. That’s dangerous, you know.

[Jay]

I actually think the number is higher. I think there’s a group of people who have pursued this mental illness to the degree to where they physically changed themselves. Lives and they can’t bring themselves to admit that they’ve made such a significant mistake. And so they just keep on the path. But I’m sure that when they’re at home alone and no one else is there, and when they’re alone with their own thoughts, they absolutely they have to sit with and realize. The mistake that they’ve made, they can either lie to themselves and tell themselves that they haven’t made a mistake and that this is what they want, and that this is making them happy, or they have to sit with it every night but put on a brave face when they face the world because they can’t help but say face after doing something so. Drastic you almost. You kind of lock yourself in. Warner to where you have to continue the nonsense until it ultimately kills you. Because from what I understand, going through something like that like this is something that you have to continue for the rest of your life. You can’t just decide to stop sort of thing.

[Sam]

Well, I’m glad you did bring up that point. There is a real aspect to, you know, once you transition, it’s gonna cause there’ll be effects on your body that are not reversible. But that being said, there are people that have transitioned one way and transitioned back as much as they can, and there’s even one guy I don’t even remember his name. But you can find him on YouTube and whatnot. He was a special forces. This guy and he after I want to say this is after he left the special forces he transitioned into. Supposedly he’s transitioned into a woman. He appeared as though he was a woman and he got all the surgeries and all. That if I. Understand correctly. But then years later, he says that he regretted it, and he did. Return his appearance to that of a. Man, although he also says that he’s still, you know, he’ll never be the same, but at least he looks more like what he was born as.

[Jay]

Right, right.

[Sam]

And that’s a man. So I don’t know to me, just because somebody went down that route, it doesn’t mean that there is absolutely no hope. But I’m sure that they feel pretty hopeless. And that’s what’s driving high levels of suicide. Or suicide attempts anyway.

[MCG]

At least when you mutilate your bodies, when you start cutting things off, you can’t really grow back. So yeah.

[Sam]

Yeah, yeah. Forget about kids, that’s for sure.

[Jay]

Well, just quickly back to the anti Research Center. One of the things that they’re doing, for example, and I want to put a finger on this because this is actually dangerous for the entire country and for Christians in particular. I’ll give an example. One of the things that they’re working on is called the COVID Racial Data tracker. I’m not sure how much they’re still using this because COVID is beginning to dwindle. Not an importance, but. It’s a tracker for how many. Brown or black people have been affected by COVID and how, and so they claim that COVID as affected people of color the most. And again, the purpose of that anti racist Research Center is to both find, create and bring together. Data and they want to make policies based on that data. But this COVID tracker is an example of how something like this can be just so subtly twisted and used in nefarious ways. Although presenting itself as benevolent. So they will say that COVID has effect. Said Brown and black people, more than any other quote race of people. And the idea is that somehow COVID affects black people because of the melanin in their skin, but it doesn’t take into account the fact that most black and brown people live in urban areas and in urban areas most of the time you’re living in an apartment, you’re living people in close quarters. The cities are very crowded and so that is more of a factor of the transmission of COVID than it is the actual color of the skin. Because they’re not concerned with those other extenuating circumstances, they can make policies based on these numbers. Then you end up with policies that negatively affect other races. So, for example, in some places, black and brown people were getting the vaccine before other people were. Release and aid is distributed based on the color of your skin, which, as Sam mentioned before, is even double racist. And so it actually affects. So many things. And when I talked about roots being far spread, that’s going to affect how businesses run, it’s going to affect how they hire people, how the company like people in the company interact, one with another. Meritocracy will and has gone out of the window. This has very far reaching effects.

[Sam]

Yeah, that was a disturbing episode. At least what you’re talking about might have been a little bit after what I observed, but in the beginning, when they start to roll out the vaccines and a few other things, I believe there was like a website like you may have. To where you could sign up to get the vaccine and they preferred black people over white folks for some of these aid programs. And obviously that’s racial prejudice right there, although that being said, I’m not sure who that racial prejudice favors because. The vaccine, it’s a controversial topic, but the vaccine, it’s clear that the vaccine was newly developed and. I personally wouldn’t want to be the first group of people.

[Jay]

The first Guinea pig.

Speaker

Right.

[Sam]

Yet to receive a newly rolled out vaccine.

[Jay]

That’s how it’s double racist, right? You’re presenting it to people as though you’re doing it for the disadvantaged or the oppressed, and yet you’re putting them at the front of the line for this experimental vaccine that no one has any lasting data for. Let’s put black and brown people at the front of the at the front of. It’s like Tuskegee all over again. And because of that, as you said, Sam doubly racist. It’s when you’re erasing racism with racism, you get racism times 2.

[MCG]

Yeah, I want to say this too, because I think that Abraham X Kennedy, I think what he would say though is not so much so that it’s because they live in. Cities and apartment complex or whatever the case may be, I think it’s more that they don’t have access to healthcare, they don’t have access to the information that they need to not suffer from COVID like the way they did.

[Jay]

Here’s where. Here’s where I disagree. Right? Because they don’t have access to the information, they got a smartphone in their pocket. Like everyone else.

[MCG]

Yeah, but that doesn’t mean they.

[Jay]

But access. What’s?

[MCG]

Have health care. That doesn’t mean they have health care, though. Health insurance and stuff like that to to get proper health care.

[Jay]

They were. No, no. When it came to the vaccine, they were passing out the vaccine like candy.

[MCG]

I’m not talking about the vaccine, I’m talking about if they get COVID not to.

[Jay]

Just in general.

[MCG]

To suffer from it the way, quote UN quote, he would say they would suffer. It’s because if you’re going to be hospitalized, but you don’t have insurance, the hospital is going to try to get you out as quickly as possible as opposed to someone who has insurance the hospital. OK. Well, we know we’re going to get paid. Let’s keep them an extra night or two to monitor them. But if you don’t have insurance, hospital. Like, hey man, I get paid. Let’s kind of send them home to recover whatever the case may be. I think that would be his argument, though.

[Jay]

But even those things have economic roots and economic. Reasons it’s not solely based on the color of the skin.

[Sam]

So I did do a little bit of research on this years ago. I wish I knew that we were going to talk about this. Because I would have have.

[MCG]

I actually don’t think we planned.

[Jay]

On talking about it, but go ahead.

[MCG]

Yeah, I would.

[Sam]

Have had the information more readily available but. If I remember. Correctly black folks in general, at least based off of the research that I had gone through, do have a higher rate. Of contracting COVID. The the research that I looked at, I don’t remember it what you call it controlling for the environment in which we live in, right? So I don’t think it made a difference between blacks that lived in the country versus blacks that lived in the city, that would have been an interesting thing to look at. I know for me when COVID first came out, I got it and it hit me pretty hard I. Was considering going to the hospital over it. This is before the lockdown, by the way.

[Jay]

MHM, MHM.

[Sam]

But The funny thing is, so our kids, my kids are. Mixed and my wife is white and the kids no problem at all. And my wife, she got the sniffles, but for me I was bedridden having a hard time breathing and the whole lot. So it was like a bad flu plus pneumonia is what it was like for me. And so that was rough. And just talking to other people that I know, at least around here, it seems like the black folks that I know generally, they seem to be more likely to get it and they seem to not have as good a time with COVID. I guess that’s anecdotal. But then I also to look at the numbers which I mean. People can lie on the numbers, right, but at least the numbers I saw also suggested that that blacks might be a little bit more affected, but if it’s true, the explanation that I have is it’s because of certain genetic traits and how we have certain receptors in our cells that the spike proteins play off of. To me, that’s not racist. On the part of your everyday American. If there is any racist component to the COVID mirus, any major racist component Now this goes down into the world of conspiracy theory or whatnot, but it’s quite well established that the virus was experimented with. The coronavirus was experimented with in labs and that they were doing gain of function research on these viruses, and one of the labs that we were doing this. When was a lab in China, Wuhan, right? And so maybe we didn’t intend it this way. Who knows whether our officials did or not? But the Chinese, they like to do experiments where they’ll modify viruses or other pathogens and. Take a look. At genetic information of a certain population that they want to talk. It and modify the pathogen to harm people with those genetics more than other groups. And so if COVID is racist, I don’t know whether it is, whether it’s intentionally, you know, targeting black folks or not. If that is the case, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s because of research that engineered the virus to be like that. It is quite ironic to me, though, that the people hurt the most by the coronavirus. If you just look at the. Number of deaths it’s China. So which it’s unfortunate, but. And I know the numbers that they give officially, they kept the numbers pretty low for a while, but if you actually looked at the number of people. That were dying in China, even though they may not have counted as COVID, but it spiked over the normal death rate. So to me it looks like it’s COVID. It looks like COVID hit China really hard, a lot harder than the rest of the world, honestly.

[Jay]

They’d never admit to.

[MCG]

Alright, you’ll listen to the Removing Virus podcast we visit out with Sam and we’re talking about the answer to racism. We’ll be right back.

[Jay]

Hi, this is Jay MCG and I would like for you to help us remove barriers by going to removingbarriers.net and subscribing to receive all things, removing barriers. If you’d like to take your. Efforts a bit further and help us keep the mics on. Consider donating at removing barriers.net/donate, removing barriers. A clearview of the cross.

[MCG]

All right, so we have been talking about diversity, equity and inclusion. Let’s continue on some of the leftist policies that they want to use to counter or to answer their racism problem that we supposedly have in the country. And one of those. The rewriting of history or the hyper Focus and his. How are they using that to answer racism, Jay?

[Jay]

The first thing that comes to mind is the Lincoln project, where basically all of American history is rewritten through the lens of everything that we’ve been talking about now. And So what they want to do, both in the secondary post secondary classrooms is. Teach the upcoming generation that America is inherently racist, the systemic racism, all of these different things that in many ways are not true, so that even if you were to try to talk to younger people about the actual state of racism in the country, there’s like a wall, a barrier if you would, since this is the removing barriers. But guess there’s a barrier that you would have to penetrate first. It’s that foundation of systemic racism that is. Laid in their formational years in secondary and post secondary education. So they’re rewriting history. They’re rewriting the history books. Their take on history is quite revisionist, and to be fair, that’s happening on both sides of the aisle, but seems to me to be happening to a greater extent on the so-called left side of the aisle. So if you can capture the hearts of the youth and you teach a lie long enough and often enough and loud enough that it becomes truth for the next generation. There’s absolutely no telling. Well, there is telling, but this country will follow a path that in many ways would be quite irreversible. Unless goodness, unless a miracle of the Lord, just some sort of revival of some sort. Because if you’ve got all of the next generation believe in this, there’s really no way to combat that short of a miracle.

[MCG]

Yeah, I think some of the bigger issue here as well is that they tend to judge the people of. Today, with today’s moral compass, today’s moral worldview, so they look at, you know, let’s go back to the 17 and 1800s and say, how in the world would you have someone enslaved? How in the world would you enslave somebody? Why is it what’s so difficult for you to release or to end slavery and stuff like that? And if we go back to the moral compass they had and their technology they have and whatever else they had, you can look at say, you know and at least understood that, hey, while they were men and women who struggled tremendously with this, they were also issues of, say, for instance, you couldn’t just release the slaves. Because they didn’t have money, they didn’t have land, they didn’t have a way to survive, no education as well. So you couldn’t just release them and say, hey, no, you are all free without something else. And I think if we judge them based upon. The morality we have today than we put in the same flaw that they had into our judgement. You know, we did an episode. I think it’s 91 and 92 called the Bible Christian and slavery, and we talk about some of these things, but I think that is very important to realize that, hey, today’s Marvel compass, yes, we look at saviors. Being bad and. Terrible and all this stuff, but back then. Then everybody had everybody in slave. You know, the whites had each other. Enslave Africans had each other enslave. Slavery wasn’t just started or was it new when the Europeans started bringing Africans to the West?

[Sam]

That’s true.

[MCG]

So it was a culture thing of the day among vast number of people groups, you know, you can even go back to the Bible where the Egyptians had the Jews and slaves. And we know that the slave trade was successful because. Africans had other Africans enslaved and eventually sold them to the white man or to the Europeans, and before their advancement of ship and all that stuff where you could go across the Atlantic, across oceans, they had each other enslaves. So I guess we’re just judging it by our morality and how in the world. But if you go back to history without rewriting it or being hyper focus on it, I think you can at least understand it, not necessarily excuse it, but you can at least understand it and where it’s coming from.

[Sam]

Yeah, that’s a good point. The institution of slavery is not unique to white people applying it to black or colored folks. It’s a worldwide phenomenon. And black or African folks are just as guilty, you know, so.

[MCG]

Well, what about reparation, though? Do you believe that black folks in your should be repaid or give some sort of reparation for what they went through or their ancestors went through? What is your standard at? Is that an answer? Can that change the racism that we’re seeing in this country?

[Sam]

So honestly to me, the whole idea of reparations, as is typically defined, is rather insulting. So I’m not opposed to the idea of restitution, but that would apply to a person like if there was an example of somebody who was enslaved today. And then we determined that they’ve been mistreated and they need to be set free, then providing them with some kind of restitution to me would make sense.

Speaker

I know they.

[Sam]

Can never get their life back 100% right? So if they had been enslaved for five years, that’s five of years of their life that they don’t get back, but to give them some kind of restitution to me. Makes sense, but to do this whole reparations thing. So how does that make any sense, at least in my case, I’m trying to think who is my closest relative that was a slave. We’re going back. Let’s see. 1234. Probably 5 generations. Four or five generations. Maybe 6, so that’s pretty far removed and at that point, to me it just starts to get ridiculous. It’s almost like you’re just giving away free money, you know, and that’s where it’s insulting in a way, because generally speaking, every person should be able to work and earn a living. And that’s what gives you, you know, you feel the best when you go about things that way too. If somebody just hands you money and you live off of that and you never earn your own money, then you don’t have a sense of accomplishment. And the reality is, is as long as you’re getting money from somebody else, you become reliant on them, which means. You’re not free. You know. To be free, you have to make your own money. So this whole idea of reparations, it’s insulting, and it’s actually not helping people gain freedom. It’s taking their freedom from them, in my opinion.

[Jay]

The problem with reparations as well is that it allows politicians, policymakers, academia to keep kicking the can down the line because it’s not a problem that can be solved in political cycle. It’s something that would. Make the way that they describe it. It would never be resolved. How could you even quantify at what point in your family history does the effect of slavery or the effect of Jim Crow or the effect of any of those racist policies at what? Point in your history. Does it stop affecting you? At what point does your personal responsibilities come in and where does it end? How long are we going to take to determine that or are we going to determine who gets reparations or we’re going to do genetic testing and that has a whole lot of questions attached to it? Two in terms of the gathering of physical DNA, like you’re going to have to have some sort of database. Well, what are the ethics behind that? And with every single consideration when it comes to reparations, there are like 15 other questions that pop up. And so it’s the perfect problem that because it has no solution and it can go on as long as the people that are in power. Wanted to in order to keep them in power, so it just seems. To me that the solution would be much better to instead of dragging this along, cut it off. Let’s stop with the racism. Now let’s stop talking about it. Let’s stop giving it the undue attention that we’re giving it right now. And let’s start a fresh and let’s move forward. Well, that’s too simple. They need something complicated and cumbersome and something that the bureaucracy can. Really put some red and yellow tape all over so that it takes them decades and decades and decades to figure out. Which means the problem never gets solved. So I’m not for reparations either.

[MCG]

Well, he is the counter to that though. Because they will tell you, and there’s some truth to this, that because of Jim Crow, redlining, segregation and stuff like that, black home ownership didn’t grow as much as it should. And one of the best ways to transfer wealth in this country is to own a home and pass it down. So because black people were hindered because of redlining and Jim Crow and all these other things that were ingrained into the laws of this country, that the black person is behind in wealth creation. So therefore, that’s why the white person is ahead, so therefore we need reparation. So the black person can now own a home at least somewhat in terms of network, be on the same level as their white counterparts. And I think that would be the counter to what you just said, Jay, and I’m getting. I said there’s some truth to it that because black family. They didn’t get to own homes as they should, that their networked is not as high as. But that’s only one side of the coin, I would argue, and I personally don’t have a issue with reparation. The biggest issue I have is can it be done cleanly? Can you tell me for fact that? This money that you’re giving to this. Person should go to this person because this person in the direct descendant of safe because you get as you said you they you get into so much murky waters as some say 5 generations removed. That’s a lot, a lot. A lot of relatives. There’s a lot, a lot of families that we’re talking about. And what about the family that know in to marry? For the last three generations and everybody in the family now identify as white. What do we do with that family? Do we say? Ohh because you’re white. You can’t have preparation, but they can prove that they’re great. Great, great, great. Grandfather was black and enslave. That’s the issue. What do we do about people like me who would never born and raised in this country? Do you tell me? Because I’m not African American. I don’t get reparation because I’m white. I’m not black enough. What are the kids? There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered, and if it cannot be done cleanly and I don’t think it ever will be, don’t think he should go. There was one example I know if you heard of this, the Bruce family in Los Angeles County, out there in. California, where they had a beachfront property taken from them by the government by imminent domain. Of course, that’s the excuse they gave, but they took the property away from the family and California, Los Angeles County actually gave back the family. Their Bruce family backed the property. I think this is was like 2-3 years ago now and the property now is worth I think about $20 million and the loss, I just can’t leave renting the property from the Bruce family for like 400 or something $1000 per year or something that I had a problem with that you can prove that this. Was illegally and unfairly taken from the Bruce family, and you’re giving it back to their descendants? But when you’re talking about the entire black population in the US. I’m not quite sure how you’ll be able to do it cleanly, because there’s just so much questions need to be answered, because what about people like what his name? Anthony Johnson, who were the first black man that actually owned slaves? Are we going to give Anthony Johnson descendants reparation as well? That’s our question. We have the answer. And what about the slaves that he owned were the equivalent to the slave that the white people owned? Was Anthony Johnson only buying back his relatives so he can free them from slavery? He get murky in my mind, and as I said, if he can’t be done cleanly, I will say. Don’t do it.

[Sam]

At all. Well, it also gets murky because, you know, a lot of us, African Americans, anyway, and I’m only using that term. I’m just an American, right? But I’m using the term African American because of this conversation, a lot of us are in large part, we get a lot of our blood from.

[MCG]

Right.

[Sam]

White slave masters as well. So like how do we determine how much reparations just about all of us? Are mixed, you know. Does that prorate the amount of reparations that we get? What about those who have to pay to fund the reparations? Because in my family, you know, we’re not quite. Half African right. And this is probably the case for many others in America too, that are considered black. And so do we get half reparations based off of our genetic. Linked to Africa? Or how does that work, you know? And then the other side, it’s not quite a third is white from mostly the South and that ties into the slave masters and his family. So, or their families. And so does that mean that we’re a third guilty for funding the reparations to pay? Back for a third of our ancestors that were slave masters or related to the slave trade. It’s crazy. It’s absolutely insane. And like I said, my family’s not unique. Most southern black families. I like that we have a lot of mixing that’s happened. So how do you? Work that out.

[Jay]

You know, I know that we’re going to be. Talking about the biblical. Responses to racism, but one of the things that comes to my mind now as Sam was talking, is the proverb 10/20. To where it said the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he added with no sorrow to it. If you receive any type of gift or benefit or anything from anyone, and there’s like strings attached, added sorrow, complications, footnotes, it’s like. Because it’s like those pills, you see commercials for this new pill that they want you to ask your doctor about. But then at the end they in a very low voice and in very very quick succession. They tell you all of the side effects that might happen, including death. If you take. This. Well, that’s. Not really. Something that all of the gifts of the Lord are without all of that stuff attached to it. And if someone is. Handing you something that seems to be good reparations seem to be good, but if it’s murky in any way like you described, MCG, if it’s questionable in any way, if there are a lot of question marks that aren’t answered, as it were, that’s probably something we should stay away from.

[MCG]

What about being anti racist? Anti racism would that solve the issue?

[Sam]

What’s anti racism?

[Jay]

According to Webster, Anti racism or being anti racist means being opposed to racism. That’s the textbook definition is. However, if you talk to people like ibram X candy, Patrice colors all of these leaders on the forefront of this new movement was not so new, but this move. That it’s basically an active resistance against racism that basically looks like racism. It’s racism against racism, if that makes. Any sense?

[MCG]

Is basically saying it’s not enough to say I am not racist and do nothing. So if you say you’re not racist and you may not do anything per say to show that you personally are racist, that’s not enough. You have to take it a little bit further to be anti racist, basically like advocate for anti racist. And policies and stuff like that. Let’s say you’re a white person, you say, you know I am not racist. I’m just living my life. My family. That’s not enough. You have to go to the government and petition the government to get stuff done that will enact anti racist policies and stuff like that. So now you’re acting upon. It’s the same thing that. So not the same thing, but almost the same thing that you’re not. You’re racist because you do certain action and then you’re anti racist because you do anti racist actions and if.

[Sam]

OK, in a way, it’s kind of like you’re guilty until you prove your.

[MCG]

That makes sense.

[Sam]

Innocence kind of a deal.

[MCG]

Right.

[Sam]

Wow, I’m not in favor of that, honestly.

[MCG]

Well, that’s what they push, you know. Again, Ibram X Kennedy. I listened to a talk he had with Jamela Hill. And you know, I wish he had defined criticism and other stuff, but he defined it by using the same word. And I’m like, dude, come on, your doctor or something. Something, something. You should know that you don’t define a word by using the word. I’m saying I spend my precious time listening to you, trying to understand what you’re saying. You basically define the word by using the word. Now again, I disagree with many of his points. But I can see where he’s coming from in terms of saying, hey, you know, it’s not enough to be inactive. You want to be active against fighting against injustice that you see, but the problem is that the fight that he want to put on is for DUI and reparation and all these things that we already discussed and say, hey. They won’t work. They won’t work because they’re not addressing the issue and the issue, the issue of the heart, is not issue of people needing this thing and we need to implement all these policies. You can implement all the policies you want. If the heart never changes. The people are going to be the same, so you’re never going to be solved, but those are some of the leftist ideas. Why don’t we go into another break and then we talk about what are some of the right ideas or the right wing ideas that they’re using to say that they want to give an answer to racism. You’re listening to the Removing Virus podcast. Again, we’re sitting down with Sam. And we are talking about the answer to racism. We’ll be right back.

[Jay]

This is the removing barriers podcast. If the podcast or the blog were a blessing to you, leave us a rating and a review on your favorite podcast platform. And don’t forget to share the podcast with your friends. Removing barriers, a clear view of the cross. OK, Sam, we’ve been going on for quite a while and we’ve gone down a few rabbit holes here there. But we’re back on track. We’ve talked about what the left has presented as solutions to the problem of racism. What are some of the solutions that people? On the right are proposing as solutions to racism.

[Sam]

Wow, that’s a good question. You know, honestly, I’ve spent most of my time looking at supposed solutions that have concerned me that generally come from the left. I’m trying to think like so most people would say that I’m on the right. What kind of solution would I propose?

[MCG]

I think one of them that I think they really push is what it’s called, I. Reckon it’s it’s called what reckoning. OK.

[Jay]

Yeah, people on the right tend to, and this is very general because. People on the right are not a monolith. Everyone would agree with this solution.

[MCG]

So what people are left as well? We need.

[Jay]

That’s true too. But it seems to me that reckoning is this idea that we talk about the past. We acknowledge it for what it is we, for lack of a better word, I can’t think of a better word, but we confess it. But then it stops there and we move forward, right?

[MCG]

And move on.

[Jay]

There’s no need to drag it on with things like we’ve discussed in the last section, reparations and all these different things.

[MCG]

Hyper focus on history.

[Jay]

A hyper focus or an A revisioning of history. We just need to acknowledge it for what it is. And move forward with what we know currently know to be the right or the true way. That’s what I think of when I hear of reckoning, yeah.

Speaker

Right.

[Sam]

OK, well, that’s interesting. I guess like if I was to propose, how? We would deal. With racism, not just racism and and prejudice, but also like helping everybody in America to have a fair shot at prosperity. If you will. I think I would try to target it from a biblical perspective and you can look at some data to kind of back it up too. And that is I know a lot of people make the argument that home ownership, that’s what you need to be proud. But all other people say education, that’s what you need to be prosperous. And there’s an argument that the black man hasn’t been afforded those opportunities because of prejudice and and other issues. And that is partly true. I myself have experienced it, right? And I’ve lived in a much better day than my grandparents and those before them. But that being said. You know, just because you might have an obstacle thrown in your way doesn’t mean that you’re going. To fail, right? And what to me seems to be one of the biggest indicators of whether you’re going to be successful or. Not is whether you have a mother and a father that can work as a team together. You know because in black houses where I see mom and Dad working together as a team. Even though they may have experienced a lot of discrimination, and I’m talking about in previous generations, they still lived somewhat decent life and their children were able to go through college and ended up having many other. You know, had a good, I would say desirable outcome, you know, but kids that grow up and split homes or let’s say the dad’s not there or the moms not there even looking back a few generations, they’re at a huge disadvantage. Just how things turned out for them. It looks to me like they’re at a huge disadvantage and I’m not entirely sure. Why mom and? I have some guesses why having that nuclear family is important. I’m not so sure. Like I said, I think I have some pretty good guesses. But if you look at it numerically and empirically, that’s the case, and you can flip it around. It’s not just black people. It’s the same for white folks. If you look at white folk. They grew up without a mom or a. Dad, they aren’t as well off as those that had a mom and a dad who worked together, you know. And so you can look at that and that’s like, oh, wow, you know what the Bible kind of suggests that, well, not it doesn’t suggest it makes it clear. You know you’re supposed to get married, and then you have children and mom and Dad are supposed to stick together. For for. Life God hates divorce and stuff, so if we can find a way to keep the nuclear family intact, then a lot of these issues with poverty and with people not having a good shot at life, a lot of those problems would probably be resolved, you know, and in particular, if you look at the African American community. You see that intact families are not. That’s our strength, if you will. So logically, if that’s not our strength, then we’re going to have a hard time getting ahead. But like I said, African American individuals that I’ve observed that have grown up in a nuclear family, they seem to be generally a lot more successful so.

[MCG]

Yeah, I think the statistics and sculpture backed that up, Sam, even Obama said it himself. People that grew up in a single family home are excellent percentage, likely to end up in jail and do all these things. So that’s something that we know from statistics and these are stats have given a different episode of the podcast. That’s where this is true for a mother and a father, raising children is not just two adults raising children, it’s actually true for mother and father, which of course, is the biblical model which is being destroyed in this country. Another thing that the right wing at least a solution that they gave or is given is the balancing of history and we can talk about that in a little bit and recommend where they want to look at it in a way that, hey, this is what happened. We acknowledge it happened, we are going to move on and I think sometimes they make it so. Right, that the left now come back and counted them because it almost seems like, hey, yes, I think it’s OK to acknowledge that segregation, redlining, and Jim Crow had a negative effect on black families, especially welfare. We, their government encourage especially black women to divorce. Their husband married their government and even today it was a few years ago I. Or you can find these things on YouTube where I remember one lady she had given her testimony of that she and her family, they fell on hard times and she went to get welfare. And there the person in the office told her, you know, if you divorce, your husband will give you more money. And she was like, what? She said, yeah, if there’s not a man in the home, we’ll give you more money. And she said, I’m not telling to leave him. Just devote him on paper and that’s the kind of thing that is big when it comes to this welfare, because why would you give the family more money when a man is not in the home? You’re encouraging women to leave men. And say, OK, they’re not important. Whatever case may be. And so I think that yes, we should look at the history. We should look at and understand that the history had a negative effect, but the question is, does it solve racism? Is it the answer? And I can answer that for sure. Absolutely not. It doesn’t solve it.

[Sam]

That’s why I’m so adamant against general reparations as well, because it’s another government. Program whereby people get money, you know, blacks in particular, at least in this topic, will get money from the government and it’ll be detrimental at least the way I see it. It’ll be detrimental to the black nuclear family if, which will just cause more problems, you know? So it sounds nice. The idea of having money sounds nice, but when you get it from. The government in particular, it doesn’t usually work out that well. It’s just more control that the government can exercise. Over that particular group of people.

[MCG]

And I wonder how much of it is going to be like winning the lottery. You know what they say? Majority of people who won the lottery are broken. What, five years or whatever, I wonder. Like, I think it’s Oakland or San Francisco is planning to give black residents $5 million and a home for $1.00. I wonder how many of them. If they do come to do this because the city is broke, I don’t know. They gonna get the money. But yeah, if they do do this in 10 years, how many of those families gonna still have that wealth? Are they gonna educate them and also invest and how to really live off of that money and make it last from generation to generation? Because just giving people money again, it can be very dangerous. But you know another thing that I think the right wing does, that it will not solve the answer racism. To me right wingers, at least some of them. Will not come up with an idea of their own. They’re always fighting the leftist agenda. They don’t have any original thought or ideas of saying how do we go about doing this? They’re just constantly in a reactionary mode of opposing the left rather than coming up with ideas that the left can oppose. They’re always just opposing the leftist.

[Sam]

Yeah, and that’s a shame that it seems to be that the right is more reactionary. I think part of it is that I personally feel like the right has been cool. Opted so there’s a lot of leftist. Some people call them rhinos that disguise themselves as right wing individuals to compromise our effectiveness, you know. But I think ultimately we have also done ourselves a disservice because a lot of us try to distance ourselves. From the Bible. For whatever reason, I don’t know why and that’s a mistake because a lot of the problems that we have. The answers in the Bible fully agree, and so we should go back to the Bible and get the answers out of that. We don’t have to come up with anything. All we have to do is read our Bible and find the answers there and apply them, you know.

[MCG]

And I think one of the biggest one that they have, you mentioned this going back to the Bible, but a lot of people on the right offer empty religion. I can name them the popular one. I would say none or majority of them not safe, but they’re all into this religion and all into this. But a religion that keep it the same never bring conviction to your sin and hope to be reconciled to Holy God is an empty. Religion and of course, I believe true biblical Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ. The religion, but I think that’s the problem. When you talk about the bench superiors and the Matt Walsh and the Candice Owens and the Glenn Beck of the. World what they do offer when they talk about religion is just emptiness, because you never really come to a point of a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And I think the right offer that and the left look at it and say like, you’re just like me, you’re morally corrupt, just like me. But you’re just on the other side, that’s all.

[Jay]

I think that what you just said MC G Christians need to be very, very, very, very careful with because the only reason why. The right, like the Ben Shapiros and the Matt Walshes and the Jordan Petersons of the and he’s not even on the right. But because the. Left is so. He appears to be on the right. Need to be very careful, because even people on the right are offering solutions which at their root is saying. You can be good without God. We know this because of the plethora of gods that they have. Matt Walshes, for example, Catholic Jordan Peterson, Michael Malice, and many of these people are. They’re religious, quasi religious. Some of them are agnostic, some of them are even atheists. A very small percentage of them. So they all have a different idea of who God is, but they’re all saying the same thing, and they all present a healthier picture for the citizenry of the US and just for life in general than the left. Is presenting, which the left has gone bonkers. A Christian might be looking at the landscape and thinking. Ohh I don’t need. God to navigate this problem I just need to be on the right or in other words you can be good without God, and Christians need to be very, very, very careful about that. I find myself having to remember that whenever I watch a video of people on the left, I’m sorry people on the right or even libertarians, for example, they tend to be center left, even center left. People look right. On the right, right. Now, but just being careful of the fact that just because they’re on the right and just because they oppose the left, it doesn’t mean that they. Are pro God. That doesn’t mean that they are godly doesn’t mean that we should be following them, even though in many instances our ideas and our thoughts that may overlap. But Christians have to be very careful, very wary of identifying their ideas and their thoughts as Christian per se, because it’s not.

[MCG]

Yeah, Jay, I think I fully agree with what you’re saying here that, of course, empty reality being good without God. I think that’s what the right push a lot because everybody kind of ecumenical kind of thing. Everybody come together. Then sing Kumbaya and we are all good, because we believe the same foundational thing. And I’m not saying that the Matt Wall gender bench periods of the world are not so-called quote UN quote necessary because they could help create the feel that we can go and present the gospel that is not as rotten as the feel that the youth is going to today.

[Jay]

Right, right.

[MCG]

But at the same time, we need to acknowledge that Christians that these men are not men, that are pushing the gospel as the solution, and that will take us into the answer for racism, because the answer to racism, I believe is. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Simple plain blank, no. After people get saved, should they be discipled and be taught and stuff like that? Of course they should be. And of course that come afterwards. But I think if we’re going to start anywhere in terms of our answer, we need to start at the Gospel of Jesus Christ and present people the Gospel of Jesus Christ, where their heart can be changed through repentant faith in him. And if that happened, I believe then you can now go on to the next step of showing them how to live the Christian life. Biblical Christian life have a relationship with Jesus Christ waiting no, no longer hyper focus on the color of people’s skin that they meet and all this stuff and the the mind, the different things that are in our lives. But on truly human to human interaction.

[Jay]

Or the different ways they identify it, because for some people race is just at the fundamental core of who they are.

[MCG]

Yeah, definitely. You know, the Bible and the security and 10 and verse 12 for we did not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves and and wise. Thereby we make it clear here racism we are comparing ourselves among ourselves. Ohh, because of whatever trait you have or whatever trait you don’t have that make me more the Bible tells us outrightly is not wise company. Ourselves, how about we do this? How about we compare ourselves to the standard which is God? Because when we compare ourselves to the standard which is God, then we see ourselves for who we are. Wretched, rotten sinners. And I think that’s the goal here rather than this horizontal comparison. Let’s make a vertical comparison and see how do I stack up when I compare myself. To holy God. I think you can see the rock that is in your. Right then I die is 6 and verse one to five says in the year that the king Uzziah died. I saw also the law sitting upon the throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple above. It stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings with Twain. He covered his face, and with Twain, he covered his feet. And with Twain, he did fly. And one cried unto another. And said holy Holy Holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole Earth is full of his glory and the pose of the door move at the voice of him that crieth and the house was filled with smoke, then said I woe is me, for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. I think it’s important to mention here. Hey, Isaiah King face to face with the fact that God is holy, that God is righteous. And what did he say? He cried out because he saw himself for who he is. I think when we present people the gospel and we’re able to show them their sinful state before Holy God and the Holy Spirit is convicting, that they will cry and say woe is me, for I am undone. So the answer to racism. It’s not reparation. It’s not reckoning. It’s not fighting. The leftist agenda is not DI. It’s the Gospel of Jesus. Is is recognizing the silverness before a holy God, recognizing the penalty of his sin because God is holy and coming to Christ, he repentant fate, the Bible declares in Romans 3 verse 23 for all have sinned and come short of guru God. That all include you, my friend, and the Bible said in Romans return as it is written, there is none righteous. No, not one, but the good news and the great thing is that God didn’t leave us hopeless. He tell us that the wages of sin is dead. But what happened in Romans 5 verse eight? God commended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died in our. Please and then of course I can end with Romans 10, verse 9 and 10, that if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thy heart that God has raised him from the dead. Thou shall be saved for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Look, you want the answer to racism. You want the answer to the problems in society. Today, Christians let us go and preach the gospel, and when people get saved to repent and faith in Jesus Christ, we can see a change in the culture change in all these nonsense, because all these governmental policies is not going to change, our heart’s not going to change. And that what I will say is the clear cut answer to racism. Sam, thank you for joining us on the Removing Barriers podcast.

[Sam]

MCG it was a pleasure.

[MCG]

Thank you for listening. To get ahold of us to support this podcast or to learn more about removing barriers. Go to removingbarriers.net. This has been the removing barriers podcast. We attempted to remove barriers so that we all can have a clear view of the cross.