Christian prejudice against people of other races and cultures (1)

When I was a little kid, my domestic helper told me that Chinese ladies from Canton (China) were immoral women. In fact, this lovely, kind old lady who had herself come from a neighbouring district to Canton, called them “dirty women.” For a good part of my youth, I harboured this prejudice against them. Thankfully, today I have been freed from this lie. Though I am still battling other new prejudices as I visit and meet people of other races and cultures.

All of us are racist to some extent. Some races are more prone to racism than others. Races that are wealthier tend to harbour more prejudices against those that are poorer. Cultures that are more “sophisticated” tend to  harbour more prejudices against people from less sophisticated (tribal) cultures. Therefore, those from such backgrounds (eg. White Americans, Chinese Singaporeans) should be more conscious of their tendencies to racial prejudice.

For many people, racial prejudice is a great “tool” to keep these undesirables from bothering and contaminating them, or influencing their kids. It also helps them to justify why they don’t need to bother with such people. So they go around repeating unkind things about other races – often in the form of rather amusing and easily remembered stories.

As Christians we should reach out to others. However, crossing cultures and racial barriers is not easy nor natural. We certainly don’t need the additional barrier of prejudice to hinder us from reaching out to others. Yet, often we are the ones who encourage or propagate these prejudices even among other Christians.

We are often unwitting allies of Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44).