What I’m Reading Now: The Color of Compromise

Blatant acts of white supremacy like the police murder of George Floyd grow out of hundreds of insidious forms of racism that are embedded in not only our culture but church life as well. Jemar Tisby’s 2019 book “The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism” uncovers the patterns and potential turning points in American churches when we could have turned against but instead accommodated slavery, segregation and political platforms that embody racism. As a historian and theologian, Tisby exposes not only practices, but theological shifts that have enabled the practices of white supremacy. 

From the book: 

By excising explicitly racial terms like ‘black,’ ‘white,’ or ‘n*****’ from their language, practitioners can claim they ‘don’t see color.’ As a result, people can hold positions on social and political issues that disproportionately and adversely harm racial and ethnic minorities, but they can still proclaim their own racial ignorance. 

What books about race and the church have shaped your perspective? 

Learn more The Color of Compromise

What are you reading, listening to, or watching that’s informing your ministry right now? 

Let us know what’s helping you through and why, and we might feature your suggestion in this series. (If you’re not yet a member of the Faith+Lead Learning Lab, you’ll be prompted to join before sharing.)

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