"Okay, before you go out, what do you do if you get pulled over?" The proper response? "Keep your hands on the steering wheel, look straight ahead and answer, 'Yes, sir' or 'No, sir.' Don't give them any lip." This was the gist of the conversation my close friend's mother routinely had with her then teenage son when he took the car to hang out with his friends. It wasn't a matter of if he'd be pulled over, but a matter of when and how often. Rather than being guilty of a DWI, he'd be guilty of DWB, or "Driving While Black." Being pulled over (or hassled in others ways), often for no apparent reason, is a recurring experience for many African-Americans who are minding their own business. But it's not just African-Americans.

My friend Eve Nunez and her husband Joseph told me that law-enforcement officials in Arizona routinely hassle Latinos (both documented and undocumented). One friend of theirs was chased down the highway in his SUV and actually called them while it was happening. He was assumed to be an undocumented resident because of the color of his skin and the unjust SB 1070 legislation. Another citizen was harassed by law enforcement over his immigration status while at a restaurant, humiliated in full view of the patrons—again because of the color of his skin.

Another friend, a lawyer who formerly worked for a city prosecutor's office, told me about some of her experiences in law school. For example, while riding with friends through a predominantly white, affluent suburb, all the African-American law students in the car would duck out of view. Why? The police in this particular suburb are notorious for pulling over darker-skinned people for no apparent reason. That's why the local magistrate routinely throws out suspicious citations by these police officers. It's not an experience that those in the majority culture often have or can even identify with, but one that minorities, especially those of darker skin, frequently go through.

Such stories of overt discrimination wake us up from the slumber of assuming racism is over.

It really seems as if minorities and those in the majority culture live in two different worlds. That's what we all need to understand. The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman tragedy has forcefully brought racial tensions, and the realities that many minorities face, to the fore.

What has been the white American evangelical church's stance?

Historically, as the Civil Rights era emerged, many Christian colleges and churches were more concerned with the length of men's hair than with the abuse and oppression of African-Americans and other minorities. In a 2005 article in Books & Culture, Ron Sider cites research which demonstrates that, "White evangelicals are the most likely people to object to neighbors of another race." And after careful and considerable research in their seminal work, Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion And The Problem of Race in America, (a resource Sider also cites), Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith soberly conclude that, "… white evangelicalism likely does more to perpetuate the racialized society than to reduce it." No wonder Ed Gilbreath and his publishers titled his eye-opening book, Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity.

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Is there hope for our nation and for our evangelical churches? I think so. Things are starting to change, albeit slowly (I'd argue) from the standpoint of many minorities. While some white evangelical leaders issue regrettable and hurtful remarks about Trayvon Martin and racial profiling, other prominent white evangelicals are speaking up and seeking ways to do their part in reconciling with their minority brothers and sisters.

As Chris Rice notes, "The way things are is not the way things have to be."

And it's not just pastors and church leaders who realize the truth of what Chris Rice has said. A growing number of students at Cedarville University, where I work, are starting to realize that we seemingly do live in two different worlds and that we need to understand and identify with one another if things are to change. That's why a group of students and staff initiated a prayer vigil for the Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman families on April 12th. Not only was it a prayer vigil, but it was a call to repentance and prayerful action. The event was sponsored by the Peace Project, an on campus service and social organization that seeks to foster and promote a God-centered attitude of multiculturalism, and the Diversity Student Program Team (staff). About 125 students, along with some faculty and staff, were present. I believe Dr. Jeff Cook's words at the event capture well the posture Christians should take:

If I think all the social and racial issues were solved in the sixties, we're not paying attention. The fact of the matter is that God's concern for justice leaps out of every chapter of the Bible. God doesn't play favorites. When Israel was on the receiving end of injustice, God acted. When they were the instigators of injustice, God acted …. As Christians, we call for justice for George Zimmerman. But not only justice for George, but for Trayvon also and all the other Trayvons that got up this morning to a world that is a little different than ours ….

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The fact of the matter is, I am not suspicious for walking down the street in a gated community in a hoodie. But that's not true of everybody. As followers of Jesus … as the body, we are deeply aware that in the body of Christ when one part hurts, we all hurt. That's a normal functioning body … a dysfunctional body feels no pain when another part is hurting. When I see Trayvon as my son, as my brother, as my sibling, as a young man who was loved by his mother (and) father … who had a future like any seventeen-year-old kid, when I view him as that … (we) stand in unity as a family of God and grieve.

Second photo courtesy of Scott Huck/Cedarville University.

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