CL: Do you think all of us have some sense of inner racism?
TE: Oh, I think to some degree, and it may not be black or white. It could be classes. It could be showing up in classism. It could be showing up in culturalism where you reject certain cultures because of how they speak or their background, and you stereotype. So it can be on different levels, of course, and we may not even recognize until we’re faced with it. So we may not think we have it.
CL: What are some things that we could do to break through our personal racism?
TE: Well, I think individually, you have to be intentional. You have to say individually, “I am going to get to know some people who are different than me. I want to find out how they think and how they live, and I want to learn. I want to be a learner.” And so it’s an intentional thing. The same thing with your family. You want to expose to your family and your kids. When everybody left the public schools, for example, they went into the private schools and they basically said, “I just want this one way,” and so you must be intentional about that, but be responsible. Obviously, you can’t relate to everybody.
CL: Do you think big events are helpful to create racial unity in the church?
TE: Well, I think it’s okay to be catalytic, to launch you, but if there’s nothing to follow through that keeps you in touch with each other ongoing…I was with Billy Graham in his home, and he was decrying to me that his one regret is that churches would come together across racial lines for his crusade event, but they wouldn’t talk to each other after the crusade was over. There needs to be something ongoing. We’ve got the school initiative; it gives you the ability to keep going because you always have schools, you always have new kids. That means new families in the same community—so you’re reaching your community, and if all the churches are doing it, you’re reaching your whole neighborhood or city.
CL: Our demographics are fallen—the places we live are already segregated. In some places churches are trying to work through that separation, but there may be a black church that doesn’t have white people in their community or a white church that is surrounded by white people. How should we handle this segregation and work toward unity?
TE: Oh, that’s easy. Churches go across the city. They go to mission fields across the city, across the railroad tracks—so you join forces with the minority church, if you’re an Anglo church, that’s ministering to the downtrodden because it’s a poor neighborhood. Now you get to minister to the poor, you get to know your black brothers and sisters in Christ, you get to meet a social need, and you don’t have to get on an airplane. You just have to get in the car.
CL: How important do you think it is to actually worship together with each other?
TE: As an event, it’s nice. It’s just not enough.
CL: Not enough?
TE: It’s not enough. It’s not near enough. To have an annual reconciliation rally—OK, you’ll get some individuals who get to know each other, maybe you’ll get a few families who get to know each other—but there will be no real effect long term because there’s no real ministry together.
