The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church's Complicity in Racism

"God is colorblind." While modern Christians might agree with this statement, the history of evangelical Christianity in the United States is unfortunately filled with both active and complicit racism. Tisby, president of the Witness, a Black Christian Collective, seeks to convey the truth about racism to spur the church to confession, repentance, and reconciliation. He traces the threads of racial persecution and oppression from the colonial era to the modern Black Lives Matter movement. Along the way, there are numerous painful and disturbing anecdotes that demonstrate the cruelty and indifference shown by the majority of churches and white Christians to the plight of African Americans. The final two chapters contain the author's personal suggestions for transforming the church and society toward acknowledging and condemning racism. For instance, he calls for Juneteenth to be declared a federal holiday and for a system of slavery reparations to be created. Since these chapters are personal opinions, they aren't the strongest parts of the book. However, historical racism is undeniable and the church must wrestle with some of these assertions in hopes of racial reconciliation.