As Christians, we are a covenant people.  The Bible is ordered by them, beginning with the Edenic Covenant (Genesis 2.16-17).  The New Testament is a collection of writings that capture the new promise that God has made to us and with it, the new relationship established through His Son, Jesus Christ.  It is signed in Christ’s blood and sealed by the Holy Spirit.  We stand upon the promises of God based on this covenant: “Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10.23).

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are a people of the Word and strive to be those who keep the Word of the Lord (Psalm 119.11).  We find security in knowing that God is faithful to His Word and that God keeps His promises to us (Jeremiah 29.11). In fact, God watches over His word in order to perform it (Jeremiah 1.12).  Not only are the promises of God spoken and supervised by God to ensure that they are kept, but we also regularly reenact the Lord’s promises to us in the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  These ordinances capture the story of Christ’s ministry and His promise to us of new and eternal life in Him. Christ’s promises to us provide a sense of identity, security, meaning and worth.

But, there are other covenants that we have made with each other.  I’m not talking about those agreed upon in marriage ceremonies or secured during business deals. These agreements are made often though not always voted upon or secured through signatures though there are many that are. For example, The Black Codes began in 1800 and ended in 1866; Jim Crow laws were enacted beginning in 1876 and ended in 1965. Both restricted the civil rights and civil liberties of those socially categorized as black.  The last of the Jim Crow laws are said to have been overruled with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Instead, the promises are verbal, whispered under our breath: “I will never…” or shared with friends and family members: “Don’t marry bring her home if she can’t use my comb,” we say.  We have made covenants to hate, to exclude, to oppress, to restrict and to mistreat.  We promise to prejudge and to keep persons in the places assigned by race.  It is evident in the laws that we create and pass, the manner in which we interact with others and the ways we form and build community.

The covenants of race are only possible because of the little agreements and compromises that we have made along the way.  So, examine your life and speech. What covenant have you made with race and what are the conditions of the agreement?  What benefits does our covenant with race continue to provide?

Additional Resources

Derrick Bell, Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes of Racial Reform

Anne Farrow, Joel Lang & Jenifer Frank, Complicity: How the North Propelled, Prolonged and Profited from Slavery

Ian Lopez, White By Law: The Legal Construction of Race

Charles Wade Mills, The Racial Contract