Why A Black Conference? Is it genius or foolishness...

On October 24th there will be a conference called the Voice of Legacy Conference for black people only.  This means that only black people are invited(in case that wasn't clear).  When me and a handful of other black leaders decided to put this on this conference I INSTANTLY knew the questions that would come up.

• Is this segregation?
• Is this reverse racism?
• Isn't this unbiblical?
• There can't be anything good in this, can there?

But these questions do not make me hesitate.  Not even a little.  Because I have spent the better part of 13 years trying to be intentional in living out reconciliation and the last 6 years building multiethnic communities on college campuses.  I expect these types of questions to come up.
My short response to the questions is:

• Is this segregation? No, I can't nor will I ever force non-black people to not attend anything that is black specific. I only ask that you give us the space to do so.
• Is this reverse racism? Most definitely not.  Borrowing from Beverly Tatum, racism is "a system of advantage based on race" where privelege plus power combines to enforce a racist system or propagate a racist ideology.  To be clear, we don't have the power to do that nor would we ever do this. 
• Isn't this unbiblical?  Actually no.  If anything the Bible leads us to investigate the wisdom in temporary ethnic specific gatherings.  Jesus spent around three years closely teaching only jewish disciples.  This led to a multiethnic movement.  We have to leverage the wisdom in this. 
• There can't be anything good in this, can there?  The legacy of ethnic specific gatherings in InterVarsity and the Underground has led to deep relationships that cross ethnic barriers. In my experience this has led to a lot of good. 

So what is the genius in having ethnic specific gatherings? Among many, there are three realities that ethnic specific gatherings give us access to.  

The first is communal humility.  Allowing ethnic specific gatherings(when they are requested, not forced) is a powerful way for a multiethnic community to say that they acknowledge that there are differences and needs that can't be addressed or met for every ethnicity represented.  It is an act of humility to recognize and acknowledge that you probably won't achieve Revelation 5 type worship any time soon but that you can try to get close.  Now it is in this "trying to get close" that humility needs to rule the day.  Any multiethnic community has to confess that as they "try" it is difficult.  This can be tiresome and tough for minority cultures in a multiethnic environment.  There is still so much of their culture not seen or empowered.  And it isn't that it is disempowered but rather that it is not seen.  Omitted.  This is hard to deal with.  Could you imagine how you would feel if every song played during worship had bagpipes as the lead instrument and the people in the crowd never talked to one another.  How weird would that feel. This is sorta how it feels for me in a multiethnic setting.  Just different.  Worship is a far cry from my black MB church and I am used to call-and-response type preaching where we talk back to the preacher as he goes. Communal humility is acknowledging this reality and, in response to it, allowing ethnic specific gatherings to restore the value of every culture.  

The second reality that ethnic specific gatherings give us access to is communal empowerment.  One of the best ways to say I believe in you, I trust you and I need you to help us navigate multiethnicity is ethnic specific gatherings.  To make this clear I will use my ethnicity as an example.  There are so many non-black opinions that I've heard through out my life that assume they have the best solution for how I, as a black man, should navigate a majority white environment.  This is like me telling my pregnant wife(just an example, Steph isn't pregnant), I know exactly what you are going through so let me give you the best tips.  Instead, I should probably refer her to other women who have been pregnant.   When we allow ethnic specific gatherings, we escape the trap of egocentrism that disempowers and embrace a learning posture that empowers. 

The last reality that materializes when we allow ethnic specific gatherings is a strong multiethnic movement.  I make this statement strictly from experience.  If there is one thing that was a constant in my journey with my current InterVarsity/Underground community, it is ethnic specific gatherings.  Both informal and formal.  We would meet informally to talk about what has been hard in pursuing true reconciliation and encourage one another to keep going.  We would find peace in people of our ethnicity who understood us deeply and from this place push each other back into our cross cultural relationships.  We would gather formally to check on each other and enjoy being in a space where we could just be who we were without questions or eyebrows being raised.  We always knew this atmosphere was temporary and it always sent us back into our multiethnic communities stronger and grateful for the ethnic specific space.  These gatherings helped us be fully who we are and I believe it's because, in these gatherings, we are reminded that God made us beautiful and strong.  We see it in those who look like us and carry the same values and heritage.  Everything that is omitted in our multiethnic gatherings is brought to light and constantly repeated by God.
And it is in hearing God that we find the hope of Revelation 5 reborn.  Why a black conference? Because we know God wants to lead us deeper into his multiethinic church...and though it seems counterintuitive, in ethnic specific gatherings, this happens.  And that is God's genius.