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In my book, Building Multicultural Churches, I have a chapter on racism. Since writing another book has been published, The Science of Racism: Everything you need to know but probably don’t – yet by Professor Keon West a social psychologist at University College London. Keon presents the results of a series of scientific experiments that helps us understand racism in British society and wider. I wished I had been able to include his findings in my book as it would have added to what I had to say. 

Keon starts his book by asking does racism exist.

To prove it does, he cites numerous experiments where people apply for a job. In one experiment involving 350 job applications, Black applicants had a 9.5% callback rate, the perfectly equally qualified White applicants had a 25.5% callback rate. That is over two times higher.

In another experiment, for every 100 jobs the Black people applied for, they heard back from about 10 of the employers, and for every 100 jobs the White people applied for, they heard back from about 26 of the employers.

In experiment after experiment, in country after country, those who said they were from ethnic backgrounds or had ethnic sounding names were considerably less likely to get a job interview than white people. 

In 2019, Di Stasio and Heath applied for approximately 3,200 jobs in the United Kingdom using identical CVs that were identical except for the name of the person who was ostensibly applying for the post. Those with an ethnic sounding name had a 12.3% callback rate. Despite their completely identical CVs, applicants with White, British-sounding names had a much more successful 24.1% callback rate: almost twice as high.

In the context of employment discrimination, there was a hierarchy of racial discrimination White majority > White minority > Chinese, Indian and other ‘model minority’ Asian > Black Caribbean and Pakistani > Black African.

Other experiments looked at teachers’ assessments of expected English scores compared to what the child subsequently achieved. 12.4% of White students received lower internal assessments than external assessments, this number increased to 17.2% for Black Caribbean children, 18.3% for Black African children, and 20.2% for Pakistani children. Similar patterns of underestimation were found for other subjects.

Tony Thompson

I have been pondering an incident described in 1 Kings 3.

Two women are living together, and each has a baby son. Overnight, one of the children dies. The mother of the dead child swaps her child for the living one, claiming it to be hers. The two mothers approach the king for his decision on what to do, how to resolve the conflict of both mothers claiming the live child as their own.

This incident is included in Scripture as an example of King Solomon’s wisdom which he demonstrated by ordering that the living child is cut in two and each mother should receive half of the baby. We are then told,

26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

When I have considered this story before it has been from the viewpoint of the King. Which is natural, Solomon asked God for wisdom, and he received it. However, prompted by a recent book I have just finished, Healed and Whole: Biblical Wisdom for Men and Women in Ministry by Abigail Flavell, I have been looking at the episode from the viewpoint of the mother of the living child. Once I seek to put myself in her shoes it is overwhelming.

She is being tested in an extreme way. I can’t imagine how she must have felt when her friend swapped her living baby for a dead one. Knowing the truth but being unable to prove it. Feeling a mixture of sorrow for her friend’s loss but that being swamped with anger at the cruel stealing of her new baby. Then rather than justice being done the King intends to kill her son. It must have been unbearable. What emotions must she have been feeling when she says to let the other mother have the baby rather than for him to be killed. What kind of life does she see in front of her knowing that this other woman, who she would have perceived as evil, bringing up her son.

It recalls many other examples of testing in the Bible, Abraham when he is asked to sacrifice Isaac, the story of Job, Jesus in the wilderness. Testing, on the surface, always feels cruel. Certainly, I don’t look forward to being tested. However, Solomon’s purpose was not for evil but for good, he wanted to bring about justice. Whilst the incident was unfolding the poor woman couldn’t have known that. All of God’s testing is for our good, however whilst it is happening, we don’t know what the end of the story will be. 

Often God tests us by asking us to give up things or even taking things away. Sometimes it can even feel as important as a child but fortunately that is very rare. The thing about testing is we don’t know what the outcome will be, we must trust that it is for the best, we must trust God. We know that we can trust him because the Father did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all. He then brought him back to life. 

The mother in the story had to trust the fate of her son to the king, he ultimately proved wise and trustworthy. When asked to let go of things for our Father in heaven, we need to remember he is even more wise and trustworthy than King Solomon. 

In her book Abi applies the lesson to her own testing of being asked to step back from her sense of calling in Christian ministry because of issues of what roles women could play in the church she and her husband were involved in. For her it felt very costly, yet she did it trusting in God. Like the mother who received her child back, Abi has received her ministry back in ways she couldn’t imagine. Abi was able to declare that God is faithful.

Hearing stories of how things turn out are helpful. However, when you are in the middle of the story, like this mother, it is by no means easy. I feel for what she went through but rejoice in the end of the story.

Tony Thompson