Hello World,

Even though I’m hurt, I’m not surprised. Tom Buck, pastor of First Baptist Church of Lindale, Texas tweeted this about our country’s first female vice president, Kamala Harris, who is of black and Indian descent. See below:

I can’t imagine any truly God-fearing Israelite who would’ve wanted their daughters to view Jezebel as an inspirational role model because she was a woman in power.

— Tom Buck (@TomBuck) January 22, 2021

As was noted in an article “SBC [Southern Baptist Convention] pastor calls Vice President Kamala Harris a ‘Jezebel’ two days after inauguration” written by Mark Wingfield of BaptistNews.com, “calling a black woman ‘Jezebel’ is a racist trope documented by the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University. It has roots in slavery and the perceived sexual promiscuity of black women compared to white women.”

Below is how Pastor Buck explained his statement because he likely was told that his comment seemed racist.

To be clear, if Trump had been the first white man to hold the office of President, I wouldn’t have wanted my sons to look up to him as a role model… certainly not because of the color of his skin.

— Tom Buck (@TomBuck) January 22, 2021

Obviously, many had lots to say in response to these tweets. Here is one  response from Wingfield’s article: “Some noted his hypocrisy for eagerly supporting Donald Trump; others castigated him for advancing a racist trope. One commenter wrote: ‘It’s funny how willing the SBC was to overlook Trump’s divorces, his affairs, his sexual assault allegations, the dishonesty, and the constant cruelty, but it is a woman whose politics they disagree with who draws their contempt.'”

You can read the entire article HERE for all of the details. But this is why I’m hurt. Everybody knows that black people have been marginalized and much more in these not so United States of America for generations. As black people have ascended, through the grace of God, to places and positions that would have been unthinkable to previous generations, black people feel a sense of pride that we are finally able demonstrate that we’ve had the potential all along although it wasn’t recognized on a wider scale before recent history.

And people of other races, ethnic backgrounds, etc. should be able to understand why although some don’t or maybe won’t, which I’m not surprised by. Sadly, it’s been that way for longer than I’ve been here. Even if you disagree with Vice President Harris’ politics and that is fair, name calling, particularly, in this example is insensitive. The more productive thing to do would be to work to change policies with which you disagree. The same grace that was extended to the former president despite how his choices didn’t always reflect Christian principles  is the same grace that needs to be extended to Vice President Harris. Actually, let me rephrase that as some supporters of the former president appeared to be in a cult or else the insurrection at the capitol wouldn’t have happened. A better way to say this is that many Christians were willing to work with the former president even if they didn’t agree with everything about him. That should be true for Vice President Harris.

Christians will be never be able convince the broader culture that we are different unless we are different. I try my hardest (well not always) to be different. Anywho, that’s all I have to say about that. Below are a few more of Pastor’s Buck’s tweets just for additional information…

I most identify with those who exclusively bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ with both their lips and lives – irrespective of their ethnicity or biological gender.

— Tom Buck (@TomBuck) January 22, 2021

Whatever happened to judging a person by their character and not the color of their skin?

— Tom Buck (@TomBuck) January 23, 2021

I fully stand by the point of my original tweet!

“Should Jezebel, who governed in godless ways, have been a role model simply because she was a woman in power?”

If not, “why should Kamala, who’s governed in godless ways, be a role model just because she’s a woman in power?”

— Tom Buck (@TomBuck) January 25, 2021

Final thought:  I will stop being proud of “first black” or “first female” designations for that matter when we no longer need to denote “first black” or “first female.”

What say you?

Any thoughts?