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Blogs > jetsandmets > My Blog

I’ve adopted two biracial . Hateful messages showed up on the sidewalk.  

jetsandmets 62M
85 posts
9/22/2016 12:28 pm
I’ve adopted two biracial . Hateful messages showed up on the sidewalk.

What do you do when a white supremacist writes racist and hateful messages directed at your and at the students you work to serve? Seriously, what should a person who desires to follow Christ do? What should a college and community do to respond to such hate? These are questions I’ve been wrestling with as a professional and parent for the past two weeks.

Two weekends ago, three to five people claiming to be associated with a hateful organization wrote racially offensive messages with chalk on a few of the sidewalks at Bethany College, a small Christian college in Lindsborg, Kan., where I am the president.

They drew a chalk outline of a dead body with the words “rest in peace my friend” and “make Lindsborg white again.” They wrote messages that were disgusting and completely contrary to Bethany’s core values and intellectual identity.

A few days later, a man who is not a student at Bethany and does not even live in Lindsborg called my office at the college to say that he and four other people were the ones who had committed this despicable act. He refused to disclose who his companions were, and no others have admitted to participating. And then he said something chilling: He said that he wrote the chalk messages because Bethany College has been recruiting students of color — and because I have adopted two biracial .

That’s right. Think about it. A man called my office to tell me that messages like the outline of a dead body and “make Lindsborg white again” were directed at the young whom I am raising along with my wife, the love of my life. Let it sink into your mind and heart. Dead body outline. . Hate. As a parent, how would you feel?

[My wife and I are white evangelicals. Here’s why we chose to give birth to black triplets.]

The messages were also directed at college students who are working to better their lives by getting an education. Students who provide thousands of hours of service in our community, work as student teachers, craft fine arts performances and give us the joy of cheering them on in athletic competitions. Our graduates make the world a better place to live.

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