By John Covington

That phrase was coined by a 25-year-old black man who was the youngest member of a “unity” small group through the Church of the Highlands in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The group was started in February of 2021 to study/discuss racism using my most recent book, “Don’t Do Anything Stupid – A White Man’s Guide to Racial Harmony.” The group agreed that racism is a sin and you do not attack sin with a secular mindset.

The group rapidly grew from five to 20 men, about half black and half white. Included in the group is the District Attorney of Tuscaloosa County, the President of Shelton State Community College, the head basketball coach for Shelton State, a prominent area black pastor, several small business owners, and others.

Tough topics and terms were addressed & discussed including:

• Woke
• Critical Race Theory
• Democrat and Republican
• Conservative and Liberal

There were several key learnings for the group including the understanding that in “self-identity” white men put very little emphasis on race whereas with black men, race is up near the top of a list when self-identifying.

We also learned that the understanding of a particular word or phrase – such as the ones above, are almost 100% dependent on one’s life experiences. There was extreme disagreement on what each word or phrase meant however almost total agreement on basic values surrounding a particular word. For example – the black men were mortified that the white men felt “Critical Race Theory” (CRT) was basically hatred of white people on steroids. These these black men’s understanding of the term was merely a recognition of history and wrongs that had been done in the past. When each side explained what the phrase meant to them there was no disagreement on the intent – black men certainly were not going to embrace hatred of white people and white people were certainly not wanting to erase memory of wrongs of the past. For the most part, there was agreement. However, the problem of the term still exists. Our group felt it was better to not use “hot words or phrases” if you intended to have good communications with a person of another race. Why risk a misunderstanding when there is not necessary?

As friendships and understanding grew within the group we did and are doing things outside of the study time. For example:

1. The group attended the grand opening of a new sports fitness business started by our youngest member of the group. It was on a Sunday and many members brought their families. Most of the attendees to the event, other than the white members of our unity group, were black. It was a fun time and an opportunity to meet one another’s families.
2. Around the July 4^th celebration our DA’s office facilitated reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps for our County Court House. He invited our group to come and we did. Not only was it a fun event it was obvious to others that this motley group of black men and white men were enjoying one another’s company.
3. Two members of the group developed a vision of a “Community Unity” event in the West End of Tuscaloosa at the McDonald Hughes Center. The vision soon became reality as we staged an event with the help of Shelton State and others. We had music, basketball and softball events, health providers and 60 vendors including many potential employers. Four hundred people attended and over sixty individuals walked out the door with new jobs. We have another event scheduled for October and are considering doing similar events in other parts of town.

This fall semester the original group is going through an intense Bible Study together and members of the group are dividing up to lead two more new Unity groups with hopes of expanding this effort.

Relationships do ruin racism. To focus on anything other than relationships is a waste of time and will not be fruitful.

A critical understanding is that racism is a sin. To address it with a secular mindset (and Critical Race Theory and Identity Politics are secular mindsets) is worse than a waste of time – it makes the matter worse – it intensifies the sin. The church and strong, bold spiritual leaders of all races need to step up and lead with an eye on Christ, not politics.

John Covington is the CEO and owner of Chesapeake Consulting, Inc. since 1988. Chesapeake provides operations improvement, leadership development and project management support for both commercial and government accounts. John did his undergraduate work at the United States Naval Academy and the University of Alabama receiving a BS in Chemical Engineering.

He has held a variety of engineering, management and executive positions with Dupont, Stauffer Chemicals and Sherwin-Williams. He has authored numerous articles and seven books on leadership development, process improvement and faith. He was selected business person of the year in 2002 by the Severna Park, Maryland, Chamber of Commerce.

He is a Distinguished Fellow in both the College of Engineering and the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Alabama and sits on the Deans Leadership Council. He serves on several charity boards including Chemical and Biological Engineering advisory board, The Blackburn Institute, and Dogs Finding Dogs, a K-9 search and rescue group for pets.

He has authored seven books on process improvement, leadership and faith; Tough Fabric; Let’s Don’t Pave the Cow Path; Enterprise Fitness; Who is God and What am I Doing Here?; What I Learned About Leadership From My Dog; Cow’s Don’t Stay Milked; Don’t Do Anything Stupid – A White Man’s Guide to Racial Harmony.

He is an active member of the Church of the Highlands, volunteers in prison ministry and prison re-entry efforts.

He has been married to Linda Covington since 1972, and enjoys hiking, dog training and Alabama sports.

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels