There’s a genocide taking place against the black community in America, but you won’t hear about it in the media. Why? Dr. Raleigh Washington—president emeritus of Promise Keepers and pastor emeritus of the Rock of Our Salvation Church in Chicago—says it’s because most people don’t see it as genocide. Instead, they call it abortion.
I recently interviewed Dr. Washington, whom I’ve considered a good friend for years now. He was one of the pastors who traveled to Sanford, Florida, after Trayvon Martin was killed in 2012. Many in the black community in Sanford were outraged that George Zimmerman killed Trayvon, calling it a clear example of systematic racism.
Dr. Washington and Bishop Harry R. Jackson came and spoke to a group of black, white and Hispanic pastors about the importance of unity in that hour. They told them the only way to help bring racial reconciliation to Sanford was by uniting among themselves. They had to show the city they were standing together.
When Zimmerman was acquitted in July 2013, riots broke out around the country—but not in Sanford. Dr. Washington says it was because the pastors of the city stood together in unity and worked toward racial reconciliation.
Dr. Washington says relationship is the key to racial reconciliation, just as it is the key to responding to another strong burden on his heart—abortion in the black community.
“I’m talking specifically about African Americans because African Americans are perishing,” he says. “We, literally, as a people, are committing self-genocide. And the primary thrust and cause for that self-genocide is indeed abortion. Thirty-eight percent of all abortions are done by African American women. We are only 11% of the population of America but yet 38% of the abortions. That dynamic is really causing a genocide.”
Dr. Washington says in most urban centers in the U.S., more black babies are aborted than are born. New York City has made headlines for this sad statistic. This may be due to the fact that over 90% of abortion clinics located in urban areas are within walking distance for African Americans, Dr. Washington says.
This issue burdens Dr. Washington so much that he’s writing a book on the subject, called My People Perish for Lack of Knowledge.
“It is time to turn the tide of abortion,” he says. “And the No. 1 way to we can make a difference is how we vote. If we vote conservative according to biblical values—and that would be Republican—we could turn the tide of this abortion that’s causing genocide in the African American community.”
Of course, the Republican Party is not the savior in this situation. Much of the deep state involves Republicans, I’m sure—and the Republican Party is not always dictated by biblical values. In many ways, the Republican Party has failed the black community, especially in recent decades.
“The way to make a difference is to do so from within the Republican Party, which most closely aligns itself with biblical values,” he says. “There was an African American who was running who really got stabbed in the back by Republicans out of racial insensitivity and not understanding. If we are inside, we can make a change. But if we are on the outside, we can’t make a change.
“And there’s no question that the Democratic Party is going to be for abortion. They’re going to be for same-sex marriage, which is immoral according to a biblical standard. They are going to be for things that really go against our faith.”
With Dr. Washington, I challenge Christian Americans—whether white or black—to vote according to Christian principles. It’s vital that in this hour we wake up to what’s really going on in our nation and vote.
Listen to my full interview with Dr. Washington. His insights are profound and, if people heed them, will make a difference in our country.
