The Color of Compromise - The Library of the Uncommons

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published Jan. 22, 2019 by Zondervan.

ISBN:: 978-0-310-59726-1
OCLC Number:: 1083672917

(1 review)

This book is an acclaimed, timely narrative of how people of faith have historically -- up to the present day -- worked against racial justice. And a call for urgent action by all Christians today in response. The Color of Compromise is both enlightening and compelling, telling a history we either ignore or just don't know. Equal parts painful and inspirational, it details how the American church has helped create and maintain racist ideas and practices. You will be guided in thinking through concrete solutions for improved race relations and a racially inclusive church. The Color of Compromise: Takes you on a historical, sociological, and religious journey: from America's early colonial days through slavery and the Civil War; Covers the tragedy of Jim Crow laws, the victories of the Civil Rights era, and the strides of today's Black Lives Matter movement; Reveals the cultural and institutional tables we have to …

This book is an acclaimed, timely narrative of how people of faith have historically -- up to the present day -- worked against racial justice. And a call for urgent action by all Christians today in response. The Color of Compromise is both enlightening and compelling, telling a history we either ignore or just don't know. Equal parts painful and inspirational, it details how the American church has helped create and maintain racist ideas and practices. You will be guided in thinking through concrete solutions for improved race relations and a racially inclusive church. The Color of Compromise: Takes you on a historical, sociological, and religious journey: from America's early colonial days through slavery and the Civil War; Covers the tragedy of Jim Crow laws, the victories of the Civil Rights era, and the strides of today's Black Lives Matter movement; Reveals the cultural and institutional tables we have to flip in order to bring about meaningful integration; Charts a path forward to replace established patterns and systems of complicity with bold, courageous, immediate action; Is a perfect book for pastors and other faith leaders, students, non-students, book clubs, small group studies, history lovers, and all lifelong learners. The Color of Compromise is not a call to shame or a platform to blame white evangelical Christians. It is a call from a place of love and desire to fight for a more racially unified church that no longer compromises what the Bible teaches about human dignity and equality. A call that challenges black and white Christians alike to standup now and begin implementing the concrete ways Tisby outlines, all for a more equitable and inclusive environment among God's people. Starting today. - Publisher.

4 editions

David Atwell reviewed The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby

Review of 'The Color of Compromise' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This book is, like so many important things, difficult but necessary. Tisby's matter-of-fact prose is a blunt instrument which nonetheless cuts deeply; it was when I noticed that I had entered the lifetime of my parents in the four century timeline of the book that I realized how far we have yet to go as a culture—because even though I was less than sixty years from the present day, I was scarcely halfway through the entire book.

Tisby recounts the history of race in America you never got in school as a white student. It's not sanitized, and it's so well-sourced as to be unassailable for its historical rigor. And it's infuriating. "How could they have been so wrong?" is likely the most common thing I thought, and it was almost always followed up by "...and how are we wrong today without knowing it?"

Everything is undergirded with a rock-solid …

This book is, like so many important things, difficult but necessary. Tisby's matter-of-fact prose is a blunt instrument which nonetheless cuts deeply; it was when I noticed that I had entered the lifetime of my parents in the four century timeline of the book that I realized how far we have yet to go as a culture—because even though I was less than sixty years from the present day, I was scarcely halfway through the entire book.

Tisby recounts the history of race in America you never got in school as a white student. It's not sanitized, and it's so well-sourced as to be unassailable for its historical rigor. And it's infuriating. "How could they have been so wrong?" is likely the most common thing I thought, and it was almost always followed up by "...and how are we wrong today without knowing it?"

Everything is undergirded with a rock-solid faith in the God who made us all, and a rock-solid respect for the Imago Dei in each of us. You will feel valued; not preached-at, but convicted.

"The Color of Compromise" reveals blind spots, uncovers secret sin, but best of all provides some solutions; a few of which are already in progress.

Highly recommended for every single American Christian. Especially if you don't agree with him.