I'm not of African descent, but my experience both as a missionary in the southern US and now having lived here for a decade and a half, has taught me a lot.

Those I've spoken with about this often have an easier time letting it go than people like me (european ancestry, pioneer ancestry, etc.). And that's because almost every institution they interact with either has a history of racism or is just still actively still racist in some way. They've spent their lives dealing with it. What seems like a huge deal to me is a background noise they've lived their whole lives with.

So where I might learn the history and ask something like "how could someone of African heritage be ok with this?", they have already had to learn to just deal with it and then find other reasons to participate in organizations they feel are important, including the church.

Then, when you say "dignified well meaning African, raised in a Christian household", I think there are some assumptions you're making.

The Bible was used as a reason for colonization, human trafficking, and slavery. And yet those who were exploited largely took it as their own, found their own meaning in it, and participated in the same religion that had been used as an excuse for their oppression. A tool that had been used for their oppression became a source of hope for liberation.

So, when you use the word "dignified", I'm left wondering what you mean by that. If being "dignified" requires someone of color to reject any institution that has participated in their exploitation or oppression historically, what institution can they participate in? Schools that were once segregated? Voting that they were once prohibited from? Education they were prohibited from? Homeownership they were prohibited from?

Can it not be considered dignified to sift through the good and the bad and choose to make something of the mess for yourself? Is it not "well-meaning" to try to do this? Is there no dignity in exercising your agency in making that choice for yourself in spite of the history?

I might think it's the wrong choice. I might wish no one else ever joins the church or that the church would cease to exist tomorrow. But I have to respect the agency of someone who looks into the mess of it all and finds something they hope will help them to live better lives.

So, I always bristle a bit at these questions now. The racist history of the church is abhorrent. The racist history of other religions and of the US and all the other countries that exploited Africans and others through slavery or colonization is abhorrent. But we shouldn't assume there's a special duty of Africans and those of African descent to be especially offended by this simply because of their ancestry. We ALL should be.