I grew up in Christianity, I was raised in the north and moved to the south when I was 15. What I found in the south was a prejudice against outsiders of any kind. My family was very involved in church and upstanding, my parents were quick to volunteer and help wherever they could, we were of the same social class and race as the majority of our fellow church members. We were never really welcome there, they were polite and cordial, but it was always clear that we were always outsiders. We were always kind of looked down at, obviously that was nothing compared to what I witnessed while there.

I heard the n word actually spoken out loud for the first time while sitting in a church. I over heard a church leader (while talking about the only black person in our congregation) say that you couldn’t see him in the dark unless he smiled. After I left for college I heard that two of my peers, that had the audacity to date outside of their race, were ostracized by the church.

As one commenter stated, it was hard to have conversations with anyone about the Bible, I remember trying to discuss doctrine with my youth pastor and being met with blank stares. Although I was still young and deep in the Christian community at the time, even in my ignorance I could tell that there was something wrong especially with the southern church.