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# "The Color of Compromise," with Jemar Tisby - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture
- URL: https://mereorthodoxy.com/color-compromise-jemar-tisby/
- Published: 2019-09-25T05:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-18T16:02:02.000Z
- Description: Jemar Tisby joins Derek and Alastair to discuss the history of racism in the American church in his latest book, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism. Listen in as they discuss everything from […]
- Author: Mere Orthodoxy
- Tags: Caleb Wait

Jemar Tisby joins Derek and Alastair to discuss the history of racism in the American church in his latest book, [*The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism*](https://www.amazon.com/Color-Compromise-American-Churchs-Complicity/dp/0310597269/ref=pd%5Fbxgy%5F14%5Fimg%5F2/137-7405694-0465767?%5Fencoding=UTF8&pd%5Frd%5Fi=0310597269&pd%5Frd%5Fr=a04b6975-db31-482d-b704-0e3897ac8c17&pd%5Frd%5Fw=6C5Hw&pd%5Frd%5Fwg=B1j8h&pf%5Frd%5Fp=479b6a22-70ae-47a0-9700-731033f96ce8&pf%5Frd%5Fr=NVHG7E0CQM328ZMAC7R1&psc=1&refRID=NVHG7E0CQM328ZMAC7R1&ref=mereorthodoxy.com). Listen in as they discuss everything from the theological importance of “remembering” to why today’s political issues are often framed differently for black demographics and how our theology helps us to respond to issues of racism today.

Jemar will be participating in the upcoming conference, *Joy and Justice: Reflecting On 400 Years of Black Joy and Justice.* It is being hosted in Chicago from October 4th-5th. Please visit [joyandjustice.com](https://joyandjustice.com/?ref=mereorthodoxy.com) for more details.

**Timestamps:**

Intro and thesis of The Color of Compromise \[0:00 – 4:30\]

How to handle difficult conversations like this without sensationalized rhetoric??? \[4:30 – 6:55\]

The theological importance of “remembering” \[6:55 – 11:00\]

What surprised Jemar about his research for the book \[11:00 – 18:10\]

How to identify the particular events that created a prejudiced society \[18:10 – 19:50\]

Why the study is not just a pessimistic look at history and why today’s political issues are often framed differently for black demographics \[19:50 – 33:45\]

Practices in one’s local community that are most helpful \[33:45 – 39:01\]

How to develop a theological language to speak about these issues and have a deeper conversation about sin + Conclusion \[39:01 – 46:16\]

**Resources mentioned:**

[*The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism*](https://www.amazon.com/Color-Compromise-American-Churchs-Complicity/dp/0310597269/ref=pd%5Fbxgy%5F14%5Fimg%5F2/137-7405694-0465767?%5Fencoding=UTF8&pd%5Frd%5Fi=0310597269&pd%5Frd%5Fr=a04b6975-db31-482d-b704-0e3897ac8c17&pd%5Frd%5Fw=6C5Hw&pd%5Frd%5Fwg=B1j8h&pf%5Frd%5Fp=479b6a22-70ae-47a0-9700-731033f96ce8&pf%5Frd%5Fr=NVHG7E0CQM328ZMAC7R1&psc=1&refRID=NVHG7E0CQM328ZMAC7R1&ref=mereorthodoxy.com) by Jemar Tisby

[*Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America*](https://www.amazon.com/Divided-Faith-Evangelical-Religion-Problem/dp/0195147073?ref=mereorthodoxy.com)by Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith

If you’re interested in supporting the show financially, you can check out our Patreon [here](https://www.patreon.com/merefidelity?ty=h&ref=mereorthodoxy.com).

Finally, as always, follow [Derek](https://twitter.com/dzrishmawy?ref=mereorthodoxy.com), [Andrew](https://twitter.com/ajwtheology?ref=mereorthodoxy.com), and [Alastair](https://twitter.com/zugzwanged?ref=mereorthodoxy.com) for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to [Timothy Motte](https://twitter.com/biotrom?ref=mereorthodoxy.com) for his sound editing work. [And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.](http://www.noisetrade.com/thejoyeternal/a-sweet-and-bitter-providence-single?ref=mereorthodoxy.com)