Music for an Anti-Racist Church

Music United exists to help foster the music-making community in local congregations, for regional councils, and with the national church. The Music United column/blog features members from across the country involved in this work of music-making.  
Here, Deb Bradley, retired director of music and former professor of music education, reflects on music and racism in the church.  

One of the things I have always appreciated about The United Church of Canada was its openness to the music of a variety of cultures and peoples. The inclusion of anti-apartheid protest songs from South Africa and worship songs from the church in Latin America and Asia in Voices United and More Voices suggests this openness, this willingness to hear God in the expressions of diverse people and cultures. Some of these songs and hymns speak to me profoundly and provide a musical path to God that “traditional” hymns could not.  

Even so, the inclusion of so few of these worship expressions in our hymnals suggests tokenism—a weak form of multiculturalism. Relegating their use to “special” Sundays or to Black History Month, for example, compounds tokenism. No progress toward becoming anti-racist will result from this approach. A truly anti-racist church would frequently incorporate all God’s people’s diverse musical expressions whenever that music supports the Word and the service overall. 

Accomplishing this takes effort. Music is not a universal language, as some claim. Music embodies culture; it requires an understanding of that culture to be intelligible in another context. Embedded in the notes and rhythms, not just in the text, lie the history and beliefs of a people, including their traumas, triumphs, and their relationship to God. Unfamiliar cultural nuances rooted in the music may be heard as odd, even unpleasant, causing listeners to revert to stereotypes and racist images of the people of that culture. Even singing English or French translations of a text cannot overcome this difficulty, because deep cultural meaning is often embedded in the combination of language and melody, harmony, and rhythm. 

Despite these difficulties, though, with effort, it is possible to develop some understanding of the sense of God of various peoples through their music: a first and necessary step toward becoming anti-racist. It requires intentionality over time, not “one and done” events. Becoming an anti-racist church requires continual listening, learning, and engagement in the ongoing journey toward God.  
It requires we know each other by learning to know and love the varied, beautiful expressions of God.