The Intersection of Racism & Redemption

By Wil Chevalier

The Intersection of Racism & Redemption powerfully reaffirms the truth of forgiveness and reconciliation as a means of restoring us to one another, because racism, after all, is a matter of the heart. In the face of so much injustice being perpetuated upon Americans of all colors in our land today, this story will inspire readers to fight for justice and expand its reach to all people in our country—not only people of color.

It is the author's hope that taking a journey with him though his experiences in the Jim Crow South will enlighten you to see through the misconceptions, inherited beliefs, and deep-ceded wounds that are at the root of the moral, social, and spiritual paralysis we know as racism.

Open the book and let the author show you how he came to find a supernatural, liberating power and the freedom to think differently about himself and others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798385005888

Wil Chevalier

Dr. Wil Chevalier is the cofounder and Executive Director of LifeBranch Institute International, a non-profit organization dedicated to leadership development and marriage enrichment. His unique perspective on the social, psychological, and spiritual effects of racism spans history, geography, and current events, making his poignant memoir, The Intersection of Racism & Redemption, the apex of his catalog of over 12 books and his ministry of 40 years.

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Copyright © 2024 Wil Chevalier.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0586-4 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0587-1 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0588-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023916223

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/20/2023

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Part I: Chevaliers of Frenchtown: The Untold Story

Chapter 1Ancestorial Heritage and Redemption

Chapter 2Fractured Pieces of Redemption

Chapter 3The Intersection of Two Journeys

Chapter 4The Intersection of Freedom and Redemption

Part II: Transitions

Chapter 5The Intersection of Truth and Redemption

Chapter 6Systemic Racism and Redemption

Chapter 7Lessons from the Book of History

Chapter 8The Family and Redemption

Chapter 9The Consequences of Remaining Silent

Epilogue

Sources

About the Author

To an extraordinary woman and the love of my life, Jacqueline Chevalier:

You never get enough credit for all the years of ministry we have shared together around the world. You are a constant source of support and inspiration as my friend, my associate, my confidante, my partner, and my wife of over forty-six years. This book would not have been possible without you.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To be credible as a leader, you have got to be centered in your soul. Such is the man—pastor, mentor, and friend—Rev. James Folkers. Pastor Jim is a gifted Bible teacher whose scriptural insights on forgiveness served as the foundation for this book.

I want to thank Alyssa Carr, Gary Haas, Grace and Elmer Hayes, Rick Leavenworth, Cathy Makin, Brad Remillard, Martin Simms III, Dr. Mary Simms, and Paul Stevens for their insightful input.

I also want to thank Eric Buehrer, Greg Campbell, Dan Hair, and Beng-Alba Jones for their talent and eye for detail. They never stopped challenging me and helping to develop my ideas. They have been a constant source of encouragement and support.

And finally, thank you most of all to my editors, Jeanette Morris and Susan Titus Osborn, who worked to make this book more readable than otherwise it might have been. I owe a continued debt of gratitude for their contributions of needed syntheses, clarifications, and economies of expression and organization.

FOREWORD

Even though I was born in Long Beach, California, and Wil Chevalier was born in the Houston Negro Hospital a couple of years earlier during the Jim Crow era, our paths crossed, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

Decades ago, as a professional baseball player, I traveled the US playing for the New York Mets and the San Diego Padres. As a former major leaguer, I had the honor of knowing a wide array of incredible people. Among those are Wil and Jacquie Chevalier. I met them in 1977, about a year after I got out of baseball. Our families attended the same church in Southern California and still do over forty years later. Early on, Wil and I met with a group of thirty to forty men for a 6:00 a.m. weekly prayer meeting. What I remember most about Wil in those early years was his commitment to memorizing Scripture and his deep love for people.

Since those weekly meetings, Wil has become an internationally recognized speaker, author of twelve books on faith-related topics, and coach to Christian leaders. But what makes his personal story unique is how he has allowed God to redeem hardships and trauma from his experiences of racism for the good of helping others to overcome adversity. Through his ministry at LifeBranch Institute, Wil has equipped leaders from various cultures in more than two dozen countries, traveling widely to serve a multitude of church leaders. He has concentrated on those in the developing countries who can’t afford seminary-level training. He equips underserved church leaders with the education and practical tools they need to know more about God’s design for the family to help develop healthy churches that transform lives and communities. In a day when American culture is rapidly falling apart, we desperately need to learn again how to treat all people humanely.

Wil’s story reminds me of one other person I met who stands out as an outstanding example of treating people the right way, no matter the color of their skin: Gil Hodges, our manager of the 1969 World Champion New York Mets. Gil was a Hall of Fame player with the Brooklyn Dodgers when Jackie Robinson joined that team in 1947 and broke the color line in baseball. During that time, Jackie was verbally and emotionally abused throughout Major League Baseball, but Gil Hodges and Pee Wee Reese (Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop) were big supporters of Jackie, especially in the first year of Robinson’s career, and they were always there for him. And, of course, Jackie Robinson became one of the greatest baseball players of all time and was instrumental in desegregating baseball against all odds.

For as long as I can remember, racial reconciliation (which included being on a task force for Promise Keepers’ Ethnic and Denominational Reconciliation) has been a part of the passion God has placed on Wil Chevalier’s heart. In this book, The Intersection of Racism & Redemption, Wil mingles his firsthand experiences of Jim Crow segregation with the present hope available through the bright truth of God’s Word, the Bible, and His offer of redemption made available to all people through Jesus Christ.

Rod Gaspar, Professional Baseball Outfielder

New York Mets (1969–70)

San Diego Padres (1971, 74)

INTRODUCTION

American culture is struggling to find its bearings on the historically polarizing topic of racism. After the death of George Floyd in 2020, the entire world awakened to deafening cries of injustice. At the same time, livestreams of media clips catapulted worldwide sentiments into a fierce intolerance of police brutality. The reality that has emerged in the aftermath is a culture more divided now than ever before. Many people do not realize the depth of the pain involved in the dynamics of racism, because it is not a one-size-fits-all situation. My story about racism is really a story about redemption—the battle between good and evil, not Blacks and Whites.

Therefore, I invite readers to join me in exploring this complex subject by breaking it down into smaller segments to see how racism intersects with redemption. This approach has helped to broaden my own understanding of how certain aspects fit together to become the whole. In doing so, I filter my observations through the book of history, the Bible, just as I would use a GPS for guidance. I evaluate my route, observing the sequences of twists and turns along this journey called life. I’ve also learned to filter my lived experiences through the multifaceted lens of the Bible as well.

I share my experiences of racism from the perspective of growing up as a Creole in Houston’s Frenchtown and later in Southern California. I layer my story with some of the cultural heritage that evaded me for most of my life. I was so obsessed with the effects of segregation under Jim Crow laws that I could not see anything good about White people. These were things I believed about racism, simply based on my limited lived experiences along my journey. Yet my experiences give me a confluence of viewpoints. These include being born into a multiethnic family, experiences in the Vietnam War, living in the Philippines for more than twelve years, and ministering in more than thirty countries on six continents. I include extensive narrative about my family history to help readers better understand the context of what I have to say about America’s struggles with her failures and her progress on racism.

I freely acknowledge that my own subjective experiences of racism and bigotry have made me especially sensitive to this subject, and my ethnic identity gives me a slightly atypical perspective on the subject as well. Moreover, I believe that God is far more committed to purifying and correcting the moral trajectory of His Church than most Americans realize. Awakened to my own human need for redemption and forgiveness, I acknowledge the part I have played in the error-making and error-correcting dynamics of racial reconciliation.

As I was writing this book, I grew in my understanding of how negative thinking had greatly influenced many of the negative outcomes in my life—not only regarding racism, but life itself. So, I continued to explore a broad range of additional inputs that led to even more insights. The complexity of racism confirms that this is not an easy situation to address. It is a heartbreaking subject for me on several levels.

And so, aiming at meaningful engagement, I want to anchor what I say upon truth found in Scripture—the basis for change in the Christian life. From this biblical perspective, I would like to introduce truths for readers to ponder. I believe my perspective on racism will challenge many of the prevailing assumptions about race and class in America. I do not believe there is a monolithic Black experience that is rooted in American culture. I have found different views among my nuclear family, as well as among the members of my enormous extended family. We dearly love each other, but we do not agree on everything—especially on the issue of racism.

Since most people have had difficult childhood experiences, I realize I was not unique in my suffering. However, some individuals, like me, have experienced multiple layers of rejection. I received frequent reminders as a child that I was in a lower class than Whites, and this fueled infuriating and lamentable bitterness within me. Unfortunately, these feelings were so strong that they constantly affected my unconscious judgments. My awareness of being woefully different was deeply etched into my consciousness. I also realize how difficult it might be for some Americans to empathize with the emotional pain of discrimination if it has never happened to them. That could be one reason seeing the world through the race lens can foster a sense of empowerment for some people and dismay for others.

I view my greatest contribution toward racial reconciliation as setting myself right in my own personal thoughts and actions.

The challenge is not for everyone to become colorblind, but to embrace the reality that God created each of us uniquely and for a divine purpose. The focus of this book is not on slavery, but on the impact slavery had on the world I grew up in. I view my greatest contribution toward racial reconciliation as setting myself right in my own personal thoughts and actions, not by being an advocate or expecting governmental laws to solve such a complex problem. At the same time, I do agree with the sentiments of Martin Luther King Jr.’s observation that the law could not force a person to love you, but it could keep him from lynching you.

Racism is a matter of the heart.

My story is not rooted in recognizing the historical legacy of America’s past. It only touches upon a small part of it. Nonetheless, I believe it powerfully reaffirms the truth of forgiveness and reconciliation as a means of restoring us to one another, because racism is a matter of the heart. In the face of so much injustice being perpetuated upon Americans of all colors in our land today, I hope my story will resonate with readers and expand its reach to all people in our country—not just People of Color. Racist treatment of Whites and the obsession to correct the injustices of the past is simply a new form of racism and is equally devastating.

Having been reconciled to Christ, I have been entrusted with immeasurably more to bring about racial reconciliation than simply revisiting stories of struggles and suffering in our nation’s painful past. Writing from life experiences, may I inspire those with whom my story may resonate to have a proper respect for all humanity as being made in God’s image. Jesus Christ offers a life of equality and true unity when we align ourselves to His ways and purposes in our daily lives. His Word, the Bible, offers a vision of hope in a world in which Whites, People of Color, and everyone else can live together peacefully.

My goal is for readers to sort more intelligently the wheat from the chaff, because racism in America is not the problem—sinful human hearts are. Moreover, this book presents action steps, at a practical level, that might help to stop the destructive cycles and patterns of racism. It is vital not to engender more racism by pitting people against each other, invoking shame, revenge, or hatred toward America, as well as England and ancient dynasties where slavery found its origin. Moreover, I invite readers everywhere to show appreciation and respect for everyone and not allow our differences to separate us, because it doesn’t empower a solution. Though we may be overwhelmed by disillusionment, discouragement, or even despair, we must never forget that our hope rests in God!

Hopefully, my story will be helpful, but I do realize that what resonates with one person will probably not resonate with someone with a different worldview. Yet, by getting my thoughts down on paper, I am able to examine them critically. I can add or subtract from them, rewording them in a better way as I process them. It is in this arena that I believe both the writer and the reader benefit most. It is my prayer that many people will be inspired to pray and allow our lives to embrace the redemptive power of Scripture to be our source for learning to love God and to love people created in His image more deeply.

May God use this book to guide many people to step onto the path of peace and unity instead of remaining in the strongholds of darkness and despair.

PART I

CHEVALIERS OF FRENCHTOWN:

THE UNTOLD STORY

Before turning to our attention elsewhere, we should note that I tell