Many people recall the flap caused when then Governor George W. Bush spoke at Bob Jones University during the South Carolina primary in 2000. The media latched on to the school’s no interracial dating policy as a remnant of racism in the South. Bush’s willingness to speak at a school with such an intolerant policy was a stain on his candidacy.

Shortly after the controversy hit the airwaves, the president of BJU announced the repeal of the no interracial dating policy on Larry King Live. Prior to the media firestorm, Bob Jones University had defended its no interracial dating policy with some wacky hermeneutics predating the Civil War. Essentially, they said the Bible condemned mixed marriage as an abomination. The repeal of the policy in 2000 after the bad press immediately eroded the credibility of BJU’s so called biblical values.

This week Bob Jones University took another important step. On November 21 the school publicly apologized for its past policy of banning African-American students and banning interracial dating. An excerpt from the statement:

“We conformed to the culture rather than provide a clear Christian counterpoint to it. In so doing, we failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry.”

And in a clear reversal of its previous interpretation of Scripture which said God intended for humanity to be divided by ethnic and racial barriers, the apology also includes this sentence:

“As believers we are also committed to demonstrating the love of Christ daily in our relationships with others,disregarding the economic, cultural and racial divisions invented by sinful humanity.”

The administration declined to comment further on the statement or explain why now seemed like the right time to issue the apology. I wonder if the election of the first black president has convinced BJU that it’s finally time to make peace with its past. Some believe the timing was the result of Please-Reconcile.org, an online group comprised primarily of former BJU students and faculty urging the school to apologize for its past racists policies.

No matter the motivation, the release of the apology is at least a step in the right direction. But not everyone is satisfied. Some have taken issue with the university’s explanation that its racist policies were merely conformity to the culture. That may have been true in 1927 when the school was founded, but long after Brown vs. The Board of Education integrated schools in the south BJU still refused. It didn’t allow black students until 1971. If their policies were merely the result of “cultural conformity” why did it take them nearly 20 years to conform to integration?

Similarly, some believe the repeal of the no interracial dating policy was only a half-hearted measure to avoid media scrutiny back in 2000. Critics point out that students are only permitted to date someone of another race with the written permission of a parent. In other words, interracial relationships are still in a special class and remain stigmatized at BJU as a result.

Ultimately, we should learn from the example of Bob Jones University. Many other Christian institutions may have “biblical” policies that are actually rooted in cultural values or even prejudice. We should all be ready to examine ourselves and our communities for evidence of this tendency, and repent without delay. Far more is at stake than the credibility of our institutions.

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