Jurrita Williams often finds herself grieving alone when she sits among the crowded pews of her church.

Following tragic events — like the shooting massacre of nine African-American Christians at a church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015, or the more recent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia,  that turned deadly — she waited to hear them mentioned by her white pastor.

Williams, an Alabama native who is attending seminary in Dallas, attends a white church she loves. But while her white brothers and sisters have embraced her, they don’t respond to racial events with the same level of sadness. And, short of a major event, race is rarely discussed.

“Even though they’re Christians, even though they follow Jesus, they separate … the gospel with social issues,” said Williams.

But in the wake of Charlottesville, she and many other black Christians say it’s time for evangelical leaders to address racial discrimination, attacks on undocumented immigrants and police brutality. 

“For me,  there is a separation between your gospel and my life,” Williams said. “I think we can do both and not separate them from who I believe our Savior is.”

Many evangelical leaders don’t mind discussing issues like abortion or sexuality, but skirt the issue of race, says Nicola Menzie, of Brooklyn, who is editor and publisher of Faithfully Magazine, a digital publication for Christians of color and women. Even though race may be on the “hearts and minds” of people in their congregations, she argues in the current issue that racism is crippling the church. 

"Even to simply say, racism is wrong. Racism is counter to the Christian message," Menzie said. 

In addition to acts of violence against people of color, Menzie points to other high-profile events that angered many black Christians. Earlier this summer, the Southern Baptist Convention refused to pass a resolution written by black pastor Dwight McKissic calling white supremacists a toxic menace.

After a public backlash, the convention passed a watered-down version.

"You have these white evangelicals who are in the south who are saying this is our history our heritage," said Louis DeCaro, a historian with the Nyack Theological Seminary who studies the intersection of race and religion. "Yes, but what you have to understand is your history is entangled with oppression."

For example, DeCaro says evangelicalism in the United States “has always been mediated through a lens of white self-interest.” That lens allowed evangelicals to enslave blacks, even while trying to evangelize them, he said.

To truly reckon with race, he says,  the church has to speak honestly about its history. "That history is tied up in oppression.”

In modern times, DeCaro said white evangelism has become closely intertwined with nationalism, or patriotism — a theme Trump has capitalized on with his slogan Make America Great Again.

Christian Hip-Hop Artist Jason Petty, who uses the name, “Propaganda,” sings about what he — a black Christian man — sees as a disconnect between Christian teachings in the bible and the actions of evangelicals, in his newly-released song, “Cynical:

Where were you when we were dying?
Flying to Trump rallies, sipping the finest wine and
We fought off the Five-Percenters
They called him White Jesus, low-key started to believe 'em

Petty says Jesus called for people to love God and neighbor, but he sees an emphasis in evangelical circles to love God and country.

 “I believe colonization, imperialism and patriotism in a lot of ways has become more the marks of an American Christian than the tenets of the faith,” Petty told WNYC. 

Petty said Cynical was the result of a buildup of frustration that started with Trayvon Martin’s death. He said white evangelicals didn’t respond the way he thought they would to the loss of life. And, Cynical reflects his own frustration with his church’s failure to take a stand on refugees. It prompted him and his wife to change to another church.

”Jesus was a refugee,” Petty said. “So it should be a no-brainer that I should probably side with the refugee. I don’t understand how you don’t see refugees as a gospel issue.”

A similar situation prompted 23-year-old Baltimore college student Rachael Edwards to leave her church. For her, the Charleston massacre was the last straw.

“I cried that morning after I heard about the Charleston 9,” said Edwards, who is a singer and praise leader who has always attended white churches. But she said no one around her seemed to feel the same grief, even though the nine African-Americans killed in Charleston were fellow Christians at a bible study.

“They didn’t talk about it,” said Edwards. “I had to leave.”

Like Petty, Edwards said she didn’t believe her church was responding the way Jesus Christ would.

“Jesus, the way it’s documented is, he was always among those who were marginalized, poor, outcast, sick, oppressed,” Edwards said. “He found himself in those spaces And didn’t have a problem providing comfort … I don’t understand how you could read the gospel and not see that social justice is at the heart of God."

A week after the Nazi rally and violence in Charlotteville, Pastor Jim Miller referred to white supremacy in his sermon at First Baptist Church of Metuchen, N.J.   

Without directly naming Charlottesville, Miller told the congregation that there are groups today who are misusing their free speech rights to incite violence, and that it is wrong to teach that one race is superior. 

Miller is white, as is most of the church’s leadership. The congregation is more diverse, with more than a dozen ethnic groups and races among them.

Miller said his members don’t come to hear about the events going on in the world, but to study the scriptures. But he’ll reference those outside events if it comes up in scripture. In this case, the bible teaching lead him to talk about free speech.

When pressed about the need for black congregants to feel supported when racist events are gripping the nation, Miller said First Baptist does provide a place for anyone struggling with the issue of race to share: in the small group meetings held in homes and at the church.

He said the small group leaders would offer comfort, and scriptures for support.