When I was a little kid I wanted to be black when I grew up. I thought people picked what “race” they were like it was a career. Mostly I wanted to be black because I thought that with the permanent tan I wouldn’t have to worry about sun-burns anymore. Dude, seriously, I have a very light skin tone and burn way too easily. It’s bad. One time, the arm that is by the window of the car while you drive got sun burned in the fifteen minute drive to work.
As I got older, I wasn’t getting any darker... So I looked up why skin tone was different from person to person. I discovered a very simple difference, the amount of a chemical melanin in the skin. That was it. Knowing this made it very hard for me to understand why many people hated and shunned different groups based on the amount of melanin in the other groups skin.
I grew up in an area of the country where there wasn’t much diversity in people, so when I moved to a new part of the country that had more black people, I was overwhelmed. It was really cool to see this. I just thought it was incredible to see this variation in skin color up close and personal. It was like the common difference of blonde, brunette, and red-head, etc. I was used to seeing, taken to a whole new level.
Once again I have moved to a different part of the country, New York this time, and the cultural diversity here is... inspiring. You see I believe the Bible teaching of there being one race, the human race. Our pride, arrogance, ignorance, bigotry, hatred or whatever other piece of stupid foolishness stuck in our heads is what causes us to create divisions, or classes of humanity based on external characteristics that don’t make a difference.
One thing I’ve learned about myself in the last month is that I am pretty much one step away from where I need to be. I’m to the place where, “race” isn’t a factor in decisions or how I view a person. Where I, and I think everyone else should be, is the place where ethnic diversity is no more than the difference of Blonde and Brunette. Yes there are language and culture factors, but come on, just look at your next door neighbor and tell me there are no differences there.
Stop being foolish and see the different people groups for what they are, God being creative, and making each of us unique in just one more way... Oh and if you need help with this, come to New York City for a week or so, experience the “melting pot” first hand.
When I was at Crown we were required to read a book called "One Blood: The Biblical Answer to Racism." It was very good (Although as with all books I didn't agree with everything, but the main points were very good). I agree that to view and treat people differently based solely on the amount of chemicals in their skin is very shallow and, if you really think about it, pretty ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteI was in a situation one time where my black friend Gary in OKC was called an "N word." I'll never forget the tension between the "white guy" and Gary. It was ugly, but resolved itself after many a death threat. I'll never forget it.
ReplyDeleteI was telling this story to another Black "friend" years later up here in Idaho. Instead of quoting the "N word", I went ahead and just used the N word when I told the story. 30 minutes later I was called down to the supervisors office and was told that somebody had complained that I had used a racial slur. I had to even stand before the director and tell what had happened. I was punished by getting a privileged trip to Las Vegas for a Youth Worker convention taken away from me, one that I had earned.
My question was and always will be: who was the racist here? I did nothing wrong, and yet got punished because of his racism.
Inspiring.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in NYC, racial diversity was the norm. I thought nothing of the fact that, in my high school classroom of 30+ students, we easily had 10-15 countries represented. It was just a given.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I don't think it's particularly reasonable to consider ethnic differences as analogous to differences in hair color. There's so much more involved than pigmentation of the skin. Of course, some people do make snap judgments of others based on melanin, so I definitely see and agree with the point you're making.
Still, those language and cultural differences- they're huge. We're talking about different ways in which people perceive the world, themselves, and their entire value system.
My mother is Puerto Rican, and my father is Indian (from India, not Native American). They obviously had no issue with skin pigmentation, as they went ahead and got married. However, they faced so many obstacles because of their intrinsic differences, and misunderstood and misinterpreted each other all the time. Sure, differences and misunderstandings occur in any relationship. But again, I'm talking about entirely different systems of thought.
For instance- Puerto Ricans are super close to their extended families. Parents and children and siblings and cousins and second cousins and great-nephews-twice-removed all share strong filial bonds. In traditional Indian culture, when a woman marries she is expected to separate from her family and will perhaps maintain a properly distant relationship with her parents and siblings. My father was angry- and I mean VERY angry- when my mother's sister visited my mom shortly after I was born.
My mother could not understand why her sister should be excluded from such a joyous occasion; my father could not understand why her sister would be so rude as to intrude on such a private family event. My mom figured my dad must hate her sister, my dad thought my mom loved her sister more than her husband and child. All that angst from a simple hospital visit!
Anyway, my point is that ethnic differences can cause friction, even when skin color is not a factor, simply because one group cannot fathom how the other group thinks. My mom could very well draw the conclusion that Indians are cold and heartless, and most white Americans would take her side in the above story because for us it's perfectly normal for a new aunt to visit her infant niece in the hospital. For my dad, the birth of a child is an exceedingly intimate event, to be cherished between the parents...and /later/ when the parents are ready, introductions to the other relatives can be made.
Anyway, it's not my intention to disparage your entry, because you raise valid points, and I know that it would be oversimplifying your stance to say skin color=hair color. You did express that it is a "whole new level" and, indeed, it is! Also, as you said, a lot of the friction /is/ due to ignorance.
What's inspiring though, is to see the diversity- and most of all unity- in my (our) church. Sure, high school was diverse, but it was also cliquish and fostered hate. In high school I learned to claim my Hispanic side and hide my Indian side from my classmates, because it was a whole lot cooler to be Puerto Rican than to be Indian. (My best friend back then, a Guyanese girl, expressly advised me not to admit I was Indian- not the /she/ thought any less of me, but thought it would spare me some grief.
In church, the love of God ties us together in ways that confounds the ethnic differences. With God's people, I've no need to be ashamed of any part of who I am ethnically. In some ways, it IS no different than my being brunette and your being blond. Heh, so I guess in the end I've come around to your point after all.
Anyway, having grown up in a multi-racial home and environment, I couldn't resist commenting on a post like this. My apologies if I was tedious!