As a Christian, and even as a pastor, I am downright ashamed of how we view people. I was born and raised in the South East region of America from Virginia to South Carolina. As I study the history of our country and the region in which I live, I am appalled at how people were viewed and treated based on trivial information. People were seen by their status socially, their stance spiritually, their views politically, and even their skin racially. As I reflect on how ludacris this was, I realize that not a lot has changed in today's culture.
I am privileged to come from a family that has people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, and I don't reference them as a color; I refer to them as family. What if we labeled people by the differnce in body sizes? Or shape of their noses? Or quality or quantity of teeth? That is ridiculous, right? "Hey, the other day I was talking to this 'flat-nosed' guy who...". "can you believe what that 'mushroom-topper' did at...". I know it sounds funny, but it also sounds demeaning. What you are doing is qualifying a person with a single attribute like a flat nose or being too big for the pants they are wearing...yet we qualify people based on a single attribute of the pigmentation of their skin.
The idea of labeling people is one that goes beyond racial issues to social statuses,interests, personalities, and opinions. It is as if we as a society no longer value a person and their individualism; therefore, we label them in an effort to give some description or background to another person. What does it matter if someone is "wealthy", "poor", "old", "young", "outgoing", "introverted", "black", or "white"? Does that one label help to describe or give background to an individual? I don't believe it does, but I do believe that it creates tension between those being labeled and those labeling.
My goal in life is not to minister to "white" families or reach out to "black" families or help "Hispanic" families etc. My calling of God is to love people the way God loves them. I will not label people based on trivial descriptions of income, age, history, lifestyle, and especially not color of skin. God help the church to put down her constant labeling of people and love them like Jesus.
As I conclude, let me say that I have several friends that have darker pigmentation in their skin than I do, and I have several friends that don't have as much of a tan as I do. I don't have a black friend; I have a friend who is working hard and supporting his family and teaching them to love God and seve him. I also have a friend who is not faithful to his wife and is not a dad to his kids, and doesn't follow the God who created him. So my question is which one was a "white guy" and which one is a "black guy"? If you answered either shame on you. Both were said by people who need encouragement, love and need the Grace of God in their lives despite of what color their skin is.
Sometimes in our innocent comments we will label people as a color or some other defining term. Remember, that to God....people are people not colors.
3 comments:
I agree that people aren't colors and stereotypes are lame, but I recently started to think that being colorblind may not be the answer either. We are so afraid of color and race and culture and worried about offending people that we forget we are all actually very different with different backgrounds, families, beliefs, and values, and that is okay. We need to recognize these differences and realize everyone is not like us, and they don't need to be. We should appreciate these differences. Learn from the injustices. We should not forget how some have been treated in the past. We cannot forget how some are still treated today. And we discriminate on so much more than race...socioeconomics, religion, sexual orientation, gender, etc. Instead of tolerance, we should practice acceptance. People don't want to be tolerated. They want to be accepted. You don't have to agree with them, and you don't have to like it, and disagreeing is okay. It's not about being passive, or not sharing your beliefs and convictions. It's about sharing respectfully. It's about love and respect. Actions speak louder than words, right? So, show people the love in you.
I appreciate your comments Sarah. I would like to clarify a bit for you. I am in no way wanting to become forgetful of where people may come from or their heritage, their beliefs, or values. I believe it is those things that we should view as we see people. I don't think that a person's skin tone has anything to do with those things. I have individuals in my family that have very dark skin and they are in no way related back to family members in slavery in the United States in the 1800s. For that matter, I have several friends that are of a lighter skin color that are associated with modern day slavery. Where friends and loved ones are kidnapped around the world and sold into the sex slave market. I don't appreciate that we have to associate people's color of skin with certain situations or beliefs or backgrounds. Their skin color may have nothing to do with those things. My premise is that their skin color shouldn't define them, but who they are as a person should. So, am I colorblind...I hope so. I don't want to be peopleblind though. Each person has his own story and is writing it each day. Thank you again for the insight and your thoughts.
I agree. Color should not be used to make assumptions about people nor should it be their sole defining trait nor is it always related to values, beliefs, or histories. I merely meant to say that color is only one of many ways in which people are discriminated. However, I also meant to convey our color is God-given and should be embraced and accepted. Our color is just one of the many gifts God gave us that make us who we are. He made it beautiful, and we are the ones who have found a way to make it ugly. It was all just something to think about…nothing more, nothing less. Hope all is well with you and your family and continues to be so.
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