It Matters
It matters.
The issue of race in America matters.
We are not all the same.
God is too big for that. I mean, really, God is way too big and creative to be confined to one flavor of anything. From ice cream to flowers to people. God is far too creative and complex to be reflected only one way.
Therefore, we are not all the same. That needs to be respected. To say we are all the same is to try and limit God. It denies His creative work in mankind. To say we are all the same is to deny the beauty of silk in our Asian sisters,the salsa fire of our Latina brothers, the swag of my Black son. To say we are all the same denies the perseverance of spirit under the injustice against those of Japanese heritage during WW2, the determination to work hard of Mexican immigrants, and the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
This all matters. The same God that scattered the people with various tongues so that they could not continue in their folly with the tower of Babel, is the same God that used a variety of languages to make Himself known at Pentecost. It matters.
So does how we respond to the matter of race in America.
Do I pretend that Mexican immigrants aren't here and living in fear? Do I act as if poor white girls don't exist in the Food Stamp line carrying their own pain with grim, stoic faces? Do I ignore the fact that the Muslim kid in my son's class has something to offer? Do I stop celebrating my own son's manly swag? Of course, not!
It matters that we are just as upset about Black on Black crime among teens, as we are about White man on Black teen crime. It matters that my white friends be willing to acknowledge that their sons will never look suspicious, while mine will, and love him through it. It matters that my son learn that while he must work harder and be more cautious than his white friends, not all white people are evil or suspicious of him. It matters that Benjamin read more than textbooks or science fiction novels. Neither is written about him, nor his ancestors. It matters that while Benjamin must learn of Michelangelo and Abraham Lincoln, he needs to learn of Countee Cullen and Thurgood Marshall. George Washington was our first President. President Barak Obama is the first president to look like us.
Race issues in America matter, because America is where we live, and our race helps define who we are.
The issue of race in America matters.
We are not all the same.
God is too big for that. I mean, really, God is way too big and creative to be confined to one flavor of anything. From ice cream to flowers to people. God is far too creative and complex to be reflected only one way.
Therefore, we are not all the same. That needs to be respected. To say we are all the same is to try and limit God. It denies His creative work in mankind. To say we are all the same is to deny the beauty of silk in our Asian sisters,the salsa fire of our Latina brothers, the swag of my Black son. To say we are all the same denies the perseverance of spirit under the injustice against those of Japanese heritage during WW2, the determination to work hard of Mexican immigrants, and the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
This all matters. The same God that scattered the people with various tongues so that they could not continue in their folly with the tower of Babel, is the same God that used a variety of languages to make Himself known at Pentecost. It matters.
So does how we respond to the matter of race in America.
Do I pretend that Mexican immigrants aren't here and living in fear? Do I act as if poor white girls don't exist in the Food Stamp line carrying their own pain with grim, stoic faces? Do I ignore the fact that the Muslim kid in my son's class has something to offer? Do I stop celebrating my own son's manly swag? Of course, not!
It matters that we are just as upset about Black on Black crime among teens, as we are about White man on Black teen crime. It matters that my white friends be willing to acknowledge that their sons will never look suspicious, while mine will, and love him through it. It matters that my son learn that while he must work harder and be more cautious than his white friends, not all white people are evil or suspicious of him. It matters that Benjamin read more than textbooks or science fiction novels. Neither is written about him, nor his ancestors. It matters that while Benjamin must learn of Michelangelo and Abraham Lincoln, he needs to learn of Countee Cullen and Thurgood Marshall. George Washington was our first President. President Barak Obama is the first president to look like us.
Race issues in America matter, because America is where we live, and our race helps define who we are.
posted by Janet | 1:58 PM
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