I very much agree with what you've written. I wonder, though, whether using the term "race" to identify people according to ethnicity is even right. I know we are so used to using it to identify a person's ethnicity, but maybe there's still an inherent (possibly unconscious) bias in using the term "race" to identify a person's ethnicity. After all, we are all part of the one human *race* (sons and daughters of Adam), the one blood line, rather than various "races" (blood lines?) of humans. It seems to me that suggesting there is more than one race of humans opens up the door to thinking of another race as inferior which has been promoted in the past (and even the present, sadly) by some. Not that we shouldn't recognise the difficult journey of those of non-white ethnicities (I believe we should), but do it in a way that humanises them (seeing them as part of the human race) rather than one that potentially de-humanises them (seeing them as a different "race" to whites).
I appreciate the steps that you have outlined here. I particularly want to emphasize that color-blindness can be dangerous. Knowing and seeing all of me, includes what I look like. Therefore to refuse to see that I am Black is to erase a part of me as well. In addition, we cannot ignore that there are situations that because of what I look like, certain places might not be safe. If you are committed to our relationship, you have to be committed to my safety. Therefore, you have to see all of me, and not just the parts that work for you so that you do not set me up, or include me in spaces and situations that put me in jeopardy.
The steps you've outlined that you're taking are cool, Shawn. Two scriptures come to mind. 1.) Unto the least of these-- unto me. 2.) By this all men will know you're my disciples if you have agape-love one to another as I've loved you. Blessings as you continue on your journey (in this area as well as your endeavors in your new territory of what I believe is, Portland, Maine).
I very much agree with what you've written. I wonder, though, whether using the term "race" to identify people according to ethnicity is even right. I know we are so used to using it to identify a person's ethnicity, but maybe there's still an inherent (possibly unconscious) bias in using the term "race" to identify a person's ethnicity. After all, we are all part of the one human *race* (sons and daughters of Adam), the one blood line, rather than various "races" (blood lines?) of humans. It seems to me that suggesting there is more than one race of humans opens up the door to thinking of another race as inferior which has been promoted in the past (and even the present, sadly) by some. Not that we shouldn't recognise the difficult journey of those of non-white ethnicities (I believe we should), but do it in a way that humanises them (seeing them as part of the human race) rather than one that potentially de-humanises them (seeing them as a different "race" to whites).
I appreciate the steps that you have outlined here. I particularly want to emphasize that color-blindness can be dangerous. Knowing and seeing all of me, includes what I look like. Therefore to refuse to see that I am Black is to erase a part of me as well. In addition, we cannot ignore that there are situations that because of what I look like, certain places might not be safe. If you are committed to our relationship, you have to be committed to my safety. Therefore, you have to see all of me, and not just the parts that work for you so that you do not set me up, or include me in spaces and situations that put me in jeopardy.
The steps you've outlined that you're taking are cool, Shawn. Two scriptures come to mind. 1.) Unto the least of these-- unto me. 2.) By this all men will know you're my disciples if you have agape-love one to another as I've loved you. Blessings as you continue on your journey (in this area as well as your endeavors in your new territory of what I believe is, Portland, Maine).