RACISM
This is not fun. I don't want to write about this, but feel compelled. I believe racism is alive and well in our country, and possibly more powerful than at any time. Certainly, you may question that. How can I say it is more alive today, when not that many years ago certain races of people had no rights at all, no power at all, were treated shamefully and excluded from society as much as possible? Yes, our nation has a sad history when it comes to this story. As a white man in America I cannot claim to fully understand it, but I can be embarrassed by it and mourn it and own it.
As a Christian man in America, I grew up singing, "red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight" and being taught that God "is no respecter of persons" and that "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Yet, I learned those things at church, where the only black face ever seen was that of the custodian who was there throughout the week and seen only briefly by the staff.
Racism is not new, but it's expressions are ever-changing. The fact that in the last two elections for the highest office in our land, the choices placed before us by the two major parties have been men of two totally different color. Mind you, I am not writing about politics. I'm writing about racism. But, these elections have served as an opportunity to lance a boil and bring what has been there all along to the surface. Let me say this, when President Obama was elected, I did not agree with his politics, but found myself finding solace in the fact that my country could and did elect a person of color to the highest position in the land. Honestly, that made me proud.
However, that pride was short-lived. What quickly replaced it was, "If you don't agree with this or that, you're a racist". What happened to gentile disagreement and debate of issues? If I don't want government-run healthcare, I'm a racist? If I disagree with a foreign policy, I'm a racist? I could go on, but time is short.
Bottom Line time: If you are white, and you vote for a person based on the fact that this person is white, you are a racist....period. In the same way, if you are black and vote for a person based on the fact they are black, you, too, are a racist...period. Feel free to insert any and all colors into that scenario. They all fit.
Dr. Martin Luther King, a man I happen to respect greatly, had a dream that there would come a day when all people "will be judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character". I'm so sorry Dr. King, that day hasn't come yet. I too, dream of a day we choose candidates based on their competence and their character, not their color.
As a Christian man in America, I grew up singing, "red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight" and being taught that God "is no respecter of persons" and that "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Yet, I learned those things at church, where the only black face ever seen was that of the custodian who was there throughout the week and seen only briefly by the staff.
Racism is not new, but it's expressions are ever-changing. The fact that in the last two elections for the highest office in our land, the choices placed before us by the two major parties have been men of two totally different color. Mind you, I am not writing about politics. I'm writing about racism. But, these elections have served as an opportunity to lance a boil and bring what has been there all along to the surface. Let me say this, when President Obama was elected, I did not agree with his politics, but found myself finding solace in the fact that my country could and did elect a person of color to the highest position in the land. Honestly, that made me proud.
However, that pride was short-lived. What quickly replaced it was, "If you don't agree with this or that, you're a racist". What happened to gentile disagreement and debate of issues? If I don't want government-run healthcare, I'm a racist? If I disagree with a foreign policy, I'm a racist? I could go on, but time is short.
Bottom Line time: If you are white, and you vote for a person based on the fact that this person is white, you are a racist....period. In the same way, if you are black and vote for a person based on the fact they are black, you, too, are a racist...period. Feel free to insert any and all colors into that scenario. They all fit.
Dr. Martin Luther King, a man I happen to respect greatly, had a dream that there would come a day when all people "will be judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character". I'm so sorry Dr. King, that day hasn't come yet. I too, dream of a day we choose candidates based on their competence and their character, not their color.
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