Race?

Being one of few white people in a black neighborhood of a midsize post-industrial US city brings a unique perspective to our current national discussion of race. Some people are asking: are we in a post-racial environment? My answer: absolutely not, but we're moving in that direction.

Just like post-modernism, the post-racial movement has created some pendulum responses. Just like post-modernism also incorporates the fundamentalist responses to the modern world, post-racialism will soon be seen as also encompassing the re-racialization of many of our communities and institutions. There is an increasing number of multi-racial people in this country, and as they grow older, they will have a lot to do with how we see race, culture and ethnicity. Especially with the enormous rise in the latino/a population, which we acknowledge as an ethnicity independent of race, we'll be challenged to see culture connected more to language and family than skin tone, and this will be very difficult to accept for people entrenched in the dichotomy of black/white. Then there are the "non-entrenched" people...people who view racial and ethnic diversity not as a way to stratify society, but as a fundamental strength of our society to be valued and encouraged. They refuse to see race as an excuse or reason for social class or economic status, and are often the people who are creating the multi-racial babies. The third direction of the pendulum swing are the re-entrenched generation, including the 6 year old on our street who obstinately stood in the middle of street when Evan tried to slowly drive past a basketball game. This small child said, "I'm not moving for no white boy." White boy. From a 6 year old to a polite stranger...

Let's face it: people are people and hate is hate. The black pride movement did a great service for many people to see black culture and people as beautiful and valuable. But then there are the Jesse Jacksons of the world who think that any criticism of black culture or people is backsliding on all their hard earned progress. Desegregation of black neighborhoods is seen by many as a threat to black power. This attitude of black supremacy is just the flip side of internalized racism. It's like the femi-nazis that try to support women by excluding and defaming men. While I proudly consider myself a feminist, I am equally frustrated when my husband is not seen as an equal parent by Babies-R-Us, etc. Maybe I should say it this way: when women are oppressed, I'm a feminist. When men are marginalized, then I'm a masculinist. Same with race.

The heart of what I'm trying to say is that the time is finally arriving when many people of color are representing not only their own communities, but all communities in their constituencies. THIS is what folks in the 60s worked so hard for. Stephanie Tubbs Jones is an excellent Congresswomen, representing not only the black community but ALL of her constituents. Barack Obama is a candidate to represent all US citizens. The goal of the Civil Rights movement was not to advance only black people, but also Catholics, Jews, poor people of all backgrounds, and many other excluded groups in US society. It rested on the conviction that all of us deserve a voice in our government and have rights as human beings. This is not only the goal of our US government, but also of the church of Christ. If a person is only interested in the advancement of their own race, ethnicity, neighborhood, or family then they are opposing the kingdom of God that should be the goal of the community of Christ. Only until all people are seen as inherently valuable children of God, then we can't have true diversity and we can't truly be the body of Christ. And that is the reality that Evan and I are here to witness: that in truth ALL people ARE valued by God and we are merely realizing that in the human sphere.