Come with me on a journey…You’ve either heard someone say these words or are the person who has said these words, “I don’t see color.” It’s usually white people saying this and its always in regards to them explaining that they aren’t prejudice. It’s usually someone describing how they raise their kids to love all people and how they have friends of every color or how it’s 2019 and we should all just accept each other. You see when they say this phrase it is coming from a good place and from a desire to be inclusive, loving and non-prejudice. I recognize this, but it still grates on my nerves and my mind because it is simply put…ignorant.
Because the truth is, we SHOULD see color!
God created color for a reason. We should see the different shades of skin, eye and hair color…Color is beautiful! Color can mean culture and to deny someone of their color can deny then of their history, of their story. Color makes us different and being different is wonderful. God loves diversity and the more we can understand and celebrate our rich and incredible differences the more wonderful and loving this world will be!
You see we all have a story and this story is rarely what preconceived stereotypes might be. Because color by no means determines culture and I think that is somewhere that we can often judge and misunderstand people. I’ve experienced that so personally in my own life because in Chicago I was the only white girl in my diverse elementary class, then in Africa I was the only white kid wherever my parents worked. Then I would come back to MO when my parents were fundraising and everyone was white and there was basically no people of color. And going from being in the minority to the majority was weird for me. Just because I looked like the people in MO, didn’t mean I had one thing in common with them or that we understood each other because our life experiences and culture were so different. You see skin color does not determine culture. I was a white American but my heart and what I valued most was in South Africa. My culture did not fit into any mold anywhere. My culture, my story was uniquely my own…sound familiar to you perhaps?
Then my sister Cecilia came into our family, the best thing that has ever happened to my family EVER, and that pronounced color in a new way to me. My sister is a perfect example that color does not determine culture. She is a black South African, raised by white Americans who grew up in SA, LA and MO. You see you can’t put people in a cultural box because of their color because you never know their story, but you also can’t discount their color because it affects every part of their life.
Believe me I notice when we walk into a place in Branson and Cecilia is the only person of color and people stare (as I glare back at them. I know not that Christ like but…). And I remember when she was a baby in Chicago and conversely people would glare at these white people with a black baby. And then even differently again, the way South Africans treat Cecilia differently then they do myself and my parents because of her color. But when she speaks with her American accent they treat her differently again and are generally VERY confused. Because the truth is we all see color. We are all influenced by the color of our skin in some way. The color of our skin makes our stories unique and multi layered.
So many people believe they don’t see color because the person who looks different from them, talks just like they do (sounds white) and their kids go to the same school and dress the same way etc. Color is easier to accept when the person appears to have a similar culture to you. And I’m not saying this is even a bad thing. But I am challenging the fact that even if someone acts just like you, we should not discount their color.
At the heart of this is a basic human struggle…We struggle understanding and embracing people that are different from us. So in some ways its easier to say we don’t see color because then it makes everyone just like us. And the less we’ve been exposed to different places and different people the less understanding and comfortability there will be. But if we believe in God and love people, we really can’t use this as an excuse. Because God LOVES diversity, God loves that none of his children fit into a man made box. The true beauty in life comes from noticing the color, the culture, the individual story of each and every person. We should see with our own eyes the beauty of color and then seek to uncover the story of that individual beautiful person.
I challenge you, don’t say, “I don’t see color”. See God’s creation for all that it is and climb out of your comfort zone and try to truly understand, value, celebrate and LOVE every aspect of a person.
I see color because I choose to see YOU.
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