Diversity to the Glory of God
Summary of My Most Deeply Held Convictions Before the Reading
I have had a core belief that God values diversity because it is in this diversity that the fullness of the body of Christ exists. In total, we make up the image of God, and if we were all identical, we’d be missing out on the fullness of God. In global missions, we often think of linguistic and cultural diversity as barriers to accomplishing the work of God, but Dr. Paul Frank argues that God did not confuse the languages in Babel as a curse, but rather as a course correction:
Did stubborn people frustrate the true purposes of God on the plain of Shinar, forcing God to confuse their languages? There on that plain, people were stubborn. They did stand against the purposes of God. God did confuse their languages. But we’re mistaken if we conclude the diversity of languages and peoples that resulted was contrary to the eternal purposes of God…The scene that the Apostle John saw around the throne of God was what God intended from before the creation of the world. Without the diversity of nations, tribes, peoples, and languages, God’s purposes are hindered, not helped. [1]
Main Observations from the Reading and Related Works
In his book, The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America, atheist Coleman Hughes argues that we ought to rethink the emphasis we put on race and instead “treat people without regard to race, both in our public policy and in our private lives”. [2] Hughes believes that race is neutral, neither inherently good or bad, so we have overly emphasized race in our culture. He also explores the neoracist movement and explains how this is in opposition to the colorblind principle. Hughes criticizes Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility: Why It’s so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism, in her neoracism and aspiration to be ‘less white’. [3]
In an interview with Michael Shermer, Hughes gave an excellent example of neoracism from his experience at Columbia University:
There was no doubt from my time at Columbia that the more victim cards you had, the higher your social status was. So if you were a white male and you didn’t come from poverty, you had zero victim cards. So we used to joke that you better figure out some kind of skill, or you better be funny, or else no one had much reason to admire or to pay attention to you…a lot of kids that didn’t have an identifiable victim card such as your race, would reach for the queer label…a lot of people had no cards to play in order to be seen as cool…so it became very easy for people to reach for low-cost identities that allowed you to buy in to friend groups and higher status positions in the local pecking order. [4]
When I was with my DLGP cohort in Washington D.C., one of my classmates shared that as a white male, he is often accused of being the “perpetrator” by non-whites and females. This is where the Holy Spirit revealed to me that in creating a space of safety, we have removed that sense of safety for our white-male classmates. Painfully, I acknowledged that this was true and made a commitment to myself, the Lord, and my classmates that I would be a part of changing this reality.
How My Beliefs Have Been Affirmed and Challenged by the Reading
I thoroughly enjoyed this week’s reading and found it to be incredibly insightful. In some ways, it affirmed what I already knew but didn’t have language for. For some time, I have been sensing neoracism and found it to be uncomfortable, but I haven’t felt like I have the permission to say anything about it. As a female, I have experienced the struggle in corporate environments of feeling like I’m always swimming upstream. But I have also experienced preferential treatment because of my gender, and that has felt uncomfortable in a different way. I don’t want to be overlooked because of my gender, but I also want to be given any position that I haven’t earned. Just a few days ago, I reminded one of my kids that it’s not wrong to be ‘white’. God made white people just like he made Asians and Africans. In this neoracism, there is a growing sense of shame in having white skin. Reading The End of Race Politics gave me a vocabulary (and permission) to name what I have been seeing.
As I read Hughes, I wondered if racial inequality is a wicked problem and if Hughes is offering a simplistic solution to a very complex problem. I believe that Hughes rightfully calls out an overcorrection to inequality, but I simultaneously find it challenging to believe that the solutions are so simple.
References:
[1] Frank, Paul. “The Glory of God Through the Peoples and Languages of the Earth,” n.d.
[2] Hughes, Coleman. The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America. New York: Thesis,
2024.
[3] DiAngelo, Robin. White Fragility: Why It’s so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. London: Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books, 2019.
[4] The End of Race Politics (Coleman Hughes). The Michael Shermer Show, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–3I-rncEAk.
[5] A Case for Color Blindness | Coleman Hughes | TED, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxB3b7fxMEA.
About the Author
Christy
7 responses to “Diversity to the Glory of God”
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Thanks, Christy. I agree that the solution he offers seems oversimplified. Wha other solutions might be offered?
Hi Graham, it’s a complex (probably wicked) problem, isn’t it? While I don’t think that neoracism is appropriate, I also don’t think we can ignore the racism toward people of color that still exists today. It doesn’t have to be binary, and we need to acknowledge that both evils can exist side-by-side.
Christy,
I concur that the solutions are very oversimplified, or as I wrote, painted with a broad brush. I also have started to feel like there is much to the argument of the Tower of Babel that you write in the beginning. I forget where I initially heard the argument for it but it seems to make more logical sense to me.
I also agree that Hughes gave some terminology and permission to push back against the DiAngelo’s and Hendi’s of the world. Is there a specific way in which you felt Hughes was overly simplistic?
Hi Adam – I just think it’s important to still acknowledge the racism that happens towards people of color and minorities. Yes neoracism exists, and is bad, but it hasn’t completely replaced old racism. Unfortunately, they seem to be able to co-exist.
Hi Christy,
In your opinion, how does Hughes’ argument for a colorblind approach to race contrast with Robin DiAngelo’s perspective in “White Fragility”?
I think the essence of the problem with DiAngelo, is that she argues that white people should be ‘less white’. In doing this, she is generalizing what it means to be white. What does that even mean? There is so much diversity amongst white people so it seems foolish lump them altogether.
Hi Christy, Thank you for your post and for sharing Dr. Paul Frank’s insights. It’s a powerful reminder that God is never limited by circumstances—even those we might label as ‘wicked problems.’ I also appreciated your reference to Hughes’ experience at Columbia University and the significance of ‘carrying your victim cards.’ As someone of Japanese heritage, have you ever felt pressure to lean into a victim narrative? If you’d rather not answer in this space, please don’t feel any pressure.