Re-centering My Inner Pendulum
An acquaintance recently shared that she left a mutual group because it was too white. Her perspective was that it was a “sea of white faces.” I experienced the same group as wonderfully diverse. I thought the group looked less like me than the typical Oregon demographic. At over 30% non-white, it was easily twice as diverse as the average population in Oregon.[1] I became uncomfortable when she began talking about pseudo-allyship and how she wasn’t going to stay and do everyone else’s work for them. I felt she was making some broad assumptions without evidence, but I remained silent. Because I am white, I assumed my opinion was unwelcome and would be proof that her characterizations were accurate about me, too.
What I believe and why
People are different colors. That is obvious. My daughter once made a friend on a cross-country flight and excitedly told me she looked like chocolate. At four years old, she noted a physical difference but was yet untainted by the sin that causes humanity to assign value based on appearances. She just had a friend.
[1] https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/OR/PST045224
Humans need to classify everything to make sense of the world, and noticing different “colors” is an easy way to sort. Race is an assignation of a group identity based on visible physical characteristics. These assigned groups roughly correlate with the assumed geography of people’s ancestors. What makes sorting by “race” unhelpful is that it places differences above similarities. Worse, the human heart bent towards sin, attributes blanket character assessments and hierarchical designations based on “race”, becoming “racism” that overlooks individual humans. I believe these things because I believe the story of God as revealed in the Bible.
Humanity is created in the image of God. God does not judge based on outward appearance, but on the condition of the human heart, and from the heart, the character of a person flows. (1 Sa 16:7, Pr 4:23) The reality of sin has caused people to compare themselves and seek hierarchy, as seen in examples like Cain and Abel (Ge 4:8-9) and Israel’s desire for a king (1 Sa 4:19). People clamor for places of honor and importance which necessarily means putting others down (Lu 14:7-11).
When Jesus comes again and makes everything new, our new hearts will be fully cleansed, and race distinctions will no longer have a foothold in our hearts. (Rv 7:9) We will again be like small children who can celebrate differences but do not make character judgments based on them. In the meantime, Jesus-followers are to strive for his Kingdom ideal. (Ga 3:28)
Until that day, judgment based on color continues to impact how people are treated. I naively used to believe that racism (in the United States) was a Southern thing, a vestige of the Civil War. While researching a project in 2012, I realized racism still exists nationwide. Besides outright bigotry, people often have prejudice or bias without full awareness.
Lately, I feel pressured to know and say the right things. After the conversation in the opening anecdote, I felt sad because my fear of being wrong-footed highlighted a divide that I thought didn’t matter because of how much we had in common (including the group’s original purpose.) Who closed the door of friendship? Was it my acquaintance who seemed to lump me in with the sea of white faces, or was it me who accepted that our differences were more important than our common humanity? Coleman Hughes might say that we are both victims of a neoracist mindset.
Affirmed and Challenged
Reading The End of Race Politics by Coleman Hughes affirmed my beliefs about race. It helped me understand why I have felt both fearful and ashamed to participate in any conversation about race. His assertion that neoracism masquerades as anti-racism but promotes racism by giving intentional preferment to people of color and silencing white people in the conversation challenged the attitudes I have adopted in the last 10-15 years.
Hughes’ argues that the US should return to the “colorblind” ideals of abolition and civil rights leaders like Frederick Douglass and Dr. King.[1] Being “colorblind” is not to say that we don’t see color but that we refuse to use color as a reason to treat people differently. Being colorblind in the manner he describes does not allow color (race) to influence hiring, matriculation, or public policy decisions.[2] If we want to help more people achieve the aims of human flourishing, policy is better focused on the socio-economic status of individuals and communities than race.[3]
Hughes calls out the perniciousness of categorizing by race by noting it is a “social construct inspired by a natural phenomenon.”[4] He agrees with Kahneman that humans categorize things to make sense of the world. Our thinking brains can’t help but notice patterns.[5] Hughes describes humanity’s tribal instinct as the “hardware” that can be mitigated or amplified by the “software” of our cultural attitudes.[6] Among the amplified voices shaping our current attitudes is Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility.
Cited frequently by Hughes, his distillation of her work confirmed that her views have shaped me. According to Hughes, she would affirm my choice not to push back or argue with my acquaintance mentioned above but to somehow stay engaged while not expressing an opinion. My conclusion was the same as Hughes’: silently going along is not the basis of a healthy relationship.[7] I was both challenged and relieved by Hughes’ challenge of her assumptions and his claim that her arguments are based on racial stereotyping of white people. I was challenged because I have adopted much of the current thinking about race and policy as my own. I feel relieved because sometimes it feels like wearing clothes that don’t fit. I feel rebalanced internally, but I am uncertain how that might shape my actions moving forward.
When my daughter noticed her friend was chocolate-colored, the other mom and I laughed together. Today, 20 years later, would we…could we…still do the same?
[1] Coleman Hughes, The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America, (New York: Thesis, 2024), 46.
[2] Hughes, The End of Race Politics, 20.
[3] Hughes, The End of Race Politics, 12.
[4] Hughes, The End of Race Politics, 3.
[5] Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. 1st pbk. ed. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013), 105.
[6] Hughes, The End of Race Politics, 25.
[7] Hughes, The End of Race Politics, xv.
About the Author
Julie O'Hara
12 responses to “Re-centering My Inner Pendulum”
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Julie, Thanks for sharing your wrestling with this topic. What is something you wish you could tell that acquaintance, unfiltered, about your learnings and thoughts on this topic?
Hi Kari, Thank you. “I’m sorry you didn’t give us a chance. Your life and your voice are important and you have a lot to contribute.” That is true but that’s kind of easy. Also this…
“It sounds like you think everyone in the group is completely clueless. You might be surprised about the level of empathy people have for you and your life experiences. If you gave them a chance. Another time, maybe you could adopt a strategy of finding a safe person to start with and widen your circle from there.”
And the last 2%…
“I feel mad to be included in the group you made so many assumptions about. I feel mischaracterized. I may not wear your color of skin, but I have done every possible thing to educate myself and read deeply into the history of this country as written and told by black voices. What was it for if I’m shut out of bridge building opportunities?”
Julie,
As I read your blog, I thought of Maya Angelou’s statement, “We are more alike than unalike.” It is one of my favorites.
You mentioned agreeing with Hughes that going along silently does not reflect a healthy relationship. What does that mean for you in the context of your ministry? How might that play out?
Hi Jennifer, Here are a couple of examples of using my platform to tackle from both sides.
1. Last fall I invited a very prominent nationally known powerful black preacher to speak to a few hundred of our leading pastors. (he is outside our denomination) His topic was evangelistic preaching, but he made sure that the 98% white room got a clear picture of Revelation 7:9. He challenged us not to be silent.
2. Currently, I am getting our material translated and developing bilingual leaders with the goal of bringing our work into more of our ethnic communities in the US and Canada. My long-term goal is that we are not appointing leaders based on their color or ethnicity, but that we have a pool of leaders which includes many qualified people of color and different cultural backgrounds.
Hi Julie, This is a hard topic and you touched on a number of the issues that will likely continue to be debated until Jesus returns. I am curious if the absence of the woman in the group changed the dynamics of the group, allowing for less judgemental interactions.
Hi Diane,
I’m not sure because she wasn’t there very long. I definitely sensed a level of defensiveness and guardedness from her at the outset. I suspect I would have held back a great deal if she were still there.
Hey Julie. First off, thanks for sharing the immobilizing impact of White Fragility. I have sat through DEI training that demonized me, and had to work it out as a manifestation of the pain that injustice had caused. As you concluded your post, you wrote “I feel rebalanced internally, but I am uncertain how that might shape my actions moving forward.“.
I was hoping you would circle back and tell us a bit more about how your lived-theology / theopraxis and Biblical framework are being impacted by these ideas?
Hi Joel,
Thank you for affirming what I said about being impacted by white fragility and DEI. I think my response to Jennifer above might also qualify as a good answer here. I will add this. I have also distanced myself from a woman with whom I serve in a denominational group. Anytime we are thinking about speakers or panelists or activities, etc. she discard anyone who is not of color or with a disability. And I don’t mean she quietly discard them. I mean she openly says well no we need to find someone who is black, Hispanic, disabled, etc. I choose not to be associated with her because her extreme perspective does not account for finding the best person for the task. Also being placed in her camp would take me out out of circles of influence where I can work for positive change.
Julie, many people today feel pressure to engage with race in ways that contradict their personal convictions, often out of fear of being misunderstood or labeled. How would you advise those who want to embrace a colorblind ethic while also navigating social spaces where race-conscious thinking is the norm? What practical steps can individuals take to foster meaningful conversations and relationships without compromising their principles?
Hi Chad, I had a similar conversation with my husband this week.
Over the past few years, he has made many arguments similar to those from Hughes but I mostly dismissed him because he is white. I’m sure that was so hurtful for him. On my side, I could have listened more and asked more and better questions to truly understand him. I also could have taken the time to watch or read some of the things he was looking at instead of assuming where it was coming from. For his part, he could have done a better job acknowledging the reality of bias and prejudice, (besides outright bigotry which I never questioned). It turns out he completely knows the pervasive existence of these harmful attitudes and is a righteous warrior in his own way. In the past, though, I couldn’t see it because he was leading with argument without acknowledgment. I appreciate having a conversation partner at home to practice with.
Hey Julie thanks for the sharing of your vulnerability in this societal matter. I appreciate you wrestling with the tension what is a positive takeaway you found in Hughes’s writing that could make readily applicable for you and your context.
Hi Daren, I don’t see opportunity to create ‘blind’ promotion etc. The space I can make impact the most is getting leadership training and development opportunities are accessible by all groups in USA/Canada. Even though we have intercultural global leadership, we still lean heavily white in this region.