What color do you see?
Before reading The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America, I understood “race” as categorizing specific features held by a group of people. These features can be physical signs such as skin color, body shape, or specific cultural behaviors. Growing up, I was taught that races came about at the Tower of Babel when humanity was divided and thus immigrated by language division. As a medical provider, race influences one’s physical predisposition to health challenges. Racial divisions in society cause healthcare disparities, which impact racial morbidity and mortality rates. Our human hearts are wicked.[1] This wickedness is seen throughout history. People divide humankind into lesser and greater groups based on physical characteristics and features. Skin color, ethnicity, and intellectual abilities are just a few of the divisions that society has used to marginalize and mistreat others.
My upbringing first influenced my beliefs on race in the countryside of central Pennsylvania in a white middle-class community. I had little exposure to people who were different than me. While studying and practicing nursing as a young adult, I had more contact with other ethnicities and took my first cross-cultural international trips. Since 2013, I have been living as a minority in North Africa. I am one of two Christians in my Muslim neighborhood. We are also the only two Caucasians. Our American citizenship automatically puts us in a higher socio-economic status in this community-driven society where the wealthy are expected to help those of less means. Daily, my race puts me in a category that is different from those around me.
My current conviction on race is that God designed and created each person uniquely. Galatians 3:28 speaks to the lack of division in the Kingdom of God: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” I also believe that we have different features based on gender, genetics, and traditions. These should be celebrated as they are God-given. With these differences also come special, unique challenges. My light blue eyes mean that I am photophobic in bright sunlight. My pale skin will quickly burn and blister if exposed to too much sunlight. My African neighbors have genetic and dietary predispositions to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Coleman Hughes affirmed my understanding of race as neither completely socially defined nor fully genetically driven. End of Race Politics defines race as a “social construct inspired by a natural phenomenon.”[2] Hughes addresses humankind’s migration and the clustering of genetics and physical diversity we now have.[3]Hughes believes that the difficulty of having clear-cut lines regarding racial divisions makes race-based policies impossible to implement.[4] In addressing the racial discord in America, Hughes’ argues that society must adopt the principle of colorblindness. This principle is “we should treat people without regard to race, both in our public policy and in our private lives.”[5] Hughes believes that categorizing and labeling people diminishes them from being individuals to just being part of their group’s characteristics.[6] Hughes calls for leaders to combat racism by using colorblind principles and systems to help eliminate biases of race in decision-making.[7]
I agree that applying colorblind principles minimizes labels and stigmas. However, my beliefs are also challenged here. Using colorblind systems and being deliberate in removing all racial connotations in decision-making, policy writing, and relational interactions also risks removing personal experiences concerning race. Hughes’s approach felt void of empathy and looking at individual narratives. Perhaps this comes from Hughes’s beliefs as an atheist.[8] A Christian leader, Brett Fuller, addresses similar race issues in his book Dreaming in Black and White. He wrote his book “to help the black reader build a bridge to the white, and visa versa.”[9] A major difference between their writings is Fuller’s emphasis on the need for reconciliation before true racial transformation can occur in society. Fuller states, “We [black people] see reality through a different lens than our white friends, and this difference is what our history has left us, has done in us, has made us to be.”[10] I believe that before being colorblind, we must first recognize that there are black-and-white experiences.
One day, I hope we can see society embracing colorblind principles. In the meantime, I want to recognize that there are still many black-and-white experiences happening in our world. My host country has a long history of racial divides and division. On Tuesday, a friend of mine did not come to my house as planned but instead fled to the border of Senegal. She left out of fear of being mistreated due to her race. I am a white American. I will never experience what she went through. I can apply Fuller’s reconciliation principles to our friendship and say, “I feel your pain. I’m sorry. How can I help?”[11] Perhaps to her, our racial differences will feel less divided, a bit more colorblind, and she will know she is seen as the beautiful, colorful person God designed her to be.
[1] Jeremiah 17:9.
[2] Coleman Hughes, The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America (New York, NY: Thesis, 2024), 4.
[3] Hughes, 5.
[4] Hughes, 5-6.
[5] Hughes, 19.
[6] Hughes, 21.
[7] Hughes, 159.
[8] Sean McDowell, “A Christian and an Atheist Talk about God and Race with Coleman Hughes,” accessed March 13, 2025, https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2023/bonus-a-christian-and-an-atheist-talk-about-god-and-race.
[9] Brett Fuller, Dreaming in Black and White, Kindle ed. (United States: BookBaby, 2021), 18.
[10] Fuller, 77.
[11] Fuller, 141-142.
About the Author
Kari
Kari is a passionate follower of Jesus. Her journey with Him currently has her living in the Sahara in North Africa. With over a decade of experience as a family nurse practitioner and living cross-culturally, she enjoys being a champion for others. She combines her cross-cultural experience, her health care profession, and her skills in coaching to encourage holistic health and growth. She desires to see each person she encounters walk in fullness of joy, fulfilling their God-designed purpose. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12 ESV10 responses to “What color do you see?”
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Kari
I appreciate your post, I wondered what your experience has been in Africa. As a medical professional, we know that unfortunately race has impacted how a patient is treated. Given what you said ” My African neighbors have genetic and dietary predispositions to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases,” how realistic is it for medical professionals to NOT consider race when working with a patient?
Jeff, “How realistic is it for medical professionals to NOT consider race when working with a patient?” If I want to “do no harm” and treat each patient to the best of my ability, I cannot see them through a colorblind perspective! Demographics such as ethnicity, gender, and age are all vital aspects of medical history and risk factors for diagnoses. It would be unloving and neglectful to treat my patients as if they were all the same. That said, I do want to treat them with the utmost respect as people in God’s image.
Kari,
Thanks for confirming what I believed to be true. It’s nice to be affirmed by an active health professional.
Kari, you are having such an interesting life! You have far more perspective on these things than I do.
You mention Brett Fuller’s emphasis on reconciliation as a prerequisite for racial transformation. What specific steps do you think individuals and communities can take to foster reconciliation before moving towards a colorblind perspective?
Debbie, I think individuals and communities can put into practice Brett Fullers’ three phrases:
I feel your pain. Look for opportunities to make safe spaces for empathetic listening.
I’m sorry. Sit with them in their pain. Do not give solutions, answers, or share you own stories.
How can I help? Be ready to respond to this question. Take action and show you are someone who will follow through.
Hi Kari, thank you for sharing your personal experience and challenges with the book. You mentioned that you grew up in a predominantly white context, but now you live in a completely different context. When you look back on your life, what events or circumstances prepared you to go from the majority culture and race to the minority?
Christy, Your question triggered a memory I often return to when addressing this topic. When I was eight, an African American family took swimming lessons with us. My mom (who grew up in that area) commented that it was unusual to see a black family in our area. She said she wanted us to be intentional about showing them kindness in case they were not well received by others. I was shocked that anyone would treat someone differently just because of skin color. My grandfather used a lot of racial terms in reference to people of other nationalities or ethnicities. Even as a young person, I was appalled by his vocabulary choice; but even more disturbed by the apathetic responses of the other (adult) listeners. These are two incidences that God used to prepare me to have the courage to step into a place where I would be different.
Kari,
This is a great thought: “I believe that before being colorblind, we must first recognize that there are black-and-white experiences.” I think it helps state what I was thinking and couldn’t find the right words for. We do need to understand our history and I agree that Hughes took a less than empathetic response. I do think that is atheistic worldview helps shape the narrative that he is painting. I am sure that it is hard to determine specifically racial incidents in your location due to your gender and also your Christian difference. Everything about you stands out as different in your location.
Thanks for your comment, Adam. You’re right, everything does stand out. I see similar muddled experiences for my African friends who are discriminated against. Racism is not clearly defined.
Hi Kari, I appreciate your awareness that you are a minority but as a white American, and perhaps as a health professional, you are seen differently. Do you ever find that when you use the phrases from Brett Fuller that someone discards them negatively towards you, and if so, what do you do with that?