{"id":36193,"date":"2024-02-28T13:17:36","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T21:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36193"},"modified":"2024-02-28T13:17:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T21:17:36","slug":"mirroring-more-of-the-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/mirroring-more-of-the-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Mirroring More of the One"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is not racial differences that have led to unequal treatment but the persistence of social inequalities in societies with a commitment to equality that has led many to view such inequalities as eradicable, and hence natural, and to place people into different racial categories. Race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth to race.\u201d [1]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The term \u201crace,\u201d used infrequently before the 1500s, was used to identify groups of people with a kinship or group connection. The modern-day use of the term \u201crace\u201d is a human invention. [2]\u00a0 As I think about the idea of racism giving birth to race and the evolution of the concept of race, as we understand it today and presented in this week\u2019s text, I have more background into the categorization of people that became a justification for European colonization.\u00a0 Sadly, when I think about the categorization of people, I realize that this isn\u2019t something new.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why do people put others into categories in the first place?\u00a0 I remember in high school hearing people refer to others as \u201cscum of the earth\u201d (not because of race but social class) and I would cringe. Determining a person\u2019s value based on whether or not the person wore, at that time, Guess jeans or had the coolest Swatch watch, was a regular thing.\u00a0 For those of us who started life in an impoverished family, we just didn\u2019t seem to make it into the \u201ccool\u201d category because we didn\u2019t have the \u201cthings\u201d. \u00a0 I grew up in the Chicago area.\u00a0 I attended a very large elementary school and middle school.\u00a0 My family was a low income family that scraped by on government commodities (cheese, powdered milk, etc.), food stamps, collected pop cans for $, shopped at Salvation Army and were the recipients of numerous handouts, blessings in disguise. My closest friends were African-American, Korean-American, and Yugoslavian-American.\u00a0 At that time, I didn\u2019t see our differences.\u00a0 I just saw friends.\u00a0 Is that color-blindness?\u00a0 Now I live in a primarily African-American, Arab-American neighborhood.\u00a0 We enjoy talks in the yard, meals together, and the sharing of our resources (garden\/yard tools, etc.).\u00a0 In a recent conversation with one of my friends, who is black, she shared her frustration about the whole thing.\u00a0 From her point of view all of the attention was making things worse. Would that be like racism giving birth to race? In a book I read titled How to Be an Antiracist<\/em> by Ibram X. Kendi, he proposes that racist is not the worst word in the English language, but rather it is descriptive, and the only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it to then dismantle it.\u00a0 [3]<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone categorizes other people, whether it be by the cars they driven, the toys they own or don\u2019t own, the vacations they enjoy, the house they live in, and on and on.\u00a0 Author and journalist Kenan Malik proposes that it is not racial differences that have led to unequal treatment but the persistence of social inequalities in societies with a commitment to equality that has led many to place people into different racial categories. [4]<\/span><\/p>\n

Yascha Mounk, in the book, <\/span>The Identity Trap<\/span><\/i>, also speaks about the persistence of social inequalities noting that many people have a difficult start in life because they suffer from entrenched disadvantages. He says, \u201cif you grow up in an impoverished neighborhood that has high crime and terrible schools, you deserve special assistance to ensure you have a fair shot at succeeding in life.\u201d He suggests that we need ambitious public policies to create genuine equality of opportunity and make sure that every citizen who is able to make a genuine contribution to society can lead a good life. [5]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s text, <\/span>Not So Black and White <\/span><\/i>by Kenan Malik, shares some of the complexities of contemporary debates surrounding race and identity. Malik challenges simplistic narratives and explores the nuanced nature of racial discourse, dissecting the ways in which discussions on race often become polarized. Through examination of largely Western historical context, scientific evidence, and personal narratives, the author questions the prevailing ideologies that oversimplify the understanding of racial issues. He puts contemporary issues into a broader historical frame of where we are and how we got there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Malik argues against both color-blindness and racial essentialism, urging readers to navigate the middle ground that acknowledges the significance of race while rejecting deterministic views. The book shows how race is not simply a description of particular groups of people, but also \u201ca lens through which many themes of modernity have been brought into focus, equality and inequality, the nature of class and class politics, the social function of science, the meaning of radicalism, the character of capitalism and the possibilities of social transformation.\u201d [6]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, <\/span>Not So Black and White<\/span><\/i> advocates for open and honest conversations about race, acknowledging the complexity of human identity and the fluidity of racial categories. Malik encourages readers to critically engage with the subject matter, challenging preconceived notions and fostering a more inclusive dialogue. Ultimately, the book serves as a call to embrace the ambiguity of racial issues and move to fostering a more comprehensive understanding of the intricate dynamics that shape our perceptions of race.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are so many intricate dynamics to reflect on, confess, and surrender over to the One whose workmanship we each mirror.\u00a0 When I think about Jesus, reading the stories of how he loved others, I am challenged to open the book of my mind and heart invite the Spirit to \u201csearch me and point out anything that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.\u201d[7]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[1] <\/span>Malik, Kenan, <\/span>Not So Black and White:\u00a0 A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics.<\/span><\/i> (London:\u00a0 C. Hurst & Co., 2023), 13.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] National Museum of African American History and Culture; <\/span>https:\/\/nmaahc.si.edu\/learn\/talking-about-race\/topics\/historical-foundations-race<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[3]Kendi, Ibram X. <\/span>How to Be An Antiracist.<\/span><\/i> (New York:\u00a0 One World, 2019), 9.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] Malik, Kenan, <\/span>Not So Black and White:\u00a0 A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics.<\/span><\/i> (London:\u00a0 C. Hurst & Co., 2023), 13.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Mounk, Yascha,<\/span> The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time.<\/span><\/i> (New York: Penguin Press, 2023), 214.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Malik, Kenan, <\/span>Not So Black and White:\u00a0 A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics.<\/span><\/i> (London:\u00a0 C. Hurst & Co., 2023), 7.<\/span><\/p>\n

[7] Psalms 139:24, NLT<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is not racial differences that have led to unequal treatment but the persistence of social inequalities in societies with a commitment to equality that has led many to view such inequalities as eradicable, and hence natural, and to place people into different racial categories. Race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2489,3049],"class_list":["post-36193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-malik","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36195,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36193\/revisions\/36195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}