{"id":41142,"date":"2025-03-13T05:37:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T12:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41142"},"modified":"2025-03-13T05:37:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T12:37:00","slug":"what-color-do-you-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/what-color-do-you-see\/","title":{"rendered":"What color do you see?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before reading The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America<\/em>, 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\u2019s 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]<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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: \u201cThere 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.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Coleman Hughes affirmed my understanding of race as neither completely socially defined nor fully genetically driven. End of Race Politics<\/em> defines race as a \u201csocial construct inspired by a natural phenomenon.\u201d[2]<\/a> Hughes addresses humankind’s migration and the clustering of genetics and physical diversity we now have.[3]<\/a>Hughes believes that the difficulty of having clear-cut lines regarding racial divisions makes race-based policies impossible to implement.[4]<\/a> In addressing the racial discord in America, Hughes\u2019 argues that society must adopt the principle of colorblindness<\/em>. This principle is \u201cwe should treat people without regard to race, both in our public policy and in our private lives.\u201d[5]<\/a> Hughes believes that categorizing and labeling people diminishes them from being individuals to just being part of their group\u2019s characteristics.[6]<\/a> Hughes calls for leaders to combat racism by using colorblind principles and systems to help eliminate biases of race in decision-making.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

I agree that applying colorblind principles minimizes labels and stigmas. However, my beliefs are also challenged here. Using colorblind s<\/em>ystems and being deliberate in removing all racial connotations in decision-making, policy writing, and relational interactions also risks removing personal experiences concerning race. Hughes\u2019s approach felt void of empathy and looking at individual narratives. Perhaps this comes from Hughes\u2019s beliefs as an atheist.[8]<\/a> A Christian leader, Brett Fuller, addresses similar race issues in his book Dreaming in Black and White. <\/em>He wrote his book \u201cto help the black reader build a bridge to the white, and visa versa.\u201d[9]<\/a> A major difference between their writings is Fuller\u2019s emphasis on the need for reconciliation before true racial transformation can occur in society. Fuller states, \u201cWe [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.\u201d[10]<\/a> \u00a0I believe that before being colorblind,<\/em> we must first recognize that there are black-and-white<\/em> experiences.<\/p>\n

One day, I hope we can see society embracing colorblind principles.<\/em> 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\u2019s reconciliation principles to our friendship and say, \u201cI feel your pain. I\u2019m sorry. How can I help?\u201d[11]<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Jeremiah 17:9.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Coleman Hughes, The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America<\/em> (New York, NY: Thesis, 2024), 4.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Hughes, 5.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Hughes, 5-6.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Hughes, 19.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Hughes, 21.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Hughes, 159.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Sean McDowell, \u201cA Christian and an Atheist Talk about God and Race with Coleman Hughes,\u201d accessed March 13, 2025, https:\/\/www.biola.edu\/blogs\/think-biblically\/2023\/bonus-a-christian-and-an-atheist-talk-about-god-and-race.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Brett Fuller, Dreaming in Black and White<\/em>, Kindle ed. (United States: BookBaby, 2021), 18.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Fuller, 77.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Fuller, 141-142.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[1],"tags":[2967,2843],"class_list":["post-41142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03","tag-hughes","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41142","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\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41143,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41142\/revisions\/41143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}