{"id":41174,"date":"2025-03-13T19:46:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T02:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41174"},"modified":"2025-03-13T19:46:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T02:46:22","slug":"character-over-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/character-over-color\/","title":{"rendered":"Character over Color"},"content":{"rendered":"

What I believe about race and why. <\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was in elementary school the first time I saw children whose skin was much darker than mine I questioned my mother about it. She responded by telling me that skin color was God\u2019s gift to help people whose generations of ancestors spent thousands of years living close to the equator. Those ancestors needed protection for their skin from burning by the intense rays of the sun. Moving away from the equator people had lighter skin so that their skin could absorb as much sunlight as possible because the sun does not shine as directly or long farther away from the equator. Her response was simple, and my na\u00efve 3rd<\/sup> grade brain accepted it and went about my life oblivious to how the world was treating people differently based on race.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to high school and life was different. It was the 70s with \u00a0the Temptations and Supremes at the height of popularity, and it seemed my school rocked to their rhythm. Race riots were not as prevalent as they were in the 60s but they still happened. Ultimately during a basketball game, tensions rose and rioting prevailed. For the next two years, between the unrest and drug busts, police presence in the school became the norm.<\/p>\n

As an adult I know there is evil in the world that may be here until Jesus returns. The history of my country and many others around the world includes enslavement, killing, and generally disrespecting those who are not a mirror image of themselves. Friends and family members of mine have been stopped by police for speeding when other cars have been whizzing around them or driving into their lovely neighborhood to be questioned about why they are there. These friends and family were not arrested because they did nothing wrong. However, they call it driving while black. \u00a0Today racial tensions seem to be on the rise and it is sad and scary.<\/p>\n

I found it difficult to fit the subtopics assigned for this blog to The End of Race Politics <\/strong>by Coleman Hughes. It wasn\u2019t that I agreed or disagreed with him prior to reading the book, I had not heard of the concept to form an opinion. \u00a0Hughes\u2019 dream was that society would revert back to the ideals of Martin Luther King and Fredrick Douglas. These giants of history worked for a society that would be strong because it was committed to building unity rather than division. It was based on the character of individual, not the color of their skin[1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hughes proposed a colorblind America where people are treated without regard to their race in public policy and in their private lives[2]<\/a>. As an example, if someone was applying for a job, anything that revealed the ethnicity or race of an applicant would be redacted from dossiers so that employers would choose candidates based solely on the strength of the applicants related to position requirements. At the same time, Hughes suggests that support be increased to help children in schools who may be disadvantaged economically or situationally, so that they could<\/em> compete at a higher level. He also recognized that no one is completely colorblind, yet a person\u2019s character and wellbeing is not about the color of their skin[3]<\/a>. One technique that I found interesting was Hughes\u2019 recommendation for traffic cameras. Taking out the human bias would move ticketing toward colorblindness[4]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coleman Hughes has his share of critics. A movement that has gained traction is called neoracism. Neoracism is an ideology that wants distinct racial grouping that they believe are necessary for a just society. The categories carry many stereotypes about the thoughts and beliefs of people who are black and those who are white. The hard part is that racism depersonalizes people[5]<\/a>. \u00a0Both white supremacists and neoracists are both committed to race supremacy, just from different perspectives. Both deny that all races are equal and that everyone deserves to be treated fairly[6]<\/a>. One of the interesting things to me was that Hughes cited the decline of Christianity of leaving a void that was commonly held; the unity of all in Christ[7]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jacksonville, FL has a mixed reputation surrounding race. Some horrible things have happened in this city. Yet, some good things happen as well. An organization called 904WARD invites individuals, churches and civic groups to participate in creating an environment where racial healing can occur by developing relationships in a multicultural environment[8]<\/a>. \u00a0This movement is grounded in building trusting relationships with others where people can recognize differences but work toward understanding. Time and again in our readings the importance of relationships emerges. There are library shelves full of books that focus on relational leadership. I personally have those shelves. One I like is RARE Leadership.<\/em> Its discussion of being relational rather than defensive and argumentative demonstrated a core component needed for healthy conflict resolution[9]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As I close this, my sadness is that as long as there are human beings, there will be discrimination where people in power decide who is less than <\/em>others. Yet, I pray that the life I live exemplifies my strong conviction that creator God made each person in God\u2019s image and likeness and loves everyone. My simplistic 3rd<\/sup> grade mind still doesn\u2019t understand why Jesus doesn\u2019t come back and toss everyone sinful out of the temple like he did with the money changers. But then I guess I\u2019d \u00a0get tossed out too.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Coleman Hughes, The End of Race Politics, Arguments for a Colorblind America<\/em> (New York, NY., Penguin Random House, 2024), 25.<\/p>\n

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

[3]<\/a> Hughes, 15.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Colman Hughes, \u201cA Case for Color Blindness\u201d TED Talk<\/em>, August 9, 2023. https:\/\/www.bing.com\/videos\/riverview\/relatedvideo?&q=coleman+hughes+ted+talk&&mid=AB18C71E2895EACEC7B9AB18C71E2895EACEC7B9&&FORM=VRDGAR<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Hughes, 22.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Hughes, 33.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Hughes, 91.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> 904WARD is a nonprofit organization in Jacksonville, FL that was founded in 2015 to create racial healing through trusting relationships and deep conversations. 904ward.org.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Marcus Warner, and Jim Wilder, Rare Leadership, 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2016), 123,124.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What I believe about race and why. When I was in elementary school the first time I saw children whose skin was much darker than mine I questioned my mother about it. She responded by telling me that skin color was God\u2019s gift to help people whose generations of ancestors spent thousands of years living […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"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-41174","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\/41174","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\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41174"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41176,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41174\/revisions\/41176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}