This is the second essay for the course Race, Racism and Christian Identity I took at Regent College in Summer 2021. The course was taught by Dr Elizabeth Y Sung. You can see my critical book review for the course (on Colorblind by Meghan Burke) here.
For reference - I've kept wider spacing, and references can be found in footnotes at the bottom of the essay.
The first questions within the “Racial and Ethnic Autobiographical Sketch” are around my heritage and ethnic matters discussed within my close family. Revisiting these questions after the course and my readings as a result of this course, some parts have not changed.
My knowledge concerning the ethnicity and national origins of my family going back generations is unchanged. I have not learned more of the personal history of my family. However, this course has challenged me to consider digging a little deeper and trying to discover my ancestors. Seeing the DeWolf family make a pilgrimage to truly understand their family’s role in slavery[1] has given me a desire to trace my family history. Reading about restorative justice in The Little Book of Racial Healing: Coming to the Table for Truth-Telling, Liberation, and Transformation by Thomas Norman DeWolf and Jodie Geddes appears clear to me that in order to move towards restoration, the trauma needs to be acknowledged by both parties. I currently do not know if my ancestors caused racial trauma, and although ignorance is bliss it does not lead to healing for either party.
On the matter of conversations with parents and grandparents, this is again an area that currently is unchanged. However, based on the conclusion of the book Colorblind Racism, which was the focus of the critical book review, Meghan Burke tells us “[w]e simply must insist that things change – in our families, in our friendship circles, in our schools and neighborhoods, in our governmental and workplace policies and practices, and more.”[2] This is a direct call to change how we as individuals interact with our family and beyond. Although I have not participated in a ‘top down’ conversation about race with my parents, I feel challenged to invert that and make it a discussion topic that we regularly share.
I still have not had experience crossing ethnocultural or national social boundaries. If I probe deeply and honestly, I have felt reticence and fear in doing so, and from what I have understood from my reading and the lectures, this is colorblind racism in culture, media and laws, telling me that the ‘ethnic other’ is to be feared. This is clearly not true, according to DeWolf and Geddes “black people make up roughly 14 percent of the US population, but 34 percent of those incarcerated. Black people are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of white people.”[3] Although this is a US figure, I was brought up with American media in my home reflecting US society. UK figures are not far different – a British news article published in 2017 shows “People from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds make up 25% of the prison population in England and Wales and 41% of the youth justice system, despite these groups being 14% of the general population”[4] DeWolf and Geddes suggest that “[t]his is not simply about discrimination but about the way multiple forms of oppression and power affect black bodies.”[5]
I am a product of colorblind racism, however now I am aware of it, I can choose to challenge my views and ways of thinking to make a choice to be antiracist instead. In my pre-course answers, I said I wanted to be a better ally to the BAME community. With this course and the readings I have undertaken, I feel I am on the right course to that goal. I will continue with my reading, learning and self-improvement to continue to be the best ally I can be – in doing this I will make mistakes, but the practice of trial and error is important, as it is a journey to improve.
The question of wishing I could exchange my ethnic and “racial” ancestry – my original answer remains unchanged. The BAME community have suffered much more deeply than I previously recognised. I knew there were depths of pain from previous trauma and ongoing institutionalised racism, however, the depths of the continued issues (some of which are outlined in Colorblind Racism chapter 3) were eye opening. When confronted with the reality that education, workplace, health care providers, the criminal justice system, your neighbourhood etc are all negatively biased against you because of the colour of your skin – I find that overwhelming. How anyone within BAME communities can break out of that cycle and find success in anyway is incredible, because knowing myself, I doubt I could. The disparity of starting points for whites and all other ethnicities makes me feel grateful that I was born white, but ashamed that what I received (i.e., none of the above) is not the norm for all. Understanding this now, I will try to change how I perceive other people and their measures of success.
This leads me to the question about my race working in my favour. This is once again a comment on white privilege, which is invisible to those ignorant of it – which I have been until recently when I learned what this term meant. Due to lack of teaching and understanding about race, I did not know the extent to how I benefit from the colour of my skin. I still do not know the depths of how it has been an advantage, and I never will, but being aware of it and checking my privilege when I can see that it is giving me an unearned advantage is important. Once again, I refer to Burke’s work where she says, “it remains true that acknowledging the existence of a problem is a vital first step toward addressing it.”[6]
Finally, looking to the last question about ethnic heritage paralleling the gospel – previously, I could not see this. During particularly day 4 of lectures though, I found an anchor point. In Genesis 1:27 God speaks deliberately about the human race: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”[7] God did not create a race, he created mankind – male and female. Race did not exist in Eden.
We are all descendants of Adam and Eve, and as God’s children we were intended to be without race and prejudice. We have personal responsibility to God as his agents – we were made in his image; our ethnic heritage is in him – we are all good people capable of goodness through God.
In this lecture, I had a preconception challenged – I had assumed that the people of Israel were a pure race. It is clear in scripture, but I had overlooked these verses before. For example, in Exodus: “The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were six hundred thousand men on foot besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.”[8] I had misunderstood that Israel was an ethnic community, not a religious community. It has ethnic rootage, but it grows and develops, so that the composition of Israel is no longer an ethnically pure group.
Beyond the Old Testament teachings, it is repeated throughout the New Testament that we die to our old identity and are reborn as one in Christ. Colossians tells us “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”[9] Galatians similarly says, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”[10] Paul felt this point was important to write in more than one of his letters to more than one city – the fact that we are one when we are in Christ over any other distinct and defining physical, emotional or cultural traits makes finding an ethnic heritage parallel redundant.
For my future learning from this point – I have accepted an unconditional offer to study MA Religions and Theology at Manchester University. I have also updated my library with many books from the reading list – some of which I started before the course and after the course but have yet to finish. I am struggling a little with white European guilt and shame but know this is nothing compared to the suffering my ancestors inflicted upon those who appeared different from them.
I specifically want to turn my focus to British history – I have always been curious about the monarchy of the past and how people lived, but I have not learned about British colonialism. I feel that this gap in my education can be ignored no longer, and I will be seeking out further information to bridge this gap in my knowledge.
This course and the readings associated have given me a good place to start what will be a painful process of unlearning and learning. It will be tough, but I know that this is the right focus for self-development.
[1] Katrina Browne, Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North (2008) [2] Meghan Burke, Colorblind Racism (Medford, MA: Polity Press, 2019), 121-122 [3]Thomas Norman DeWolf and Jodie Geddes, The Little Book of Racial Healing: Coming to the Table for Truth-Telling, Liberation, and Transformation (New York, NY, Good Books 2019), 25 [4] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41191311 [5] DeWolf and Geddes, The Little Book of Racial Healing: Coming to the Table for Truth-Telling, Liberation, and Transformation, 25 [6] Burke, Colorblind Racism, 121 [7] Genesis 1:27 NIV [8] Exodus 12:37-38 NIV [9] Colossians 3:11 NIV [10] Galatians 3:28 NIV