To my white American friends who easily brush aside the concept of racism, try this: Find a black person and assure him/her that you don’t want to argue, but just want to listen and learn. Then ask: Will you tell me what it’s been like being black in America? Silently listen without being defensive and/or refuting anything he/she says. That’s how we begin to find the truth. (I’ve done this many times and it drastically changed my perspective.)

We are humanity. We all share in the human experience. When we identify as human, we admit our kinship to every other human on the planet.

I’m a human. All people are my people, my peers, my race. To think less of any group of people because of their God-given physical appearance is to be a traitor to the human race. To fear people (or to trust them) because of their skin color, is racism.

I love flowers with their various colors (and people with their various colors, too). Skin color is a totally illogical reason to think less of somebody. It makes no sense.

The idea that some people are them (not us) is a lie. All of us are part of humanity. The skin color hierarchy is one of the craziest and cruelest things people ever invented.

History is full of people with lighter skin claiming to be superior to those with darker skin, but it’s hard to find the opposite. Ignoring and/or denying the history of racism, isn’t the way to overcome it in the present, but honesty and humility are healing.

To say, “You’re not like me because you look different than I do,” is the foundation of racism and all its evils. Too often racism says, “If you look like the majority, you’re part of us, if not, you’re them.”

Abuse and retaliation (both verbal and physical) wreck humanity. Kindness, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness, heal it.

Even when racism is quiet, subdued, pleasant, paternal, played down, and clothed in kindness, it still separates and ranks people. Concealment isn’t the remedy for racism.

Racism is human divisiveness that is based on nothing other than God-given, physical appearance. Skin color differentiates people no more than eye color does. All skin color is a gift from God. To look down on anyone because of their skin color is to deny true Christianity. The Bible says, “Consider others better than yourself.” It doesn’t say, “Consider yourself better than others.”

Black and white,
Us and them,
Humans are supposed to,
Just be us?