Checking the boxes as our family registers for school in
America is a startling exercise. What
race are we? Does race have to
divide? In fact, what does race really
mean?
In our family there are two adopted children and three
biological children. Each child is unique. Yet, we are all one family. We share a common culture, understanding,
and covenant of care.
The race boxes tell us to divide. The race boxes tell us that three children
are Caucasian and two children are African American.
Yet, that is divisive to our family.
My son, Ethan came up with a solution. We are an “other.” Our other is American African.
Four of our seven were born in Africa. Two of us carry Ugandan passports. We all have lived in Africa a significant
portion of our lives. We use the
pronoun “we” much more than “I.” We
reason in community. We believe real
food is always cooked over an open fire.
We can always find room for more to sleep in our home. We always have enough tea and food for
visitors. We are most comfortable in
English, but we know varying degrees of French, Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, and
Luganda. Our hearts and minds dance to
African drums.
Yet, we all carry American passports. Those of us who earn incomes pay taxes in
America. Some of us vote in American
elections. We have relatives who serve
with America’s armed forces and we pray every day for them when they are
deployed.
American African is a good “other” box to describe who “we”
are.
Yet, you may say, “Make a choice. Conform to the understanding.”
How should we conform to the understanding?
Skin color?
One of us has freckles.
Three of us have moles. One is
described by those from East Africa as brown.
One is described by those from East Africa as dark or black. Five of us have skin that gets darker in
the sun. One usually burns in the sun.
Hair?
One of us has red hair.
One has mostly gray. Two have
curly black hair. Three have varying
degrees of blond to brown. One of us
has hair that gently curves when it is long and when the mullet comes back in
style he’ll look awesome.
The dictionary tells us race means shared distinctive traits ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/race .)
Ok. Four of us are
males. Three are females. A couple of us are described as tall. A few are described as short. Three are good soccer players. Two of us run. One is flexible enough to do yoga. Two of us have worn braces. One has a gap in his teeth that implies he
is descended from East African kings.
Are we just being ornery?
Maybe, but being ornery is caused by offense. A year ago I read a new thought in Soong
Chan Rah’s, The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western
Cultural Captivity. Professor Rah
made the point that race is a relatively new concept in humanity’s description
of one another. When you follow the
historical trail it appears that race became defining as slaves were traded
from Africa to Europe and the Americas.
The barbarity of slavery required the creation of another that we could
easily portray as sub-human. The consequences of such barbarity still
remain with us generations later as we define humanity through the categories
of race.
When I looked closer at the school forms requiring me to
make a race choice and put on my missionary lens the categories are almost pure
nonsense. The race categories tell me nothing
about what languages one prefers to sing and dance. They tell me nothing about which languages
one prefers to use in school or business.
You can’t write a song book or
translate the Bible in race. They tell
me little about preferred food. You
can find a few foods at a church potluck that are influenced by race, but really
food is more about culture, available supplies, and creativity. Race
tells me nothing about religious preference and that’s my big missionary issue. Race
tells me almost nothing about the formation and maintenance of nation-states. As a missionary I need a passport and a
visa. Race is again almost irrelevant. Those nation-states tax, make policies,
choose leaders, and during dark days go to war. The perception of race may have some implications
on nation-states. However, a proverb
tells us, “There are only two things in life that are certain – death and
taxes.” Soldiers from many races die
for single nation- states. All races
pay taxes to their nation-states.
What if the race categories are actually just jargon to
minimize the effects of systematic and generational sin?
Here is what I propose for the categories for census and
school registration in the United States:
Check the appropriate boxes:
_______My ancestors likely violently stole land
______My ancestors likely had their land violently stolen
______I’m mixed. My
ancestors both violently stole land and had their land stolen.
______I’m a newbie in the United States. My ancestors neither violently stole land nor
had their land stolen.
______Other. Explain:
______My ancestors likely made some type of profit through
kidnapping of humans in Africa, trading them as property, using their labor to
build a national economy, and then when they were given freedom it was as
second class citizens who were vulnerable to acts of terrorists.
______My ancestors likely were kidnapped in Africa, traded as
property, and were not compensated as their labor built the national
economy. When freed they were second
class citizens vulnerable to acts of terrorists.
______I’m mixed. My
ancestors both likely profited from slavery and segregation and were victims of
slavery and segregation.
______I’m a newbie in the United States. My ancestors neither profited through
slavery and segregation nor were victims of slavery and segregation.
______Other. Explain:
Race is not as simple as a form. The form just makes the systematic sins of
America more palatable. No wonder my family
wants to be called American Africans.
