Racial Insensitivity

I guess it really shouldn't surprise me that some folks are just downright oblivious to the harm they cause with their words. I think in some cases their words are meant to purposefully harm others, but most times I believe it is just plain ignorance. Most comments made about other races are not derived from actual relationships but from stereotypes that media and peer influence promote, most of which is at it's core...out of ignorance.

I saw a comment someone posted (not directed at me) on facebook that read, "stop talking black". This phrase has always bothered me deep inside for a number of reasons. These are the kind of comments that set us back as a nation. First of all what is talking black? By making that statement what are we implying? Do all black people sound the same? To even ask these questions shows us the rediculous nature of our stereotypes. I know many black people from many different countries and all sound different. I have black friends up north that talk different than my black friends in Alabama. I also know white people who live in trailer parks that sound differently than some whites who live in Mountain Brook. I also know people who grew up in the same house and sound different! Take my sister and I for example!

Secondly to use the phrase "stop talking black" (in the context I read it) implies that black is ghetto, uneducated and improper english, while "talking white" means educated, intelligent, and professional. This is the kind of superiority mentality that is destroying many churches and making them totally ineffective at reaching people groups outside of themselves. They view themselves as superior and others as dumb or uneducated.

Thirdly this is not just a "white" problem. There are also many blacks that accuse their own people in their own race of "talking white" (I know this for a fact because my wife has been charged with this). It is almost as if a person who decides to speak intelligently is talking in a way that is outside of their race. This is something we need to overcome but it is a mere symptom to a root cause that lies far deeper.

By continuing these stereotypes we deny the fact that we are all made in God's image and He should define our worth not culture. If we continue to allow these stereotypes to persist we participate in elevating one race as superior and another as inferior. How can we overcome this? Get to know people outside of your race. Talk to them and listen. What we see is not that a particular race is superior or inferior, it is simply the context of what a child grows up in and is exposed to.

My daughter has a white dad and a black mom, but her black mom is finishing her PhD and our child is growing up with books and proper english in her home. If you put her in a home that had no books and broken english we know the results. Not that this cannot be overcome but initially we know that the home environment and neighborhood have more to do with how a person speaks than the color of their skin. I hope as a people we would not further the stereotypes. I hope as people we would stop catagorizing people in general ways as if all white people were a certain way and all black people another way. While there are certain cultural differences and heritages that I would never deny, that does not mean one race is superior to another.