This post isn't really a reaction to the content of the article or to the work of the organization profiled there, but moreso it is a critique of a broader cultural tone.
As a white guy that lives and works in a neighborhood primarily populated by black families and as a learner in the practice of racial reconciliation (usually through failure), this article brought on a whole new thought on the connection between the late 20th century's movement of multiculturalism and what may become the early 21st century's movement towards interfaith inclusivism.
If you grew up in the 80s or 90s, you were exposed to multicultural training, either formally or more definitely through media. Some of it was great. It increased the realization that the world and our local communities were becoming globalized. Being called a racist became the worst insult you could throw at someone in my generation. And if we voted today to make MLK Day a holiday, even the representatives from the Deep South and Arizona would vote affirmatively.
However, I would critique this movement. Besides the fact that it was largely sparked by white guilt about slavery and the Jim Crow era, I also think it was in many ways unhelpful and simplistic. The greatest evidence of this is found in the propagation of the term "colorblindness", which is the idea that our goal is race relations should be to simply not see the color of someone's skin.
Colorblindness doesn't work because it isn't accurate or possible. If you are white, however, you don't know that intuitively. The term makes sense for white people because white middle class people live in and define the majority culture in America.
This means when I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, I can do so totally colorblindly. I have the option to not see (or even think about) my race (in fact many social scientists have submitted that this is one of the truest markers of what it means to be white in America).
When I go out to the store, I have the option to not see my race.
When I tell people where I went to college, I have never once been asked if I went on a football or basketball scholarship (believe it or not, many short, unathletic-looking African Americans find themselves fielding these types of questions routinely).
I'm treading on dangerous ground here, but hang with me. If I get pulled over driving down the highway, not for a second do I consider whether or not my race was a factor in me being pulled over.
Ask an African American or someone from another race if they believe "colorblindness" to be an achievable goal. I'll buy you lunch if they say, "Yes."
Colorblindness doesn't work because the only people who have the option of practicing it are those from the majority culture.
Furthermore, colorblindness doesn't work because it is offensive. To tell my neighbor, "I don't see color" is to take away a significant part of her identity (And it's dishonest, there's dozens of studies that will tell you that Americans of all age groups are not even remotely colorblind when we interact with people from other cultures and races). The entire colorblind category is harmful.
Yet, in many ways that kind of thinking seeped into my generation.
But, back to what got me thinking of all this, I sense a similar line of argument and gross oversimplification developing in what is being called the interfaith movement.
Just as telling an African American, "I don't see color" is potentially offensive. Telling a faithful Christian or a faithful Muslim or a faith(less) atheist, "We actually agree on a lot of stuff and should focus on that" is offensive.
This isn't to say people of different faiths can't be friends or work together for the betterment of society. Not at all. But it is to say, it does a disservice when we lay down our differences for the sake of togetherness.
Because those differences are not imaginary. They are real and have real implications.
Just one example, as a Christian I believe in one God who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Further, I believe that God the Son, came to earth as a human being, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, resurrected, and lives today at the right hand of the Father as the Redeemer and Advocate of all who have faith in Him.
Most of that last paragraph is horribly offensive to faithful Muslims. So, please don't tell them that we share lots of beliefs in common. That's utterly unhelpful and untruthful.
There's nothing wrong at all with the position of "We don't agree, but we still like each other." (Christians need to hear this message too!)
So please, be friends, work together, clean up rivers, talk about your beliefs together! But, don't drift into interfaith "colorblindness" because though it may feel "right and good", it's not.
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