When I was four or five, my mom took me to her friend’s house on Halloween. My sister and I were dressed in little scary outfits. We rang the doorbell and Mrs. Lilly, an older woman, answered. We said, “Trick or treat!” She smiled and put several pieces of candy into our bags.
As she was ushering us inside for a visit, a car pulled up to the curb. I looked back to see a little black girl, my age and dressed as a witch, stepping out of the car. Mrs. Lilly screamed, “Get back in that car, nigger. I do not want you coming up here. Go home where you belong.”
There were tears streaming down the little girl’s face as she got back into the car. It’s an image I will never forget. I sat in stunned silence as Mrs. Lilly returned her attention to my sister and me as if nothing had happened. For the rest of the evening I had a big lump in my throat.
In my heart of hearts, it did not feel right to believe I was better than other people because of my skin color. Many of my classmates were African-American and Hispanic. They were good-natured, we had lots in common, and I liked them. When we scraped our knees, our blood was the same color. We got hurt and our tears were the same. When it rained and we had to stay indoors all day, we shared the same disappointment. We all got sick with colds and the flu. We got hungry. We were sad, and cheerful, too. In my heart I knew we were similar, just with different colored skin.
Today I want to talk about the responsibility you and I have to stop separating ourselves from and elevating ourselves above other human beings based on race. We cannot create a world of peace if we do not intentionally advance our thinking by refusing to justify the continued abuse of others simply because this is what our ancestors did.
Racism continues because we do not respect the fact we’re all human beings with different colored skin. Operating from ego, not heart, we continue to perpetuate the opinion or belief that one’s own race is better than another race or races. It is fascinating to me the majority of people on the planet believe in a creator God and yet the ego-motivated idea the Divine made some of us better than others is still prevalent.
The fact is modern scientific research confirms modern humans are descendants of the same common ancestors who originated in Africa and were as dark-skinned as Africans are today. Our skin color began to lighten as our ancestors moved north into colder climates, an evolutionary change necessary for humans to maximize the synthesis of vitamin D.
We are a beautiful tapestry of colors and cultures, different branches of the same family tree. Our skin color does not make us better than of less than anyone else. Leading with heart we don’t care if someone is white, black, or brown. We care if someone is a respectful, kind, empathetic and responsible person. Racism is no longer applicable to our global society and it is not aligned with God. The fact is very simple – we are all one species – human. We are the change we want to see by respecting one another this way.
