Let's talk about race!

Sometimes it scares white people when we talk about race, because we think it makes us racist. I beg to differ. Talking about race can bring issues and prejudices to light before they become racism. Talking about race can make change happen one mind at a time. As a future ESL teacher, I hope to make changes in the world one student at a time, because I think it is an effective way to make a difference. It’s better than feeling like you can’t do or change anything.

I watched a Hip-Hop documentary and it brought lots of issues to light in the panel discussion afterwards, including race. What I like to see is people talking about race. I don’t think white people think or talk about race enough, so getting them involved in this is very healthy. Before I participated in Eastern Mennonite Seminary’s LEAP program 6 years ago, I didn’t think about race very much. I did maybe more than the average white suburban, since I have some biracial uncles and my dad has taught at inner city schools. But when I was a LEAP participant, I was a minority for the first time in my life, not only because I was white among African Americans and Latinos, but because I was from suburbia and most of the other participants were from big cities. During LEAP, the participants took mini-seminary classes and traveled to another country over the time span of 4 weeks. Though we went overseas, my real cross-cultural experience was among the group.

During LEAP, I suddenly started thinking way more about race than I had before, because it was impacting my every day life. Cultural differences created some barriers in forming relationships, but with time and work, these barriers can be crossed and beautiful things can happen. One girl from the Bronx said I was her first white friend and her mom would never believe it. I know that today I really value diversity in part from my experiences with LEAP. Student-teaching in the Harrisonburg City Schools was a real joy for me, because it didn’t seem like there was one majority group. The classes I taught were about equal among African Americans, Latinos, and whites, with some other ethnicities as well. I love opportunities to interact with people different than me, because you can have such rich experiences.

Often the people who talk the most about race are minorities, because when you’re in the minority status you’re more likely to think about race. It’s good for them to talk about race, because processing is healthy and sharing your views with other people can increase cross-cultural understanding. I do want to encourage whites as well to think about race, even if it’s not your first inclination to do so and you’ve never been a minority. Think about race in terms of immigration and Mennonite Convention 2013. Think about race in terms of the disproportion number of black men incarcerated and poverty among minorities. Look into the system as you struggle with these discrepancies instead of blaming anything on one race, but don’t get so overwhelmed that you forget we can make a difference one conversation at a time.