Many times people talk as though being color blind is the goal that we should all be attaining. I guess the first question is whether or not being color blind is even actually possible. Secondly, is being color blind really the goal that we should be pursuing? Tim Wise in the video talks about another possibility… color consciousness. Do you think that is where we need to go? And does color have consequences? Freestyle with me…
Color Blind or Color Conscious?
Published by Drew G. I. Hart, PhD
Rev. Dr. Drew G. I. Hart is an associate professor of theology at Messiah University and has 10 years of pastoral experience prior to teaching. He currently directs Messiah University's "Thriving Together: Congregations for Racial Justice" program and co-hosts Inverse Podcast with Jarrod McKenna, an award-winning peace activist from Australia. Hart is the author of Trouble I've Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism (2016) and Who Will Be A Witness?: Igniting Activism for God's Justice, Love, and Deliverance (2020). And he is also a co-editor and contributor to the recently published book entitled Reparations and the Theological Disciplines: Prophetic Voices for Remembrance, Reckoning, and Repair (Nov. 2023). Hart received bcmPEACE’s 2017 Peacemaker Award, the 2019 W.E.B. Du Bois Award in Harrisburg, PA, and most recently in December 2023 Life Esteem Ministries recognized him in Harrisburg with the Harambee Award for the Nguzo Saba Principle of Umoja—Unity for his faith-based activism and public scholarship in the community. Drew and his family live in Harrisburg, PA. View more posts
Drew G. I. Hart 
Hey there,
Aren’t colour, class and all other barriers laid at the foot of the cross? I’m thinking of Philemon, James 2:1 – 9 and Galatians 3:28 – 29, “28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” They seem to exhort believers in Christ to discard these things and focus on our new found citizenry.
In Christ,
Mark
Mark, while I appreciate your call to what can be laid at the foot of the cross – I feel you are missing the focus of this video and explanation. Surely, at the foot of the cross, all are one in Christ, and the only line that exists is the one between God and us. While this is a common response from Whites (a group to which I too belong), we don’t live at the foot of the cross. We live in a fallen world, where color does have consequences.
To fail to see, to respect, or to appreciate the distinctions and the context of those differences, is to fail to see and to understand both others as they are, and also frankly us as white males as we are – in a country dominated by white privilege & male privilege. Our society enables us as White males to remain fairly ignorant to the experience of others unlike us, and at the same time to be able to think that we can perceive both our experiences and others’ experiences ‘objectively.’ For instance, when people were asked by Gallup if they thought everyone was treated the same in their communities, White Americans’ answers have not changed much since 1963 – pre-civil rights!
* See Gallup.com for their poll on Black White Relations.
* You may also want to read some of Tim Wise, a White anti-racist, a great start would be his article: “What Kind of Card is Race?” at http://www.lipmagazine.org/~timwise/whatcard.html