tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4249809056594376069.post3985343610470035544..comments2023-06-24T05:34:52.317-05:00Comments on The Writer's Lair: Race isn't an issue - so stop making it one!Mary Ruth Pursselleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03325447738032828151noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4249809056594376069.post-7237573033597892942013-02-20T23:52:25.864-06:002013-02-20T23:52:25.864-06:00Wow - that's quite a comment! Thanks for jumpi...Wow - that's quite a comment! Thanks for jumping in to contribute, Grace!<br />I appreciate your perspective and the time you've taken to share it so clearly. And while my intention is not to argue, I would like to point out a few things about your remarks.<br />First, since based on your mention of the Civil War I assume you're referring to the issue of slavery, I want to make it clear that race and slavery are not the same issue, and that slavery in America was not race-based.<br />My ancestors were slaves too. They weren't African, they were Irish, but they were still brought to America against their will and enslaved for generations. They received even worse treatment than African slaves in some cases, and were considered to be of less value (both monetarily and as humans), because they were "contaminated" with Catholicism, while African slaves were not. In the 1600s an Irish slave sold for a tenth or less of the price of an African slave.<br />I am not trying to downplay the sufferings of African slaves at all, but I do want to make it very clear that Africans were not enslaved simply because of their skin color, any more than Irish were. American plantations needed slaves. Africa and Ireland were both ready sources of them. It was as simple as that. <br />As I said in the article, your skin color is not what makes you like or unlike me. I live with the same knowledge many dark-skinned people do: that my ancestors were considered less than human, treated like animals, sold like property - in the very country I call home, no less. Skin color had nothing to do with it.<br />Furthermore, living with that knowledge doesn't leave me feeling angry or hopeless. It doesn't stop me looking anyone in the eye. My ancestors lived for centuries under the exact same stigma you mentioned, but I have no shame or despair as a result, and it hasn't left any scars or negative "spiritual effects" on me or on any of my family.<br />Am I happy about the fact that my ancestors suffered all that? Of course not. Do I wish they had been treated as equal citizens with the same rights as everyone else? Of course I do. And I could very easily choose to spend my life in a rage or a swamp of depression because of what happened to them, but what would be the purpose of that? No one alive today had anything to do with what happened back then, so what would my anger or despair accomplish?<br />So, although as I said, race and slavery are not the same issue, it still comes back to the point I was trying to make with this article: it is time to move on and let the past be the past.<br />It's okay if what happened in the past hurts when we think about it. It's good that we understand what we humans are capable of doing to each other so that we can help prevent such things happening here again. But we don't have to live in anguish because of it. We have to choose to let it go.<br />There are people out there who let issues of the past - be it slavery or racism or both - tear them up to this day, and I know that. Yes, since they've let it tear them up, they need healing. But they have to choose to stop clawing the wound open. That's what I'm saying: we need to let go. It doesn't have to be an issue anymore, so we need to stop holding on to it.<br />Perhaps we need books written to help people holding on to past grievances let go, but as far as general Christian counsel is concerned, we don't need color-specific advice. God's principles transcend skin color, just like they transcend all the other category boxes we humans make for ourselves.Mary Ruth Pursselleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03325447738032828151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4249809056594376069.post-60990073991784023732013-02-20T15:35:48.516-06:002013-02-20T15:35:48.516-06:00I don't disagree with a lot in this post. But ...I don't disagree with a lot in this post. But I would like to bring a different perspective and more information to the topic table,<br /><br />I lived in the extreme South, Columbia SC to be exact for 9 months. It was a major culture shock. Suddenly I, a fair skinned person, was in the minority. My family was also in a minority because my parents were actually still married and had 6 kids. Down there, here is a dark cloud that hangs over everybody, but especially African Americans in the South. You can still practically taste the shame, anger, and despair that was supposedly wiped out when the Civil War ended 200 years ago. A lot of the dark skinned population down there can't look you in the eye, and when you do see their faces, they're full of anger and hopelessness. When a people group live under a stigma of being lesser, non human, that is going to have some long lasting spiritual effects. As much as I hate to say it, there are different problems facing African Americans than white Americans. So I am glad that there are books written for "the African American family", amen, we need those! I saw so many broken families, broken people who still need to be pulled out mire and pain that unfortunately comes with just being born into who they are. It's not fair, no, but that's how it is. It's much harder to understand when you grow up in the Midwest and in the culture we have here. <br /><br />We live in a fallen world, many things are less than ideal. One of them being the issue of "race". I agree, we are all one human race, regardless of our color. But because of our humanity, each color is going to have it's own set of issues to deal with. And as Christians, it is our responsibility to acknowledge those ugly issues for what they are, and then begin to work on the healing process. Not every issue can be solved overnight, some scars run too deep for that, God's grace and time are needed to complete the healing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12216569566936300507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4249809056594376069.post-74285799680914421342013-02-19T22:47:36.095-06:002013-02-19T22:47:36.095-06:00No, I get what you're saying. ; )No, I get what you're saying. ; )Mary Ruth Pursselleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03325447738032828151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4249809056594376069.post-69999598679042110612013-02-19T22:10:21.709-06:002013-02-19T22:10:21.709-06:00Exactly! You could have purple skin with yellow po...Exactly! You could have purple skin with yellow polka-dots for all I care and I'd just be like...okay, what color t-shirts do you like to wear? Which is a dumb question, but you know...Galadrielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12993204559713347090noreply@blogger.com