How to be Kedar

I saw something on the King of Queens (it’s a popular sitcom).

Deacon (a black guy) saw a baby and said, “aw, that guy is pretty cute. for a white baby.” That was a cue for the laugh track.

Now let’s imagine the reverse situation. What if a white guy said that about a black baby? I don’t know where you live, but that would start a race war over here.

Two years ago, I was staying up late in the open study area on the third floor of the dorm center. One or two of my black friends were there. Suddenly, a black guy came out into the common area on the first floor and starting yelling. He was yelling about the egregious injustice that white people have brought upon the black people. He told people to not just sit around while all these injustices are being committed. While people were clearly annoyed, one of my black friends started yelling ideas about how to seek revenge against white people. Confused, I asked the people around me why racism is such a big issue. I hadn’t seen any racism at the university, so I didn’t think that it was a problem. My friend assured me, “No, it’s a huge problem. All the highest people in student government and all the governing officials are white. Other races can’t do anything.”

A long time ago, I visited the website of the leader of the KKK. I was only curious to see what kind of messed up things they believed in. Among those hateful articles I read something that has stuck with me.

“It’s okay for Asians to have Asian pride and Blacks to have Black pride and Gays to have Gay pride, but if you are White and you say to anyone that you have White pride, that’s a bad thing.”

I am not justifying racism. I know that black people are stigmatized in society – getting pulled over, being arrested, not being able to get a loan, etc. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a black person. I will never know. I can’t say that I know.

What I’m trying to say is that racism and reverse racism don’t accomplish anything. They still pit the ‘white’ from the ‘black’ without looking at the whole spectrum of personalities in between. I think, socially, we should be working toward equality – not only toward black rights, gay rights or woman’s rights – but rights extended to all human beings. So sure, that involves giving greater power and freedom to the underprivileged through acts of Robin Hood. That involves affirmative action and quotas. But those are only political and economic changes.

In order for the change to be complete, people need to learn to stop saying “us” and “them”. Martin Luther King’s dream hasn’t yet come to fruition – it is ripening for sure, but God hope it doesn’t spoil.