In 1684, a massively influential essay, New Division of the Earth by the Different Species or ‘Races,’ was written by a world traveler, Francois Bernier. The essay recorded observations he made about humanity during his travels and according to Bernier, humanity could be divided into four different races. This was the first time “race” as a concept was applied to humanity. Following in his footsteps, many other early anthropologists began classifying humanity into these different “races” with Johann Blumenbach being the most influential. As the idea developed, race became more than just an observation. It became destiny.
Certain defining characteristics were attributed to different races, and some races were seen as superior while others were seen as inferior. In America, the white race, or “Caucasians” as Blumenbach called them, were seen as the superior race, while Blacks were seen as the inferior race.
Since its conception, race has always been a problem. It has always been divisive rather than unifying. To be one race is to not be another. And in America, we have a dark history of race being used to justify evils like slavery and the atrocities committed under Jim Crow.
By God’s grace though, America has grown a lot since those dark days. I write this as an educated black man who is married to a white woman with two mixed children. And while all the people in my household have varying degrees of melanin, race does not define or divide us.
Sadly, this is not the case for everyone. State Rep. Sarah Stalker (D-Louisville) made that clear with her remarks in December when she said she “doesn’t feel good about being white every day because it’s a point of privilege.” She went on to explain that an opportunity is being missed when we don’t give kids “a moment to reflect about how the color of their skin does and does not allow them to move through the world.” She believes we need to resist the urge to not let kids “pause and have some internal feelings.”
Now, I don’t think Rep. Stalker was being malicious when she made her remarks, but that doesn’t make them okay. This type of guilt and hyper fixation on race is what keeps the concept around and humanity divided, which is evident since her comments were made in response to a bill that would help eliminate racial discrimination. That bill is SB 26, which was put forward by Sen. Lindsey Tichenor.
This bill would require K-12 schools to get rid of DEI practices. The bill prevents people from providing “any differential treatment or benefits to an individual, including an applicant for employment, promotion, or contract renewal, on the basis of the individual’s religion, race, sex, color, or national origin.” The bill also prevents schools from implementing “student disciplinary policies that consider religion, race, sex, color, or national origin or otherwise establish student disciplinary caps or quotas on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, or national origin.” This means instead of being labeled and treated differently according to their race and/or other categories, children, teachers, and administrators are viewed according to their humanity.
Race is divisive by design, but all of humanity is made in the image of God. Any policy that undermines this truth by discriminating against people based on race or other categories needs to be rejected. But any policy that treats all people equally needs to be supported. SB 26 is such a policy.
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