On Racism
I teach in a public school in Kissimmee, Florida, which is officially the most racially diverse student population in central Florida. This is a group of students many of whose parents have come to work in the tourist industry from all over the world with a huge representation from the three minority boroughs of New York: Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx; and Roxbury and Dorchester which are the lower income minority neighborhoods of Boston.
As a suburban "metro area" Boston native, I understand the culture and the need for loving but very tough compassion with these kids. When I was in high school, I remember many students from these neighborhoods who were bussed into our predominantly white middle class Framingham North High School. Those who survived four years of high school there went on to succeed. I talked to one such success story at my 25th high school reunion, who explained that he is now the principal of an inner city Boston school that is based on a similar model. Young people who want to "get out" of their impoverished neighborhoods and succeed can do it when given the right opportunities.
In short, I see the problem of racism in our country as complex, but it can be reduced to a class problem. There is no problem with racism if we reduce it to a left-over Marxist obsession with class warfare. In fact, as a biblical literalist I do not agree with the concept of "race" at all.
Two articles I'd like to point readers to:
One is a thorough refutation of the so-called "Christian Identity" movement by my friend Andrew Sandlin. In this superb article, he argues that heavenly speaking, there only remain two races of people, the redeemed and the unredeemed.
See: The Royal Race of the Redeemed
http://web.archive.org/web/19980212074125/www.chalcedon.edu/article_as_20.html
The other is the fun and intriguing, "How Did We Get the Races?" which explains that we are all sons and daughters of Noah. Each one of us is descended from an (only!) five thousand year old ancestor who possessed every possible genetic variation of what now makes up the human race.
See: How Did We Get the Races?
http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0734_How_Did_We_Get_the_R.html
Read these and I look forward to your comments.
As a suburban "metro area" Boston native, I understand the culture and the need for loving but very tough compassion with these kids. When I was in high school, I remember many students from these neighborhoods who were bussed into our predominantly white middle class Framingham North High School. Those who survived four years of high school there went on to succeed. I talked to one such success story at my 25th high school reunion, who explained that he is now the principal of an inner city Boston school that is based on a similar model. Young people who want to "get out" of their impoverished neighborhoods and succeed can do it when given the right opportunities.
In short, I see the problem of racism in our country as complex, but it can be reduced to a class problem. There is no problem with racism if we reduce it to a left-over Marxist obsession with class warfare. In fact, as a biblical literalist I do not agree with the concept of "race" at all.
Two articles I'd like to point readers to:
One is a thorough refutation of the so-called "Christian Identity" movement by my friend Andrew Sandlin. In this superb article, he argues that heavenly speaking, there only remain two races of people, the redeemed and the unredeemed.
See: The Royal Race of the Redeemed
http://web.archive.org/web/19980212074125/www.chalcedon.edu/article_as_20.html
The other is the fun and intriguing, "How Did We Get the Races?" which explains that we are all sons and daughters of Noah. Each one of us is descended from an (only!) five thousand year old ancestor who possessed every possible genetic variation of what now makes up the human race.
See: How Did We Get the Races?
http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0734_How_Did_We_Get_the_R.html
Read these and I look forward to your comments.
Labels: Science
posted by Jay Rogers | 4/28/2006 11:03:00 PM
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