Colors and the Church
 Your color does not define you. Across the world, people are being denied of their privileges because their skin tone is a shade other than white. People become victims of police brutality because they are Black. People are accused of being a terrorist because they wear a hijab. Imagine being ostracized and ridiculed by society just because of your race and your culture. Discrimination against culture and color needs to be stopped, and it needs to be stopped soon. For centuries, people of color have been oppressed, majority of which are by white people. This goes down deep in history.
Racism, in general, is the belief that one race is superior or inferior to the other. Racial discrimination is experienced and witnessed through different degrees. As simple as mocking a person because of their race to white-washing a character of color, a glimpse of racism can already be seen. In 2015, a 14-year-old boy named Ahmed Mohamed was arrested for bringing a âhoax-bombâ. Mohamed brought a reassembled digital clock in an 8-inch pencil container to show his teachers. His English teacher, however, thought and assumed the clock was a bomb, confiscated and reported it to the police right away. This is an example of how prejudice against races happen. If he were a white boy instead of a Muslim, things would have turned out differently.
One of the most frequent cases of racism is racial stereotyping. How many times have you avoided someone wearing a hijab because, admit it, you were scared? Or assumed someone was intelligent because they were Asian? According to Dr. David Williams, a professor of African and African American studies at Harvard University, when people hold a negative stereotype about a group and meet someone from that group, they often treat that person differently and donât even realize it. This is called unconscious discrimination. There are some instances when we unconsciously entertain racism, and we donât even know it. Â
Difference may be a terrifying thought, especially when you are not used to change or when something is strange to you. When you are exposed to a culture youâre not familiar with, is it wrong to be scared? Sometimes, people fear what they donât know. As a person of color myself, the thought of going to a foreign environment terrifies me, especially not knowing what the norm is. However, we should not let our prejudices get in the way of our treatment towards someone.
We are all the same in the eyes of God. The Almighty made each and every one of us uniquely. Some He made darker, some lighter. Some He made petite, some He made towering. We all have our unique traits, and not one of us have the same features, not even identical twins. But no matter how contrasting our features are, no matter how different our customs are, we are all the same in the eyes of God. He does not choose who He loves. You could steal a thousand times, and still He will love you unconditionally. If our God loves us despite of our disparity, why canât we do the same to each other? Why do we take our differences against each other, instead of accepting each other for who we are and what we believe in?
Despite our differences in ethnicity and beliefs, we are unified as one under the Church. Yet, one race discriminates the other. One religion is favored than the other. As a Catholic, I give the same treatment to my Muslim friends as I do to my fellow Catholics. I am the same person with my fellow Filipino friends as I am with my foreign friends. Because I know and I understand that differences does not mean to set apart. It does not mean that they should be excluded nor treated any less. We are made up of different parts and different functions, and yet, when unified, become one great body that is the Church. To quote the Bible, âFor as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use themâ (Romans 12:4-6).
Even though we all have our distinct traits, and are special in our own way, God still created us all equally. In that sense, although we have our differences, may it be in traits or in our lifestyle, still those differences should be set aside with respect. Because we are all made equal, not one race is made superior, not one race is made inferior. We are all made equal, and equal is how we should treat each other.
Discrimination against culture and color needs to be stopped. There are countless races in the world, and yet we are only under one Church, under one Creator, and under one God. We should not strip away a personâs privilege because of their skin color. We should not wrongfully accuse a person because they are Black. We should not mock a person whose first language is not English. We should not let stereotypes get in the way of our judgement and treatment. We are more than just our color.
