“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…'”

Genesis 1:27-28a

Perhaps the title of this blog grabbed your attention. Perhaps you are curious as to what play on words I might be using. Perhaps you are thinking that either I have changed drastically, or I have been dishonest about my views of race and race relations. Or, perhaps you are convinced that I have completely lost my mental faculties, because you feel that this could not be a true assessment of where I stand on the issue of race.

So, please let me clarify what I mean by making this startling declaration. It is absolutely true that I am a racist. As a matter of fact, I have always been a racist, and hopefully after reading this blog you will understand why I make that assertion, and perhaps you, too, will view yourself as one as well.

If we take the passage quoted above at face value, then we will quickly, clearly, and easily understand a major Biblical truth: there is only one race – the human race. All human life, every human life, each individual human life, has been born in the lineage of the first human couple: Adam and Eve. God, according to Scripture, created Adam, and then, taking a rib from Adam, formed Eve. God then blessed them and told them to multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.

Therefore, there is only one race, and, therefore, the conclusion we must reach is that we are racist. So, how then are we to understand the differences that are obvious as we consider different people groups. There are, after all, reds, yellows, blacks and whites. And even within each of these “color” groups there are many different shades of color distinction. There are light colored whites, and darker colored whites. There are light browns, dark browns, and some so dark they appear almost black. There are differing shades of red and yellow.

But what we need to remember is that each of these people groups is part of the human race. The human race is then divided into different ethnic groups. Yes, there are clearly different “color” groups, but each group is a part of the larger whole. All ethnic groups are part of the human race.

And now to the question we must address: Is one ethnic group superior to the others? The answer is quite simple when we take the Bible at face value: No. There is no room for a sense of superiority of one ethnic group over another. Reds, yellows, blacks and whites are equal in the eyes of God, and so should be in the eyes of man.

What if, hypothetically speaking, God created the human race with no ability to see? What if, in this hypothetical world, the only distinction that could be made between people groups is the sound of the voice? For the sake of discussion, let’s assume that in this world everyone spoke the same language, but the distinguishing mark between the groups would be the accent with which they spoke. In our country, there are clear distinctions between a Texas accent, a Southern accent, a Bostonian accent, a Mid-western accent, etc. And then, on an international level there are Russian, European, African, Asian accents, etc. If all of humanity had no ability to see, would we divide ourselves up by accent? Would people groups be determined by the way one speaks? And if so, would one accent be viewed as superior to all others?

Doesn’t that sound absurd? But, if we could not see the different colors of skin, would we find some other artificial way to assess one people group as superior over all others? Or, would we simply accept each other as equals? I know that this hypothetical scenario cannot answer that question, but perhaps it will give the reader a little food for thought.

In the opinion of this writer, based on my very limited knowledge and my extremely simplistic mind, I feel that racial distinctions and ideas of superiority are based on a faulty way of thinking. I, personally, feel that if parents would go out of their way to instill in the minds of their young children the fact that all are created equal and have equal standing before God, then maybe they would grow to see everyone as equal, with no sense of superiority. And, by the way, children have to be taught to view one people group as superior over another. Left to themselves children just simply get along with other children, regardless of skin color. Unless, of course, they have been indoctrinated to do otherwise.

We are the human race. We are different, to be sure, in so many ways. There are cultural differences, societal differences, traditional differences, religious differences, historical differences, national differences, etc. But these types of differences should not be categorized on a scale of the most superior to the most inferior. They should simply be viewed for what they are: differences between people groups.

As a matter of fact, this writer would surmise that not only should the differences be viewed as a way of determining superiority of one over the other, but rather they should be recognized and celebrated, as one sees the significance of each people group for what it is: a group of individuals who are all created in the image of God, and are of equal value in the eyes of the One Who created them.

The song we learned as young children could be a good starting point for each of us to begin celebrating the human race:

Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red and yellow, black and white

They are precious in His sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world.