This weekend, I saw a billboard that read: "I don't see color." Then (the audacity!) it credited those words to God. As we drove past it, I grunted. After a few seconds, I bristled. Mere rotations of the wheels later, I expressed my deep and unbridled rage to my friend in the driver's seat, ranting that anyone would dare put such a thing up or accredit that to God.
Yes, it's very true that God cares about each person individually and equally without preferential treatment. He created the sun which "rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other" and presents itself to all life as "nothing is deprived of its warmth" (Psalm 19:6); but He also stands specifically with the oppressed and overlooked. Such people have a special place in His heart. Jesus shakes everything up in the dominant culture by kneeling down to attend to the needs of the poor, the ethnic "other", and social outcasts. Consider our world today! What do we celebrate? Whiteness. Wealth. Beauty. In America especially there is such vehement hatred against immigrants, and a lack of care for those in poverty. The old and the sick and the marginalized are so often treated as less than, standards that remain reinforced ruthlessly within media.
Jesus never praises what's common to culture. Instead, he challenges it, stooping to acknowledge the disdained. As Jesus tells his Pharisee host at a banquet, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous" (Luke 14:12-14). We are to reach out to those that are unlike us and do not share our privilege. Jesus exhorts us to be aware of who we interact with, as our service makes a difference, and he wants us to move where we are most needed.
Which means that God absolutely sees color. He sees color because it's a driving component of oppression. Look to statistics and academic sources and you will indubitably find that race and socio-economic status are deeply interconnected in our society, impacting representation and positions of power and the way the public regards certain identities. We need to talk about intersectionality and justice not just because it's the right thing to do, but because God cares about it. Perhaps race was not as divisive in Biblical times as it is today. And yet cultural outcasts and ethnic oppression is a constant image across the Bible.
Looking at this passage from Song of Songs, skin clearly contributes to prejudice and self-image: "Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother's sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect" (1:6). The female speaker's financial status is reflected in her need to work; her social status is also alluded to through her experience of insecurity. Paleness of skin has often been associated with wealth throughout history -- so, race aside, of course God sees color, because he sees the poor and the downtrodden and has "chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom" (James 2:5).
Thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement, I really hope that everyone understands why "not seeing color" is actually the same thing as ignoring the blaring issues of systematic injustice, racism, and inequality. We need to see color in order to understand how different people experience the world. Without that, we cannot change face the reality of privilege to improve and grow beyond the place we find ourselves now. God wants us to face these things head-on just like Jesus did over and over again while he lived on the earth. The fact that Christians (who are called to love the immigrant, serve the poor, and stand up for the oppressed) aren't at the forefront of every social change is inane to me.
Maybe this just means that change starts with us, right here and right now. What are you doing to stand with the oppressed? Do you turn away from the "other", or do you chase God's heart by actively crossing borders? Are you in the habit of humbling yourself or hiding behind your privilege?
God sees color. But even more than that, He sees all the oppression which lurks behind it. Which means that we, the servant hands and feet of Jesus, must stand and fight for change.
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