“Actually… racism is the belief that one race – whites — should rule all others.” -Chris Matthews

Did you know that only “white” people are capable of racism?  That’s what MSNBC’s Chris Matthews says. See the video here.

First of all, let me state that there is only ONE race: the human race.  As such, I reject the concept of “race,” but I understand that what they are really talking about is “ethnicity.”  On my census form a few years ago I listed my race as “Other: Human.”  Seriously, what should I have put?  I’m mostly descended from the British Isles countries, with some Belgian, Dutch, and German thrown in. I’m not “Caucasian” because that is someone from the Caucasus mountains in Russia. I’m not “white,” I’m pink. None of the census categories apply to me. Also, my next door neighbor is “African-American” because he was born and grew up in South Africa.  His skin is the same shade as mine.

Etymologically, the dictionary gives various definitions of race. Here are some of them:
•    a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock
•    a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics
•    an actually or potentially interbreeding group within a species also : a taxonomic category (as a subspecies) representing such a group
•    a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits.

While I understand that different people mean different things when they talk about race, to me it is just one more way to divide human beings. Also, I’ve heard people use the term “reverse racism” to describe when non-white people do racist things to white people.  Guess what:  That’s not “reverse racism,” it’s RACISM!

Biologically speaking, there is no such thing as “race.”  What people refer to as “race” could be called “ethnicity” instead. What is the difference between the “races”?  Skin color? We all have the same chemical makeup and the same skin color, just varying shades.  We all have the substance melanin in our skin, which is what gives skin, hair, and eyes their shades.  Well, albinos have absolutely no melanin, but the rest of us have varying amounts.  Mine pools into freckles. My brother has more than me (he tans very easily), and my brother-in-law has way more than me (he’s from Africa).  But we’re all the same.  Sure, some “races” have a genetic predisposition to certain diseases or conditions, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t human.  Sorry, white supremacists: there is no “master race”, and your blonde hair and blue eyes are recessive traits. Technically blue eyes are a genetic mutation, so there.

Here’s my eye.  Any idea what color this is? The BMV won’t let me say my eyes are “blue/green.”

Blue? Hazel? Blue-Green?

What does the Bible say about race?  Genesis 1 says that God created the first man, and all men are descended from him.  Romans 5:12 says that sin entered the world through one man, and therefore all men sin because we are all descended from him. Finally, Acts 17:26 really is the best place to look for a biblical view of “racism”:

“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,”

The key idea here is that God created one man and every nation of men on the earth is descended from that man.  This is the absolute and total rejection of racism by the Bible.  Acts 10:34-35 says, “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.  But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.”  God shows no partiality. This means that the gospel is open for all people from every nation, every language, every culture, every ethnicity.
What can we logically draw from this?

• We are all human
• We are all sinners
• We all need salvation
• We all have the same provision for salvation

So is any one ethnic group of people of more worth or value than any other?  No. Chris Matthews (and anybody who agrees with him):  God says you are wrong.  The children’s song got it right all those years ago:

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow, black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world!

(PS:  He loves the adults too!)