Thursday, September 09, 2021

Thinx 116: Melanin

I was born with a mediocre amount of melanin in my skin. 

My ethnic ancestors invented the "black/white" distinction to differentiate between equals on the basis of the amount of melanin in one's skin. Now everyone uses it, even the folk being discriminated against. Can no one challenge the status quo? Must we, forever, differentiate between equals based on a false dichotomy?

The Bible says there's only one race, but we've got so used to talking in terms of a multiplicity of races that we find it next to impossible not to use those terms when talking about people from different ethnic groups. How would you introduce Dr Voddie Baucham? Do you draw attention to his melanin levels by saying that he's African American (a term he hates, by the way) or do you just say he's an American born preacher/teacher currently working in Zambia? 

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