How to Deal with Racism

A warm welcome, friends, to this special edition of my blog. I’m glad you are well, and here reading my blog. Thanks for stopping by.

Today, I want to share something about racism. I know it’s hard to talk about, but it’s still very much with us. What I planned to achieve with this write-up is to share my thoughts and ideas on how we can deal with racism so that it doesn’t have negative effects on us.

Racism simply is the prejudice or discrimination against people of a particular race or color. 

As Africans living abroad, many of us have experienced one or more cases of racism. Many of us have wished only if our nations could be better, we would not think twice of relocating back home. And looking at this problem, it has had so much long-term effects on us such as - identity crisis, self-condemnation and hostility against racists, among others. 

We no longer see ourselves as one people who could help each other, but as superiors and inferiors. Some even use abusive and dehumanizing language that could make other people feel bad. But this is not helping our world. It’s not making anyone better.

First of all, let’s look at the root cause of this problem. Racism stems from the fact that some races see themselves as being superior than the others. They think they are better because of their skin color. But that is because of our differences in make-up. It doesn’t make anyone better than us!

Let’s take our body parts as an example. The function of the eye doesn’t make it better than the nose. Neither does the function of the mouth makes it better than the leg. It’s just because they have different structures, and that’s what makes their functions different. Now, if the mouth thinks it’s better than the leg, the question is, can it do what the leg is doing?

The truth of the matter is – no matter how anyone thinks they are better than you, they can’t do what you can do! The only problem most times is that we get too distracted that we don’t take our time to discover who we are. We hid ourselves under the cloak of what people will say. We do what others do and so they could easily compare themselves with us.

But everyone of us is unique and created in the image of God. No one is higher or lower than the other. Everyone of us has equal value and right before God. And that is what matters most. God knew what He was doing when He made us different. He wanted us to celebrate our differences and uniqueness to the world.

For many of us that are facing serious racism, I want to encourage you to let this mind of Christ be in you. Never be discouraged because of your race or where you came from. Everyone of us is different. And the differences make each and everyone of us a blessing to the world.

One thing I will say is to take up the nature of love. Let the love of Christ fill your heart and let it spread to your world.

Love those who hate you. And do good to those who deride you. I know it’s not easy. But you can start by loving yourself. Love every good thing that God has put in you and let them be a blessing to the world. You will love people in turn.

And finally, God has a way of justifying us and making us triumph over injustice. By His wisdom in us, we will prevail and overcome every act of racism and injustice in our world. Our light will shine over darkness, and we will glorify God in every way in our lives. God bless you and have a great weekend!

To read the previous article, please click on this link: The Value of Friendship