I AM...

Recently I was asked a question by a close friend that felt it would make a good topic to address here but also made me pause for several reasons. One of those reasons is that I had asked myself the same question before. The next reason was that, despite having wondered this in my own mind, I couldn't answer it! And the last was that I knew to some I would be least qualified to speak on it. But am I really?
You wonder what the question was, right? Well here it is:

Why is it that I've heard black people lament over being seen by the color of their skin, but those same people will declare passionately that they are "black first"? Seems like they are wanting it both ways. Am I seeing this wrong?

Before I attempt to answer that question I feel it may be necessary to preface what I'm about to say with a very quick bio about myself as I believe this will help you to better understand my point of view. Though my light complexion may initially throw some off, I am the product of inter-racial parents and have identified myself as black for as long as I can remember. Yes my mother is German and my father Black and there are things on both sides that I am proud of as well as that I am ashamed of. But I mention all of that to say that my view will be slightly different than most yours and vastly different than some of yours. However that may be, I will attempt to not only answer this question but also put forth why I believe it's the wrong mentality to have.

In case you didn't catch it, there are actually two questions that were asked. I'll answer the latter first, because it is easiest. No, you are not seeing this wrong! It is actually quite apparent that there are some that do want the benefit of being able to say they are "black first" while at the same time telling others to not see them as "black first".

Now the former question can only honestly be answered properly if we divide it into two sections. Let's  first talk about why we lament over being seen by the color of our skin. I will, hopefully accurately, assume that anyone reading this is familiar with our countries history of slavery and racism so I won't delve too deep into the past here. But suffice it to say that this history was very ugly and is still to this day a scar on this nations psyche, and rightfully so. There is no way to tell the story of America without covering not only the shameful era of slavery but also the equally shameful time of oppression after slavery was finally outlawed and stomped out. But it is this time after that, also known as the Civil Rights era, that factors in greatly as to why we do not want to be seen by the color of our skin. Though slavery was done away with, Blacks were still treated as sub-human for a long time after. In fact we were considered 3/5 of a human. Our ancestors were reminded of this on a daily basis. A simple days outing would bring them past water fountains that they weren't allowed to touch and restrooms that they weren't allowed to use, as well as restaurants that they could only eat from by knocking on the kitchen door in the back of the building. All of this division was not easily missed either. There literally were "black" parts of town. They lived separately, often worked separately, and even worshipped separately. There were countless lynchings! Blatant murders that were displayed for all to see but were never investigated. People disappeared all of the time and it was known that they had likely fallen prey to the Klan. A group of White men whose sole purpose was to remind all Black people that they were not worthy of being equal with them. Even after lynchings were officially made illegal this group continued to harass, threaten and even kill people for no other reason than the color of their skin.
As you can imagine, a history of being degraded and belittled simply because you have more melanin in your skin than others can leave an indelible mark in a peoples collective memory. So it is understandable why none of us wants to be seen or treated differently based on the color of our skin. We naturally expect any differential treatment to be negative, hateful or even dangerous. Dr. King and others marched, fought and died for us to be seen as equal with everyone else. He declared that he had a dream in which his "four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."!
And this is what we desire from everyone. We don't want to feel that we are being judged for being black before our character is even known. So this is why we lament over that.

That being said, the answer to the second part of the question is actually found in the same narrative. You see Blacks have undergone more than a couple of official "name changes" since slavery was abolished and even before. Early slaves called themselves African but their owners called the Negroes, the Portuguese word for black. The slightly altered "Negro" and Colored are just two of the terms that also were used. Black was later used as well although it was met with sever criticism. But in 1988-89, Jesse Jackson sought to make yet another official change that he felt would give our people a greater sense of pride when describing ourselves and this name was "African-American". I could argue the merits of this term and it's self-segregating mentality, but that's a topic for another discussion. But for the purposes of answering the question posed this is the term that we will look at most closely. When this change was first presented there were people on both sides of the fence about it. Some felt that it was not the term they wanted to be described by opting to simply be "Americans". But those that accepted the term bought into it fully. It became a way in which they felt they could identify with the land of their origin and this of course led to a renewed sense of pride about being black. Dr. Walter Allen (a professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan, at the time) said, "This is a significant psychological and cultural turning point. This makes explicit what was implicit. First we had to convince everyone to come into the fold as black. Now we are clarifying what that means.".
It is this pride that is an answer to the question. We seek to make it known that we are unique and we revel in our "ethnic" pride. I can't answer for all that do push to be known as black (African-American) first, but I feel it's the general consensus that it is ingrained in our identity. We want to ensure that we aren't seen merely as a color but that this same color is due to our land of origin, and that is far more exotic. So in a sense it is simply a matter of racial or ethnic pride that leads some to push their being "black" to the forefront of their identity. Groups such as the New Black Panther party find their identity in being black and seemingly flying in the face of what Dr. King dreamed or and espoused in that famous speech. They, and others, have no problem whatsoever identifying themselves by their color first and foremost. But don't let someone of another race do the same...that's taboo! I must admit that it is difficult for me to understand that double standard. But, nonetheless, it exists.

I hope I did a half-way decent job of answering the two-part question. And if not I pray that differing opinions will be expressed with respect.

Now, I promised that I would also put forth why I believe this is the wrong mentality to have. The first reason is that it is a double standard, not to mention very confusing, to get upset when we are profiled or treated a certain way based on the color of our skin and then turn around and push that same color in the faces of others. We do need to make up our minds.
As all things that we cover here, we look at this from a biblical worldview or a Christian understanding. Though I see nothing wrong with being proud of one's heritage, I do believe that we can't make that heritage our "identity". As I stated in the beginning, I'm both German and Black. I celebrate both sides and display both equally in my home and my personal life. The foods I eat are reflective of both sides as are the music, movies, books, etc.. It's safe to say that I am proud of where I come from. However, once I begin to make those things my identity, I run the risk of not only looking down on others but, without a doubt, alienating them. It could go too far in either direction. I could celebrate my German heritage so much so that anyone not of the same background would feel uncomfortable being around me and I could do the same for my Black side, ultimately pushing people away. You ask why I think this is wrong? Because the only thing I am free to identify myself as "first" is being a Christian! Upon being saved our lives are no longer our own. Christ died for us and in turn we live for Him. That being said, we also have a duty to carry out as believers and that is to carry the gospel to all four corners of this earth. Obviously if we push away or alienate anyone then we hinder ourselves in the fulfillment of that duty.
Having been saved we also die to ourselves, so what should be most important to us is being obedient to God's word and seeing as many souls saved as possible. Anything, not just our heritage but anything, that gets in the way of that is wrong.

Lastly, do we not realize that the biggest racial barrier ever was torn down the day Christ died? When the gospel was decreed to be given to both Jews and Gentiles, God tore down that barrier that existed since the creation of Israel. Jews looked down on and despised Gentiles (that's us, in case you didn't know), yet through the gospel the two were reconciled and made one. So who are we to cause division based on something as trivial as skin tone???
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." ~ Galatians 3:28

I am neither Jew nor Greek, I am neither black nor white....I am Christian!