I wasn’t going to say anything.
I was very okay with being a casual, silent observer in all this madness about Asian-American identity. I had plenty of friends and coworkers chiming in with (intelligent) opinions, my Facebook feed was littered with links, and I watch ESPN just about every day. Don’t get me wrong; I’m highly emotionally invested in how it plays out. But I was hoping to watch it unfold before I pushed myself to let my heart engage.
And then came Floyd Mayweather and Jenny Hyun.
I know that there has been a TON of insightful, sincere, and noteworthy analysis of the role of ethnicity in the wake of Lin’s success, and I appreciate what I have read so far. And it may seem counterproductive to give two attention-hungry, insecure media brats any attention. But I think their dialog reveals something profoundly frightening and important.
I originally wrote a song in March 2011 after the UCLA Alexandra Wallace incident. My heart was hurting for Asian-Americans; not necessarily because of the drivel that came from her mouth, but because I talked to student after student who thought that the right thing to do was to ignore it and hope it would blow over.
It didn’t.
It’s not going to.
From these past two weeks, 2 things have become abundantly clear to me:
1. There will always be something that makes us talk about ethnicity (and the empty social construct of race).
2. Our country and all its major structures (government, education, society, etc.) has proven time and time again that it has no clue how to handle *ethnicity in a way that expresses universal dignity and worth.
And this is why I follow Jesus. Jesus’ own Jewish neighbors executed him, partially because of his continual choices to demonstrate and freely give the love of God to non-Jews. And when he rose from that grave on the third day, part of what that said was, “You don’t get to tell me who receives the love of God. I get to say what the love of God is and who receives it.”
Ethnicity isn’t going away because it’s how God made us. It’s actually one way he’s made for us to discover who He is. And our country is unable to handle ethnicity in a dignified way because our country is anti-forgiveness. Insomuch as forgiveness is “choosing to not control punishment when someone wrongs you (pastor Bryan),” it’s anti-American. We are taught everywhere that everyone should be held accountable when they do something “wrong,” and that we get to decide what accountability is. And when wrong and right (and, thus, accountability) are defined primarily by majority culture, there is no forgiveness. There is no justice. There is no rightness. There is no peace.
But, the massive power of the hostility, ignorance, and fear we harbor against each other has been defeated in his death and resurrection. He has imagined for us a completely different kind of relationship with each other: he calls it shalom. He has established for us an ethic in which we can live as complete people, in complete relationships, and recognize the completeness of ethnicity as a way for us to turn away from rebellion against our Creator and turn towards the fullness of His creative goodness.
In case you were waiting for America and the rest of the world to stop talking about ethnicity: it’s never going to happen. You do have the option of avoiding the discussion; that is your right. But I actually think that it is in this arena where the people of God have the opportunity to display the goodness of our covenant with Creator Abba and change the social landscape, forever. Let’s do this!
kim:eubanks 