Black History Month

"To truly provide equality we must celebrate our differences." This is a paraphrase from a very respected performer, whose life story I am reading. He was raised in a suburb of Baltimore, worked his craft from childhood through high school, got a break to be a regular on a local TV show and then a national TV show in New York (living in various rent places, including Hell's Kitchen, which was an improvement over where he had been), got movie offers he had to turn down in order to fulfill prior commitments, and eventually became a huge international star, complete with a plush toy that was the Christmas gift that made everyone go crazy. The performer is Kevin Clash - the forty-six-year-old, six-foot, deep voiced, African-American male who is the hand and voice inside of Elmo. He was a puppeteer from the age of 4 or 5 and has made hundreds of puppets and Muppets that have delighted children and adults for about 40 years.

As the USA turns its attention to Black History Month and commercials and specials loom at us from every corner, I sometimes feel a little strange, like I'm being force-fed a dish that is supposed to be good for me. I do not consider myself a racist. In fact, I like to think that I am quite colorblind. It is true that I grew up in a middle class Northern California suburb in a middle class family. But being in California, our neighborhood and schools were not predominately any color -- during my senior year, the high school basketball team's starting line up had four different races (one white, two black, one Mexican, one Chinese). And the short Chinese kid was the one who could dunk the ball!

But the fact that I do recognize differences of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, etc. makes me wonder if I am not as open minded or colorblind as I would like to believe. There has always been a nagging little voice inside my head (one that I suppress as often as possible) that says things like, "Why isn't there a White History Month, too?" Maybe there should be. Or maybe there shouldn't have to be a need to have any kind of Color History Month. Maybe we should be learning, understanding, praising, and celebrating all of the colors ALL of the time. If our schools and our places of worship and our inward thoughts have to be channeled by a Congressional Decree, then maybe we have a lot further to go than we would like to think.

When we study history, we should study ALL of the history. All of the stories, the good and the ugly, have much to teach us. The Blacks, the Whites, the Christians, the Mormons (who are also Christian, but segregated in this list for the sake of illustration), the Jews, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Indians, the Muslims, the straight and the gay have all suffered, have all triumphed, have all had moments of great glory, have all had moments of great shame, and should all be understood. And the same can be said for any other group that I have not listed here. We shouldn't pretend that any part of it didn't happen (there were slaves from many nations forced to work here and many of our ancestors were both kind and cruel). We can't forget the sacrifices of those of all races, religions, etc. There were those who fought for the underdog who were not the same color as the underdog. There were those who stood up to oppression, often with deadly consequences. We must celebrate all of those who fought for justice and a better life.

Why can't we feel good about being different? Why can't we be comfortable celebrating with our brothers? Why can't we invite our brothers to celebrate with us?

The pettiness has to end. The "I'm right and thus you are wrong" has to end. The "we are great and thus you are not" has to end. That such foolish thoughts exist at all is mind boggling to me. I may not be perfectly colorblind, but I do know that we are all human. We are all brothers and sisters. The blood that flows through my veins is the same color as every other person on this planet. If we are any color at all, we are all hemoglobin red.

And from a religious standpoint, I am becoming more aware of the perfect sublimeness, subtleness, and awesome concept of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man (that would be the generic Man as in Humankind). We are, in a very literal way, brothers and sisters -- a family. There is nothing more nor less than this. And maybe like any family we have squabbles with each other; we don't always agree; we don't always like to get along. But in the end, we are a family that has to love each member or else we will not survive.

So Happy Black History Month! Here's to being different, unique and a beloved brother. The hurts and pains of the past should be forgiven, but not forgotten. And the heroes of this world should be celebrated -- not just today or during this month, but always. Please allow me to celebrate with you and please know that you are always welcome to celebrate with me.