It astounds me that there are still sides divided. I mean it IS 2013. One would think in the age of being so progressive and moving forward that we still wouldn’t have this problem.
Once upon a time a little over 25 years ago, two people fell in love. Like the familiar story of Romeo and Juliet, their love was forbidden, not because of the bad blood between the Montagues and Capulets, but because of race.
My mom is Caucasian and my dad is African-American. Her family couldn’t accept the choice that she was making. Her immediate family came around, but she was basically disowned from her grandparents. My dad’s family accepted her right in, not afraid to accept those not like the other. You see—they had all married another race.
Soon after they got married, my parents moved to Illinois and a few years later had my brother and I.
I’ve mentioned before about how close my family is because it’s always just been the four of us. Growing up in Florida, I didn’t know that I was different than others. It was never an issue until we moved back to Illinois and I was picked on (one day at recess) for my race.
As a kid, I never felt the repercussions of my race, but my parents did. My mom tells us story after story of being at doctors offices, where the nurses would ask if she knew our birth mother. Seriously? I’d like to think that I look like both my parents, I guess maybe it makes more sense the older I get, but it seemed that people couldn’t fathom that idea that these bi-racial kids had a white mother. Or while at a doctors appointment, asking my dad if he was financially stable to support me.
I’m sorry WHAT?
I was talking with my mom about it the other day, how I got the dominant genes from my parents, and my brother got their recessive genes. It’s crazy how that works.
My point is that we’re all different and yet the same. And it’s no different now, than it was 25 years ago or even 50 years ago. Long ago, race was the factor that separated us all. Now, maybe it’s sexuality, but I’d like to argue it’s more than that.
Ignorance separates a lot of people. We are all judgmental in some fashion to those that aren’t like us and please don’t deny it.
I’ve had the opportunity to travel to many different countries and learn about their cultures. You see it’s not a old school versus new school thought—it’s the culture, what’s trending.
What if we stopped looking at all our differences and looked at what’s the same? How each individual wants to be loved.
to be heard.
to be noticed.
to be loved.
What if we just LOVED those around us?
Though I don’t know a lot about my mom’s side of the family, most of which are dead, I still love them. And her immediate family has been involved in my life and my brother’s from the beginning.
I don’t agree with how my mother was treated and I really feel for her because I have no idea how strong she had to be at my age, while going through what she did. She’s so strong.
But what I know is that she loves my dad. She loves her family too. They’re family.
And when you break it down, we’re all family. We all come from the dust on the ground. But God was awesome enough to make us all different. No two things are the same. Even identical twins aren’t the same. (Please don’t make me go into all my biology knowledge to explain that…) We’re all different. And we should embrace that. Celebrate it really.
So maybe others make choices that you wouldn’t necessarily make, it doesn’t mean you can’t love them.
Maybe someone believes differently than you, it doesn’t mean you can’t converse with them and love them.
MAYBE someone looks differently than you and you just don’t get it, it doesn’t mean you can’t love them for their individual style or how they present themselves.
Our generation is going to be the change. And it’s not just tolerating each other, but truly stepping out of comfort zones and getting to know people that aren’t like us. To love them with all the love in our heart.
That IS what Christ called us to do. In John 13:34, He says
“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another”
Christ was the perfect example of how someone loved those who were so different than He was.
I choose to love.
Lauren Brooks 