The Color of Skin

“That mess about judging people

by the content of their character

and not the color of their skin—

that's some bullshit.

Nobody has the right to judge anybody else.

Period.

If you ain't been in my skin,

you ain't never gonna understand my character.”

(Emily Raboteau, The Professor's Daughter: A Novel)

Skin color: It binds us, divides us, enrages us, blinds us. Skin is made up of three layers - the outer epidermis, the dermis, and the deeper hypodermis. Regardless of race, we all have these three miraculous levels of cells.

Skin color: A consequence of protective chemicals at work, primarily the presence or absence of melanin. That's the science of it. Relationally, however... that's another story.

I am the product of a mixed-heritage of ancestral roots, a mutt by any definition, including (if family legend is to be upheld) Mohawk and Algonquin lineage. The darker skin tones and gorgeous brown eyes of my First-Nations forebears find ready expression in my first-cousins. My brothers and I, however, present as light-skinned and blue-eyed; Caucasian. A simple matter of chance it would seem.

“The silly thing is that the color of one's skin

is simply evolution's answer

for dealing with different rates of exposure to the sun.

How ignorant is it then to judge a person on that?” 

( Manasa Rao Saarloos)

Thus it is that while I do not know how it feels to be judged for the color of my skin, I have spent a lifetime hiding my skin for fear of judgment. Color is not the issue - quality is. As I wrote in a post a year or two ago, maternal roots gifted the males in my family with a condition called ichthyosis. In short, we grow the epidermis of our hide at a crazy rate, sloughing off skin cells in terrific amounts - a.k.a. dry, scaly skin.

In days of old we were the circus side-show freaks. I was aware of this as a child, and very much did not want to endure the scorn of those ostracized because their skin was not "right."

“Hating skin color

is contempt for God's divine creative imagination.

Honoring it

is appreciation for conscious,

beautiful-love-inspired

diversity.” 

(T.F. Hodge, From Within I Rise)

It takes tremendous courage to wear one's skin boldly, to let the light of the soul pour through the vessel of our outer clay. One need not be brown-skinned to feel shame for the hide in which they are wrapped. Burn victims, those with eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, and numerous other skin conditions experience the judgment of an intolerant world. 

It also takes courage to look deeper than skin, to see past black, brown, and red; past scaly, blotchy, or scarred. Such sight requires us to see into each other. It is not about judging character - that is not deep enough. This is about looking past limitations, violations, failings, and ego. This is a hunt - a searaching for the elusive wisp of Light that is at the core of every human heart. 

This then, is our calling; it will take extraordinary valor to set aside our fears and cultural preconceptions to see past the skin of body and character, to truly bear witness to the heart and soul of another human being. This valor, this courage - it will bind us together, empower us, and pave the path in the evolution of our species. 

Be bold in your skin. 

Speak and be your truth.

Follow Love's guiding Light as it leads you deeply into each person you encounter. 

In so doing your authentic self is exposed.

I leave the last word to actor, Ricardo Montalban: 

Being the only non-Black was a unique experience.

After a few weeks,

you're not aware of skin color differences.

You see the color;

you're not blind, but it doesn't matter.

You see the human being first. 

(Ricardo Montalban)

The color of skin...

trying to dive into a shallow pond.

Close

your eyes

and

see

with your

heart

Breathe

Pray

Love

To Ponder Further:

- From the Bible: ""The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector." (Luke 18.11)

- From Buddhism: "Who is tolerant to the intolerant, peaceful to the violent, free from greed with the greedy; him I call a Brahmin." (J. Mascaro, trans., The Dhammapada [Penguin, 1973], 90-93. Cited in B. R. Ambedkar, The Buddha and His Dhamma)

- Martin Luther King Jr.: "When we look beneath the surface, beneath the impulsive evil deed, we see within our enemyneighbor a measure of goodness and know that the viciousness and evilness of his acts are not quite representative of all that he is. We see him in a new light. We recognize that his hate grows out of fear, pride, ignorance, prejudice, and misunderstanding, but in spite of this, we know God’s image is ineffably etched in his being." (Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love)