I never took any notice to the color of my skin until the first time I was cat-called in Costa Rica. I am white…very white, actually.
In Central America, I was cat-called and whistled at. I couldn’t walk down the street without someone yelling out “Hey Baby I love you!” or the like.
In Asia, people would rub my arm like I was a fur coat…not because I have soft skin (although I like to think I do have soft skin) but because they were envious of my complexion.
In Africa, I’ve made more than one child cry (not joking).
I stick out like a sore thumb and it wasn’t until we got off the plane in Harare, Zimbabwe, that I wished I wasn’t so white.
Around the world, white means rich or well off…in most cultures, it is assumed that the darker the skin, the poorer the person and the lower class they represent. In every country we have been to, people look at me and automatically assume I am rich or well off because of the color of my skin. I get higher prices at markets, public transportation rips me off, and people have assumed I can’t relate to them because we aren’t from the same place.
This past month was by far one of my favorites and most difficult to leave but it was also difficult for me in the sense that I struggled with fairness and what is just and the differences in social classes caught up with me after 9 months on the field:
“May 6, 2016
As we walked through the village yesterday, I cringed. Every time we said we were from America people’s eyes would get big and round like a saucer. One man said “Everybody is happy in America”. NO! I wish the ‘American Dream’ stereotype wasn’t a thing…that people didn’t see us as rich and happy and just saw us as people like them with the same struggles and joys in life manifested in different ways. Why is it that social class defines our future and color defines our social class? What would it look like if this world saw each other as people…people who are made in the image of Christ instead of people who are different colors, social classes and abilities?
May 15, 2016
I feel like a hypocrite…going out into the village, inviting people to church and building relationships with them. They are living in mud huts or one room houses made of whatever they can find or afford and I’ m staying on a big piece of property in a guest house with running HOT water and electricity…I hate that money is what determines rich and poor in our society. I hate that the “rich” always feel the need to help the “poor”. These past 9 months, I’ve witnessed first hand how rich people don’t necessarily help more or teach better. The best “teachers” I have had on the Race have been poor in worldly standards yet they are so rich in spirit and faith. When Jesus said to help the poor, was He talking about those who are poor by worldly standards or those who are poor in spirit?”
Please keep X-Squad in your prayers as we move into Month 10…reality of only having less than 2 months left is hitting hard and staying present is difficult at times.
