Kiri Davis

My brother posted a news clip about this. Here is the actual documentary. It is seven minutes long and very shocking to me. I have never thought of people as being bad or good based on the color of their skin, but I do know that I have grown up as a Hispanic American in an Anglo-American society. I realize after reflecting on this video that I too grew up with a negative self-image that I still struggle with even today. I think it is even more blatant for my dad, but I admire the way he handles himself and does not take a victim mentality. It is clear from this video that many children are very much put down systematically by the very culture they live in. This is not a black and white issue, it is much bigger than that. Issues of this magnitude are hard to deal with because we are all guilty in some form or another. We would like to think, or at least I would, that we have nothing to do with this. I think if we examine ourselves very closely, we can all eventually see that this is not the case, but instead we have perhaps subconsciously accepted these beliefs as the way things are. This is earth shattering! It seems we believe this stuff to some degree otherwise these kids would not act in such a manner.

In the documentary Ms. Davis conveys that this has been going on for quite some time, but it is even longer than she alludes to. The apostle Paul in the book of Galatians wrote "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Paul ,the apostle, addressed the very same issue 2000 years ago! It's amazing how the more things change, the more they stay the same. I believe that this does not have to be, but it takes a purposeful effort to bring about change. Change cannot and will not happen on its own. We have to want change. We have to encourage it, and we must purpose it. I encourage us to examine our attitudes and thoughts, however subtle, and purpose to change them and more fully align them to the words of Jesus in the book of Matthew, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."