LABELS

excerpt from @RACEUNITY.COM(see Aug 31, 20100

I have had anxiety, confusion and unsettled feelings about labels given to people by others or themselves.  When I first came across the Baha'i teachings about the oneness of the human race I was so relieved and uplifted.  As I brought up my children I taught them that there was only one race, the human race, and if they wanted to describe their friends at school to me or anyone else they could use observable distinctions, such as blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes; hair color variations/ and when it came to skin the variations of pink, white, light brown, brown, bronze, dark brown, black, etc.  They called me polka dotted because I had freckles.  They knew from a very early age about melanin and climate adaption, shapes of noses from cold or warm air,  hair texture from wind, humidity and temperature adaptions.

As they entered school, when they filled out forms, the race blank was listed as human.  This usually was unsettling to the teachers.  One went so far as to erase this and change it to white.  My daughter was incensed and complained but they wouldn't change it back.

As we get into conversations with people it is very awkward to use any kind of label.  One has to balance the reality of oneness with the present level of understanding of whoever we are talking to.  Some people are very sensitive and offended if they are not acknowledged as what they see themselves to be.

I co-facilitated a summer school workshop on the elimination of prejudice back in the early eighties.  The first day we did an anonymous survey with the goal of getting demographics of the participants.  The first question we asked was multiply choice with ten different terms commonly used for variations of skin color.  The class had around fifty participants and was very diverse.  The results showed no impressive bell curve (preponderance of one choice).  Every category had some "takers".  The second day we read these surveys and talked about why different ones chose different labels for themselves.  It was fascinating to me that the intensity behind the answers was pretty spread out.  It seemed almost generational.  It became apparent to me that using labels was a "no win" situation.  Someone would be offended if only one term seemed  to predominate.

We are "children of the half light" in this transition period and the only way we can function adequately is to be loving and sensitive.  Trying to be a "hollow reed" so that our own inadequacies don't get in the way of a loving atmosphere is a mighty task but seems necessary.

Just my thoughts on this complex issue, which should be so simple.

Love in the struggle,

Anne
7-13-99