The Race Race

At 12:30pm in the afternoon, my history professor announced, "We're going to go outside and do a race!" About 30 college students filed out with some groaning and complaining, knowing how hot and muggy it was outside. We somewhat mockingly complained that "it wasn't fair" as we had just been asked to define the words, "fair", "equal", and "justice". Little did we know how "unfair" the race would be. We lined up along the sidewalk with the majority being white females with a handful of guys and other ethnicities mixed in. Then my professor started calling out statements such as...

• If you have ever visited a foreign country, take one step forward.
• If you had more than 50 books in your house growing up, take one step forward.
• If English is not your first language, take one step back.
• If you have a family member on welfare, take one step back.
• If you can walk into any grocery store and buy the staple foods of your culture, take one step forward.
• If growing up, your authorities and teachers physically looked like you, take one step forward.
• If you are not afraid with how you will be treated based on your race, take one step forward.
• If you have ever been expected to represent and speak for a whole group, ethnicity or race, take one step back.
• If you had to work a job in high school to help support your family, take one step back.
• If you had your own car in high school, take one step forward.
• If you regularly went on vacations, not to visit relatives, take one step forward.

I started out walking forward and as the questions went on, I stayed still or went backwards while the majority of my classmates kept moving forward. At the beginning, my classmates and I chattered together but as the activity moved on, speaking ceased and silence fell. We watched one another move forwards or backwards, turning to see who was behind or in front of us. My professor finished the exercise and we observed our final positions. The majority, nearly all white, was pretty far ahead, close to the marked finished line. A handful of us, myself included, some white, others various ethnicities or international students were in the middle, somewhat closer to the starting point. Then there were a few people who had ended up behind the starting line, all of whom who were not white. My professor then told us to run to the finish line. Those in front bolted for the line while those of us towards the back more halfheartedly ran or jogged, knowing that we would never catch up to the others because of the gap between us.

Perhaps now that I have described this activity, you recognize it. It is known as the "Privilege Walk" though my professor focused it on race and ethnicity. If you want to see the original video, check out this link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/dayshavedewi/what-is-privilege#.ctnjRA4az. I highly encourage you to watch it, no matter what race or ethnicity you are. This activity was incredibly thought-provoking for me and I know that I haven't fully processed all of it. I have so many questions and there are hundreds of tangents and issues regarding race. Just being an Asian American, a Chinese American, has many of its own questions and struggles. I can't imagine what it's like to be Hispanic/Latin American, other Asian ethnicities (i.e. Indonesian, Japanese etc.), African American or others. Each culture, background and race has its own stories and complexities that make up what it is and who its people are. There is so much more than what American society stereotypes or honestly believes that these different cultures and people are like but how many take the time to truly understand a race different than their own?

One reflection that struck me, after the activity, was how image-based American culture is. I'm a third generation Chinese American--for those unfamiliar with how "generations" work, 'third generation' means that my parents were born in the States and so was I--who was pretty sheltered growing up. Which meant that I was fortunate enough to have experienced little racism as a child. I am very Americanized and most of the time, I rarely consciously noticed that I was different from everyone else or that I was in the minority. I was very much a part of white culture, understanding it, speaking its language and participating in it. Much more so than I ever was or have been of Asian/Chinese culture. I was born and raised in the States and given a lot of privilege because of my parents and what they did for me. But because of the color of my skin and hair and my facial structure, people will make snap judgments about me and treat me a certain way. It's not that I consciously go around thinking that I'm not white but the fact that I'm not is always there. It is usually sub-conscious and only asserts itself every now and then but probably less so than many of my friends of other ethnicities because I didn't grow up placing a large part of my identity in my ethnicity. These kinds of questions relating to being Asian American, being a minority and race are ones that I started exploring when I came to college a year ago. I have many questions and few answers but I need to ask and struggle through them, if nothing else, for myself and my own journey as a Christian Asian American woman in a (currently) predominantly white society.

Yes, I will always be different. No, I will never be fully white. No, I don't fully fit into Asian culture either. No, I can't change my skin color anymore than you can change yours. Yes, I have privilege while others don't, even those of my same ethnic background. Yes, I will experience racism the rest of my life based on my physical appearance. People are working for justice, equality and fairness in this country but who knows when they will happen? Another question would be, are these even realistic goals here on this broken earth? They won't happen in 10 years nor in a lifetime if they are possible. However, "For Christ and His Kingdom" is what Wheaton wants us to live out and that applies in these situations too. Understanding race, ethnic differences, the gap between "us" and "them", societal stereotypes and more is what Christ has called us to do. He longs for us to work, serve, pray and love in regards to these issues so that we may better His kingdom and the people who are part of it, now and in the future. These are just a few of my thoughts. I have more of them, more questions and more processing to do. This is only a proverbial drop in the ocean.