I once asked myself this question, while fully aware of the answer. Of course, we're more than simply colors! As a matter of fact, we are more diverse than our colors even show. But, at the same time, we are more alike than some people want to believe. I can't help but compare the human race to a tasty bag of plain M&M"s. With their multi-colored shells on the outside, every one of them are exactly the same on the inside.
Someone once told me they were "color blind" when it comes to noticing their fellow man. They suggested I try to be color blind too. A while later, after digesting this philosophy, I found myself completely opposed to it. Part of the beauty of the human race is found in the diversity of our various colors and shades. I think planet Earth would be a very boring place if every single human was my color.
The real truth is that we are all afraid of uncharted territory. We're all insecure and we all experience pain at different points in time. But we need each other or we will self-destruct as a people.
In my few years of living, I've seen that one of the hardest and most difficult things for humans to do is to leave their "comfore zone" -- a familiar zone where everyone looks like us, acts the way we do, and perhaps even eats, sleeps, and walks the way we do. I would be ignorant if I didn't acknowledge that part of the reason people behave this way is because of our cultural similarities. However, I do feel it is incredible important that, at some point in time, we leave our cultural comfort zones and get to know our fellow Earthlings.
This philosophy has been tried, tested and found to be completely true in my own life. Although Toby McKeehan and I are from the same general geographical area, we were raised differently. When we met in 1984, we soon became the best of friends. We were just a black boy and a white boy equally curious about each other, all the while not knowing that out of our newly formed friendship would come dc Talk and a host of other ventures (excuse me if this starts to get a bit "fairytale-ish," but I promise ever single bit is 100 percent true!).
Thanks to awesome, God-given parents, I was in now way sheltered from other races growing up, although I'd never really had a closer white friend than Toby.
Looking back, I can't imagine what route in life we each would have taken other than this one. Moreover, I can't express in mere words how boring my life would be for me without my constant interaction with so many different cultures. As time passed, I began to see previous stereotypes shatter all over the place. I began to realize through my friendship with Toby just how alike we actually were.
Not long after meeting Toby, an interesting lad named Kevin Smith (another white boy, this one hailing from Michigan) waltzed into my life. Until the time I met K-Max, my knowledge of and interest in rock 'n' roll was prescribed and fueled by pop radio. I'd actually thought that you had to be white to really understand and enjoy rock 'n' roll, but in college Kevin got me into everything from Rod Stewart to Nik Kershaw, and everything in between. Eventually, it became increasingly clearer to me that I'd been a victim of highway robbery. I had been influenced to believe that, because I was black, there was a different set of rules -- a different set of do's and don'ts, if you know what I mean. In retrospect, all I can see is how limiting and damaging stereotypes can be. It's hard to imagine that a person can actually be led to believe that, because of his or her skin color, race or background, they should live a certain prescribed lifestyle.
If there were ever a person who had reason to harbor racial prejudice, it would be my dad. All the right ingredients are present when you consider his upbringing. He grew up knowing that his great-grandfather was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. Even so, he has continued to live a daily example to me and my siblings that couldn't be more opposite. As a result, anyone who knows Michael Tait knows I am an extreme lover of people and that I couldn't care less about color, other than to celebrate its diversity.
Dad was born and raised in Alabama in 1922. His father had a very successful timber business until 1929, when the Great Depression ended it all. My grandfather actually had a few "run-ins" with local whites, but according to my father, nothing ever really came of it. My dad was taught to love and respect all human life forms. As a result, we were raised under this same influence. I'm actually shocked sometimes at how much my father loves and reaches out to people of other races.
So many of my friends have said their parents told them damaging stories. One friend in particular was told that the "white man," as his parents put it, is the "blue-eyed" devil." This kind of philosophy surrounded me in my youth, by good ol' Dad was always there to combat it with the truth in love. My friends thought it wierd that we would have Jews, Indians, Asians, whites -- you name it -- coming and going in our home. Dad always pointed out the strengths in people. He encouraged us to take advantage of learning about other cultures. What an awesome man!
In all my life, I've never experienced a direct racial attack until just recently when I went rock-climbing with some good friends of mine. We stopped in a convenience store in this particular small town, and an older man made me fell about as welcome there as if I were at an actual Klan gathering. He told me that my "kind" wasn't welcome around there. He even went as far at to say, "If you don't leave before nightfall, you might fool around and get yourself hung."
My four friends (who were all white) and I were speechless for a moment, and then I told this man that we represented a new generation, a new era that doesn't want to tolerate racial injustice anymore. That was my first and only racially-related incident ever. Having experienced that, I can only imagine what my poor father, his father and other minorities must have gone through in years past. Two thumbs up for Dad!
I can remember with great fondness all the family vacations we were blessed to be able to take when I was younger. I couldn't wait until Dad showed up with the rented station wagon to haul me and my seven brothers and sisters off to another great vacation spot. Almost every time I would meet a kid from another race or cultural background, and there wasn't so much fear as there was excitement of getting to know this different person. I would immediately notice the obvious differences, but they only intrigued me to the point in which I couldn't help but go deeper. All of a sudden, my vacation had a new meaning and my family would see me in a different light. They would see me interacting and perhaps stretching the otherwise limited boundaries.
Getting over the fear of the unknown and conquering the challenge of stepping into unfamillar surroundings is what life's all about. Mankind was created first and foremost to glorify and bless God and the angels. If I may add a second purpose, I'd like to think that we are made for each other just the same. We might have come to America on different vesselsm but we're all in the same one now. When we spring a leak on board, the whole ship goes down.
In an ideal society, I would like to see my generation and future ones remember the past only in an effort not to repeat it, and to learn from our forefathers' mistakes. I'm a believer in racial equality, and in dc Talk I've had the most incredible opportunity to actually live integration. As a result, Toby, Kevin and my lives have changed forever, and for the best. And all this because we were brave enough to leave our "comfort zones."
By: Michael Tait