I recently watched the movie 42, a movie about Jackie Robinson. He broke the color barrier in baseball, becoming the first African-American baseball player to play in the Major Leagues. My heart was aching as I watched all that he went through because of the color of his skin. Then I thought, "Well, that was then, and it's different now. Right?" Wrong. Racism and segregation is still very strong in our country, even in 2020. Honestly, it's hard for me to believe that we haven't come together as a nation, as one people.
My 7 year old daughter Ella is taking ballet, so when I saw this article about "How Ballerinas Of Color Are Changing the Palette of Dance" my interest was peaked. As I read this article on the Huffpost, I was filled with anger and frustration as ballerinas of color have been stepped over and passed by because of their color. Typically I get frustrated when anyone's future is determined by something other than their talent and ability, but the article states:
"today, ballet prizes the physical and emotive attributes that set European nobility apart from commoners ― poise, daintiness, adherence to etiquette and hierarchy, erectness of carriage. So it seems that ballet and whiteness are inseparable, to be divorced from each other at a cost no less than the extinction of the form itself. Some stakeholders reinforce this idea by favoring homogeneity, claiming a Black dancer in the corps could throw off the symmetry needed for pleasing optics. Others ostensibly reject Black dancers for having what they say are unsuitable contours. The cumulative impact of these beliefs is felt hardest by aspiring dancers of color."
Wow! Examples of this mentality are everywhere, not just in the ballet. It wasn't until 2015 that the American Ballet Theater had its first female African-American principal dancer, Misty Copeland. This is a huge injustice. Foundation 59 was birthed out of watching the son of a very close personal friend miss out on opportunities in golf because his family wasn't as well off as the families of his peers. He is one of the most talented junior golfers I have seen, but his pathway to success is much harder. Another injustice in my mind. We should all have the opportunity for equal opportunity. The Bible puts it this way:
"For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility." - Ephesians 2:14-16
Now there's some history here, but the message is true today. In Christ, we are all one! There is no distinction and no difference. Since we are all one, that oneness kills hostility. Evil wants to divide us and destroy us, but God wants us to thrive together as one. Wherever we are and whatever we do, may we be the ones who tear down the walls of hostility and do whatever is necessary to promote oneness. Let's unite with each other because of the things we have in common, and not divide ourselves because of our differences. Let's come together as one!
You are loved.
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