A Subtle Statement About Diversity That You Might Have Missed.

Almost in what seems as though a life time ago I went on a mission trip with a bunch of other adults in our mid to late 20's and a bunch of teenagers to Bulgaria. It sounds like a disaster, an international disaster at that, when I look back at that time. I mean, I would be nervous taking a bunch of teenagers to a local mall, let alone an entirely different country that was thousands of miles away. Bulgaria had malls too and we actually did take them there, by the way. It all went fine and we came back to the United States all a little more grown up, even the adults. But while I was there I will never forget a time in which we all strolled through an outdoor market. There were goods being sold by a countless number of vendors and you had to be very quick minded as to what you were looking for and interested in because vendors were constantly sizing us up for how much they could get out of us. Anyway, there was one vendor I walked by that shouted almost anything in my direction to get my attention to stop and look at his goods. But what was the most ridiculous and hilarious about it all was what he said. I will never forget. "Shaquille O'Neal! Um, um! Barack Obama! Uh, uh! Michael Jordan!" The stammers and rapid fire of this barrage of names towards my direction was intense and it was after the second name that I realized they were names that were referring to me.  He was giving me all he had, and had known about America from what he had thought I would understand because, you see, to him I was a black man from America. All I was to him was perhaps just that too, judging by his name calling, literally. I mean, lets just take a back step here. Shaquille O'Neal, really? The dude is like seven feet tall. Barack Obama most definitely would not be walking through a Bulgarian outdoor market with a bunch of teenagers since at that time he was beginning his first round of being the President of the United States. I mean, that would have been really cool to see but it would had been a major security hassle. And, Michael Jordan? He is also tall, darker complected than me, bald (well I am bald now, so ok) and also not going to be walking around a Bulgarian outdoor market, I think.

I say "I think" because you never know. I do not want to make any overarching statements and judgments about people or anything.

The issue with the topic of diversity is that it instantly exposes our predispositions about what it means to us. It also is complicated and easily to overshoot. In overshoot I do not mean mistaking me for two tall basketball players (pun intended) but in that we can miss what diversity means in thinking of another dynamic all together. For instance, is something diverse simply if there are multiple representatives present but yet all representatives are essentially the same? For example, if I went to a hamburger expo in which everyone  there was cooking and selling hamburgers and those hamburgers are to be the exact same specification (same size meat, bun, toppings, etc) then does it matter the number of vendors that are there selling hamburgers. What if the vendors all came from different parts of the United States or from different parts of the world? What if there were Asian, Mexican, African American, Anglo, French, and Serbian vendors there all cooking the exact same hamburger with the exact same specifications, seasonings, styles, etc? Is that diversity? I would say it is not. Yet, this is an issue that people assume and are okay with when thinking of embracing diversity or becoming more diverse. We may include others who look different but we may require them to abide or assimilate to a specific set of rules in order to complete the inclusion. I see this all the time in society when it comes to applying for jobs, certain positions in non-profit groups, clubs, churches, etc. Diversity is simply a topical change but the embrace of something truly different is still prevented.

Ok, lets pick a different scenario.

Going back to the hamburger expo. What if only one race and one gender was allowed to present and sell hamburgers at the expo but the specifications for preparing the expo were essentially zero? You could have flame broiled, pan fried, grass fed, corn fed, different types of buns, different ways of baking the buns, different cheeses, seasonings, types of pickles, different names for the finished burger, etc. You get the point here. Essentially, the options and combinations are infinite and the experience of what you would taste in your mouth is equally as infinite as well. But, again, there is one pre- requisite in that only one race and one gender can be at the expo. Which expo of the two scenarios listed is the more diverse? The way you answer this determines the level of diversity you are a proponent of and would advocate, if that is a thing you would like to do. I bring up these two scenarios to reveal an issue regarding that guy in Bulgaria trying to get my attention in that he had a shallow view of diversity, which is understandable since he probably had not spent a long time in the U.S. There I go judging again, darn, it's like human nature or something. I also bring up the scenarios to reveal an issue some of you may have when viewing the film Black Panther and see all those black people in it and may be inclined to think, "There is not much diversity in this film." or "There are two "Tolkien" white guys in it." The later is a very popular and witty dig, but just reveals a shallow view of diversity.  Why is that? Because even though Black Panther has a lot of black people casted in the film it had a lot of other races present too. It had more than two white guys. There is a whole scene in London in which I am sure several white people were in. Also, there were several asians (Koreans actually) in the film due to another scene shot in south Korea. But that is actually not my point. When the film depicted Wakanda it showed several different tribes. Each tribe had their own dress, colors, ideals, history, traditions, and even their own  distinct language. The one thing they shared in common was that they all had dark skin. They were all African. Yet, there was an immense richness of diversity present. I saw it. I guess I was the only one that saw that and did not just see a bunch of black people? I did not see a bunch of "Shaquille O'Neals", "Barack Obamas", and "Michael Jordans" in the movie Black Panther. I saw people from different tribes. I saw individuals. I saw complexity and diversity. And since these tribes lived in the fictional country of Wakanda I saw diversity and complexity with unity. Did you see that? I am sure it is something the directors were hoping you would see.

Back in the day I used to be asked questions like, "as a black person how do you feel about...?" and I used to always welcome questions like that because it made me feel special and that I represented something bigger than myself. But I knew every time that I was asked questions like those that it was unfair. It was unfair for me to represent an entire ethnicity because I was just one person that shared the same skin tone and not much else. I'm certainly not the blackest person out there or in other words the realist nigga out there either. I mean, what is that really when we think about it?  I was not around during slavery. I was not around during the civil war. I was not around during reconstruction. I was not around during the civil rights movement. I was not even around when riots broke out in Ferguson, MO over the police killing of Michael Brown. And the others that followed. I confess also that I do not really watch BET. I am not really a fan of the NBA. Have not been so since the 90's. That is when, I think, basketball last lived. I'm such a non black black person, I guess. Shame. There I go judging again. 

Just human nature, I guess. 

I grew up pretty well taken care of in a middle class family in a small semi-rural town in Tennessee. But if you were to look at me you would say I was black and I have a few stories that I can share from my own experiences that would contribute to my experience of being black in America, but that is it. Ironically, I have never been called a nigger directly to my face but I will never forget one time when walking down the street with a white friend as a kid and a car driving by with a person yelling, "whigger" as it raced passed us. Quick deduction of the very good ingenuity in racial slurity would figure out the rendered equation white + nigger = whigger. Ah, yes! Genius indeed. I also remember the oddest bond that me and my friend had after that moment. We were already close but him being called a racial slur because of his association to me and me being called one indirectly via one blurted word from one driver screaming past us gave he and I a tighter bond. We were united under something even though we were both very different yet also very similar people. People, I emphasize. Something that driver that day did not see, I am sure. He saw a black kid and a white kid, and that was not cool to him. Even if the reason for that tighter bond came under an unfortunate event. I also remember my white friend yelling back a loud f-bomb at the car while throwing up a bird. It was a great moment. Definitely why I never will forget that it.

There is a war going on in terms of what diversity is and who gets to define it. There is a side that seeks to just add people that look different but also ask them to divorce themselves of everything that comes with the ethnic culture that they come from that was of some signifiant influence on their rearing. All for the betterment of the whole or to make sure unity is preserved. When I notice that there is a political party, a social movement, a type of food I should be pre-disposed to like, or a type of music or artist that I should totally dig I grow weary of this group-think and I tend to move with caution when in the face of it. Conversely, I am cautious about the impulsive action to just add differences for difference sake. Just adding as many different ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives to a group without any guidelines, requirements, or at least a pre-brief is haphazard as well. Where is the unity in that? I know that another one of the critiques being thrown after the film Black Panther is that it did not represent the LGBTQ community. If we go down the road of diversity meaning everyone, idea, movement, etc, has to be represented then what kind of movie is that? It just wouldn't work. A good film has to choose it's battle and stick with that. Another movie, another battle. I remember the film Remember The Titans tried to address every major issue in society from race, gender, and sexuality and it just hit vague on many of them. In fact I bet many of you reading this did not notice that gender and sexuality were themes of that movie. You likely just remember the epic songs, games, race issues, and the happy ending of winning football games. But, yea, Disney tried to imply that the assistant coach's little daughter blaring out plays from the stands and being strong implied female equality, and the fact that "Sunshine" never really cleared up if he dated girls or not is to make us think that he might be gay. 

I mean, I guess he was. We will never know. 

But these issues, due to them being forced into a movie, suffered from not really being discussed and basically forgotten. Again, creating diversity is not just having every issue topically present. It is not just a bunch of different ethnicities cooking the same hamburger.  My wife is white. She is also a female. So topically she is is as diverse from me as anyone can be, I guess. But we are also similar. From personality to beliefs to preferences. And yet, in the same way we are also so different in those areas too. What makes us work? Honestly, I have often prayed and pondered the answer to that question. For the many reasons why we work as a couple, you would have to come by and spend time with us and see. But I can at least say that we work because we desire, appreciate, and see a need for the other's differences in each other's lives. We value what we add to each other. We see that our differences make us better and also push and challenge each other.  In other words we like diverse hamburgers because it increases our pallet and pushes what we consider to be a hamburger, I suppose. Unity and diversity not unity or diversity or unity at the sake of diversity or diversity at the sake of unity.

~~~

The film Black Panther pushes us to look at diversity in a deeper way and in a better way. It is not about how many different looking people can be represented. Nor is it about how many different ideals or causes can be presented. There were several tribes present in Wakanda, yet there was one Wakanda and one king, T'Challa, the Black Panther. Is this okay? Is a film that celebrates diversity within African or black culture enough? Can we look deeper and see diversity and the people, the persons that make it up or are we going to constantly joke the film into oblivion with "Tolkien" white guy references? The diversity in Wakanda is one I think of when reading scripture and thinking of a city, a nation, and a people to come. A nation that will be diverse yet unified. A nation that will be inclusive yet not forcing everyone to give up what makes them beautiful, precious, unique, and those valued to the whole. This is a place we are all desperately need today in every facet of our many cultures, nations, ethnicities, and polices. A world that values differences because they see it makes the overall whole, stronger. The biblical scriptures speak of this place and I long for it. But for now, I have to settle for a Wakanda, a fictional city with a fictional king that loves the outsider, has a "good heart." One that fought for unity of his kingdom and that even rose from the dead to do it (spoiler). And one that sees sharing the best of his kingdom with the world as the best thing that he can do. Another type of Jesus Christ. Another type of kingdom. A Wakanda forever.  

After that I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb... - Revelation 7:9

I am a creative writer. I minister, live, and enjoy life in Houston, TX.