If you don't see colour

you don't see me... (part I)

Hello friends,

Hope all is well and that you have been enjoying the sunshine!

There has been renewed interest in my reflection:

Being Made Whole

The racial justice organisation that I work for as theological development officer-have shared it on their platform so it reaches that readership.

As much as that article -reflects on what it means to be treated as fully human, made in the image and likeness of God - it also relates to how one is seen. If we do not perceive others right, we abuse them. Ab(normal) use is not right or just. To not see that is to ignore the call to rightousnessand justice that the prophets and Jesus Christ called for.

The West as a dominant culture chose not to see. It decided to categorise a whole people group as subhuman, to justify their greed and motive for stealing, killing and destroying those not like ‘them’. They used the Church to sanction this behaviour and the bible to legitimise it (slave obey your masters!) and then pretended not to see the impact. Because of course the ‘other’ was more akin to animals in their eyes. They were not capable of feeling pain. This process of dehumanising ‘others’ made it easier to remove them from their homes, their culture, their ways of being and knowing. By force. Epigenetics proves that this type of trauma stays in one’s DNA for at least seven generations and that it takes up to two generations to make a dent in reversing things. Yet still, people refuse to see…

The call to be culturally competent and trauma informed:

If you had to see a therapist because of racism (often combined with sexism for black women) be it institutionally, or interpersonally in relationship; you’d be in better hands dealing with someone who is trauma informed and culturally competent. A Western approach without contextual understanding, may cause more harm. So why do we expect less from the church?

Photo by Autumn Goodman on Unsplash

Christ was culturally competent and trauma informed. He understood the context of everyone he ministered to and healed. When he met the Samaritan woman at the well he didn't say “I don't see you.” He knew who she was and where she was coming from. He didn't dominate with, “as a Jew I am better than you”. Instead he found unity in their diversity and told her that ‘there would come a time - that they would worship in spirit and in truth!’ Despite location and differences. He did not pretend her away. He saw her fully in her present context and spoke of a time where their common desire would provide the wholeness she was desperately looking for. And in tasting and seeing in that moment it was so. He did not brush away the hard truths and it liberated her, because she was not required to hide what he already knew. Christ drew people in with compassion - because he could see them. Fully.

Since the diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) backlash I have been hearing the " I don't see colour" blind language or words and actions to that effect.

It’s been loud and proud too. A leader friend of mine said that to me in innocence and we had a trueful conversation about why it wasn’t helpful. It can be a genuine blind-spot. But there are times when it is said out of wilful ignorance. I have noticed post US elections that some church leaders (globally) are choosing to sweep things under the carpet and pretend they see nothing - treating skin colour/ blackness as though it were a sin. “Let’s forget all that nonsense shall we.” Easy for you to say, right? Because you are not the one facing the adversity because of it.

I am not writing to any one individual here- but I am reflecting on the recent things that I have heard and seen. It's understood that what we are dealing with is systemic. But pretending makes the 'other' invisible and leadership refusing to see, only appear more guilty as they protest their innocence. Healing comes through relationship in community (2 or more). If leadership decides not to see (out of wilful ignorance) or to not be curious enough to know your story or what harm may have been done to you, then how can the body ever be made whole?

Folks - note that if you are using that rhetoric in any way - you are actually speaking from a place of (mainly but not exclusively) white privilege. I have even heard my own black and brown sisters state they don't subscribe to that 'woke' nonsense. Yet when I ask whether that means they are fine with others simply having no curiosity about their origins, their story (or tribe) they talk about having to code-switch at work and neutralise their natural ways of being to ensure the dominant culture feels comfortable. They deny themselves to fit. That is what we have been conditioned to do. Straighten our hair, tone down our voices and cultural context in our attire etc.

I am not leaning into a political agenda. No. This is a matter of justice. There are many scriptures to affirm the cause I have been called to highlight. The resurgence of a global demonisation around race and belonging (or not) has made diversity a divisive mater once again, which is legitimising wilful blindness to the suffering of those who may be in your community right now.

Selah.

I shall end it here.

For now.

But look out for part two…

Blessings,

Your desert dwelling sister.

Natasha Godfrey 2025 ©