“Black People Don’t Tip”: How Behavior Determines Racial Identity

This clip is taken from PBS’ online film festival from the category “Who Are We?” In “Black People Don’t Tip,” persons are invited to examine and discuss a stereotype that commonly defines African American patrons. In this example, socially colored black identity is defined by the perceived group’s practice of not tipping a waiter or waitress after a […]

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No Holiday Break From Race

I was in the salon this past Saturday and it would have been like any other day had it not been for a new customer. She was sitting under the dryer, reading a magazine when I arrived. Or, perhaps it was reading her. Her eyes were closed for much of the fifteen minutes that she sat under […]

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Race’s Proverbs

I often review the statistics for my blog but I’m not just interested in the numbers. While it is encouraging to know how many persons have read my posts, I am also interested in what led them to the blog. For this answer, I check the word searches. Sometimes, it’s the name of the blog […]

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Hardened Hearts: How Race Makes Us Emotionless

Harden. The word only appears twelve times throughout the entire Bible. Of the three times that it is recorded in the New Testament, all are found in the book of Hebrews (3.8,15; 4.7) and the writer is quoting a verse of Psalm 95. The rest are recorded in the Old Testament, the majority of which are the Lord’s […]

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Unseeing Eyes: How Race Blinds Us

In Mark 8.11-21, we read of Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees and later His disciples. The Pharisees were arguing with Him, demanding a sign from heaven to test Him. Jesus seems tired, disgusted perhaps, having suffered rejection in Nazareth while teaching in the synagogue (Mark 6.1-6) and having grieved the loss of his cousin, John, beheaded by King Herod (v. 14-29) after He […]

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