One more river to cross

I wish I were black.

Well, kind of. :) After reading One More River to Cross (a novel about black Mormons back in the 1800s) and talking about African-influenced music in my American Humanities class (mambo, son, salsa, etc.), I’m really wishing I had some black ancestry. And I don’t mean that in any kind of ironic way — I’m serious. They’ve got soul.

On further introspection, I find myself empathizing with most other ethnic groups, wishing I could be one of them. Jews, for instance. Would that I had even just one Jewish line! I’m not quite sure why I feel this way, but it’s a good feeling and one that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I also feel a strong kinship with those of other ethnicities, whatever they may be. Maybe it’s because I spent two years in Thailand. Maybe it’s something else. Whatever the case, since I can’t be all of these other ethnicities (though I am a quarter Cuban and a quarter Italian), I’ll have to content myself with getting to know other people and with reading books from their perspectives. And while that’s not the real McCoy, it’s still pretty darn good.

whoa! i totally agree! i always am wishing i were hispanic or european. but i think that’s more for the hott aspect than anything else (i mean, latino chicas are super hott and a french accent on a girl is too)! :) maybe i could fake an accent…?

LOL, I’ll admit (rather sheepishly) that I wouldn’t in the least be disappointed if I ended up marrying a British girl. There’s something about English (and Irish and Welsh and Scottish) accents that’s as attractive to me as some of my favorite books. Have I mentioned on here before that I often speak to myself in a British accent? Sometimes I even pray in different accents, without meaning to, but I (usually) catch myself and revert to my plain old natural voice. (Don’t worry, I’m quite content with my normal voice. Especially when it dwells in the lower registers.)

I want to be Jewish because I want that drive to succeed. Successfull Jews are everywhere. Niels Bohr, Einstein, Marie Curie and all the other pioneers in physics were Jews.

Some of the best business leaders are Jewish. Greenspan, to whit.

Bud Selig (MLB commish), David Stern (NBA commish) are both Jewish. They’re just unbelievably good at what they do.

I do find that as we learn one another’s languages and ways and as we study each other’s stories, our worlds must expand. I associate Spanish with some sacred experiences in my life, and find that hearing Spanish brings something sweetly nostalgic to my awareness. I can be completely bored at a Sunday meeting, but as soon as someone starts speaking Spanish, I’m alert and spiritually revitalized.
And I must say that writing _One More River to Cross_ REQUIRED me to enter into a different world. After completing the trilogy, I am extremely sensitized to race issues and wince when I hear a racist comment–which the speaker himself often doesn’t recognize as racist at all. I hear the assumptions, though. I didn’t hear them before 1998.

sixline: I wonder if past persecution runs through a community’s psyche, spurring them on to drive hard. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. Seems like Jews, blacks, and Mormons have all had their share of persecution. Hmm…

Margaret: First off, I just want to say that I loved your book and will certainly be reading the rest of the series. (For what it’s worth, I first heard about it in your husband’s class on C.S. Lewis. He did a good job promoting it. :))

This world-expansion is a wonderful thing. We often assume that the way we see the world is the way to see it, but the smorgasbord of different perspectives out there enriches life in ways I’m scarcely beginning to realize. It’s like living many lives. And I think it’s a prerequisite to obtaining true empathy.

If only there were a silver bullet to eradicate racism… I think I’ve mostly gotten rid of it in my own life, and yet I can’t help but wonder if there’s any I’ve accidentally and unknowingly picked up without realizing it — under the surface, like your speaker there. Hopefully not.

I’ve often wished I were black as well, or at the very least, I wish I lived in a more diverse state. I want my kids to look at all people the same and not ask me some day, “why does that person have a different skin color than I do?” I would love for my children to be color blind.

Amen to _One More River to Cross_ being an awesome book!

I’ve been reading a book called Cuba Diaries, and in the first chapter or so the author talks about how all the races mix there without any real problems. Whether or not that’s actually true (I suspect it is, but you never know), it was a beautiful thought to behold. It’s Zion.

Side note: it’s amazing to me how powerfully the arts can affect how we see other people. In reading books like One River to Cross, I see the world from a black perspective — a whole new world, really — and it opens my eyes in ways I’d never even thought possible before. Not all books (and movies and music and such) have healthy perspectives, though, and it’s sad to see how some continue perpetuating bad feelings. I usually can’t get through more than five minutes or five pages of them, because the clash between their worldview and mine is just too great. It’s like eating manure.

Anyway, what I think I’m really meaning to get at is that artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and all the rest have a real responsibility in creating their art. Art molds lives. How important it is, then, to make sure that our art uplifts and edifies, teaching us to see each other as brothers and sisters and not as enemies, showing us the beauty of giving and love and friendship, instilling in us a strong aversion to bigotry and racism and hatred and dishonesty and all the other bad things in the world. While it’s intimidating to think how much is riding on it (well, assuming one’s art is widely received :)), it’s also breathlessly exciting. The arts can be one of the strongest powers for good in the world. Let’s keep it that way.

(Incidentally, I read in the paper yesterday that the president of Walden Media came and spoke here at BYU on Thursday. They seem to be big on family values, which is wonderful to hear. I wish I’d been there…)