Race is a social construct originally framed to create hard boundaries that could not be crossed by people of different skin color and for the purpose of segregation. “Black”, Indigenous, and “People of Color” (BIPOC) are still discriminated against and abused because of the color of their skin. Although race as a social construct was abusively imposed as a biological determinant of skin color, our society must not fall into the trap of colorblindness as it prevents one from seeing the suffering of “BIPOC” members. Fr. Armel Setubi, SJ, asks us to imagine a society without race, while warning us about the common mistake of thinking that colorblindness is the solution to racism.
Inspired by St. Ignatius, Armel asks us to ponder God’s call to be anti-racist with three important questions: what have we done to fight the sin of racism, what are we doing now, and what will we do in the future.
Link to the NYT article by Nikole Hannah-Jones referenced in the video: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/24/magazine/reparations-slavery.html?auth=login-google