One of the major issues of our time is racism which I find interesting, because there is only one race – the human race.  There are many different cultures and ethnic backgrounds in the world, but there is only one race. When mankind broke into many small communities, different cultures began to develop, and with inbreeding, different features and skin colors began to develop.

I do not like when black, white, yellow, or red are used to describe skin color. The background of this page is white, and I do not know anybody who has that skin color. These letters are black, and again, I do not know anyone who has that skin color. We are all various shades of brown – very light brown to very dark brown.

There are people in politics who use the differences in skin color to manipulate and control people. As Christians, we must rise above this and realize that we are all Imago Dei – made in the image of our creator. Some of us have curly hair and some straight. We have different color hair and eyes. Why do we focus on skin color?

A Punnett Square is a chart that shows the different genetic possibilities that parents can pass to their children. The one for skin color looks like this:

A parent’s genes control a child’s melanin or skin color. When we were created, our original parents were AaBb, which means their skin color was brown. Over time, lighter and darker variations began to appear. As family groups moved away from each other, different customs and cultures developed. Nations arose from different ethnic groups, and now we are told that we should hate each other. In Galatians 3, Paul tells us, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.” That is part of the beauty of our faith. We are one blood. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are counted as the offspring of Abraham. Let us rise above the politics and the hateful speech and love one another and live together as one family with God as our Father.