It is the soul they see, not the color of the skin. – Sissieretta Jones
It is amazing how little attention children pay to such superficial attributes as skin color. I believe we can learn from them. Would you agree?
What does that mean?
I saw an interesting quote on twitter which was very close to this, and started digging. I found the following long version of the quote in a bio page, and used the last bit as the quote for today’s blog post:
“It matters not to them what is the color of an artist’s skin. If a man or a woman is a great actor, or a great musician, or a great singer, they will extend a warm welcome. … It is the soul they see, not the color of the skin.”
Today’s quote is by a lady who was an international singing sensation in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. But she was black, and had very limited options in America. She toured the world, and found that there were places where her skin color was not an issue.
The quote comes from a letter she wrote while touring in Europe. She had to break out of the stereotype, and be her own person on her own terms. While some of her dreams were never realized (playing the female lead at the Metropolitan Opera house), she did perform for four US presidents and the British Royal family, and was adored by many Caribbean rulers.
Her quote is about how her music was about what she could bring out in others minds, what she could project of herself, and not the color of her skin. While we have come quite a good distance since then, there is always room for improvement.
Why is looking deeper than skin-deep important?
If all you saw in Jackie Robinson was his skin color, would you have believed that he could accomplish what he did on the baseball diamond? If all you saw in Bill Cosby was his skin color, would you have believed how great a career he could have in comedy and TV?
If all you saw in Martin Luther King was his skin color, would you have believed how great an impact he could have on the consciousness of the whole world? I doubt any of us could have imagined how great any of these people could have been, even without regard to their skin color, right?
Yet we are so much more than the accident of our pigmentation. There is so much more to each of us that it’s hard to understand how some people get stuck on such a trivial detail. Yes, some people are natural mismatchers (ones who easily notice differences) but just because something is different doesn’t make it any less great.
Fortunately, most of us have outgrown that petty and destructive habit, and have been seeing the people for the beauty of their soul, or lack thereof. It is my firm belief that we will all do better if we can stay focused on the 99% of us that isn’t skin, and ignore the color of the skin.
Where can I apply this in my life?
Most of us are beyond the pettiness of that person has a color of skin different from mine, they must be a lesser person, or be otherwise treated in that manner. That kind of behavior simply speaks of the pettiness and insecurities of the individual acting in that manner.
What I want to concentrate on is not thinking of color of skin at all. Not focusing on features that point to a race or an ethnicity. When was the last time you can recall thinking that the person over there was very handsome or pretty, without adding any connotation of race?
When was the last time you heard someone sing and not even had their race enter your mind? What about an actor or actress? Do you think you could go an entire day or even an entire week without having the skin color of someone even enter your mind?
Yes, you would still see it, I don’t want you to poke your eyes out or wear blinders. But the question is can you see someone without having their skin color influence your thoughts about them? Are you willing to take the challenge and find out for yourself?
You could expand it to include gender or any other attribute or feature that distinguishes one group from another. Can you ignore it and focus on the soul of the person, their character and their abilities? Or are you still struggling with the taint of their background or genetics?
For some, it will be fairly easy, for others it will be harder. Some might have more problem ignoring gender than race, or hair color more than weight. But remind yourself that these things have little to nothing to do with who we are inside, and what our talents might be.
No matter what it is that is difficult for you to ignore, there is probably someone out there who has the same difficulty with you and your appearance or features. Help them overcome their bias by being kind to them first, to treat them as who they are, not what they look like.
Because, in the end, it’s what is inside us that counts. Be brave, be strong, be ready to conquer yourself and your inner bias. Become the best possible person you can be in this moment, and then pledge to get even better tomorrow.
From: Twitter, @nevermindnoah
confirmed at : http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/jone-sis.htm – it is about 1/2 way down
Photo by stevegatto2
