​​Who in their right mind would start blogging in 2024?

Better yet, who would read a blog? In a world of Artificial Intelligence, YouTube videos, and TikTok Reels, why read, why write? Well, maybe there aren’t any good answers. I don’t know many individuals who would choose to read something. But, I think I’m missing something: depth. 

I live in a world where technology can ‘create’ thousands of words in seconds, create realistic videos in seconds, and expose me to dozens, if not hundreds of people, in seconds (assuming the average length of an Instagram Reel is 5-7 seconds long, and I end up continuing to scroll 🙃). I was on dating apps for a season, and I’m ‘meeting’ and ‘judging’ potential life-partners in seconds by swiping left or right, and then repeating the same thing with the next person. 

Somehow, I’m encountering more and more ‘content,’ but I’m saturated with so much of it that it becomes white noise—indistinguishable from something else. And so, I’m wanting to write, because I’m wanting to exist for more than 10 second-increments. 

If I’m honest, I don’t think I’ll get many readers in a world of viewers—which actually relieves some of the perfectionistic pressure I normally apply to myself. For example, when I write an academic paper, a song, or a poem, my inner-perfectionist agonizes over every little detail. It takes forever to finish anything, and, because it takes forever, I never start working on it (typical procrastinator). If I assume no one will read these words, however, I’m free to not be perfect. 

I’m not sure if you believe in souls, or the human spirit, or the psyche, but I do believe that every human has a part of themselves that longs to be seen, understood, valued, and engaged. There's a part of us that we know is real and exists, and yet, can go unnoticed and ignored, and if enough time goes by, we wonder if that part of us still exists. In my opinion, this is the part of our society that is growing invisible and ill. This is the part of me that is growing ill. Writing and reading might help parts of us exist that can't be captured with a camera.

Once upon a time, or perhaps in a distant location far away from where I'm writing this, getting to know each other required attention spans for longer than 10 seconds. Do we not all have a desire (even if suppressed) to feel known? Maybe one day we can recover the art of learning how to engage someone beyond superficialities and presenting ourselves with endless filters and digital refinement. Maybe, one day, we can live in a society that knows how to cultivate digital trustworthiness.

Which is why, if you have stayed with me this far, dear reader, I’m grateful. Attention spans are probably the most sought after thing in our world. I used to be able to watch a Netflix show without an advertisement, and now, I have to watch 2-3  ads while already paying for a Netflix subscription—I don’t even know when, or how this happened.  

Here’s what I’m committing myself to doing. I’m going to be writing some more, and, with little pressure of perfection. Unlike my academic work, I won’t necessarily have a thesis, a series of points to argue, and a conclusion to summarize everything neatly. I’m trying to practice being human in a society that is becoming more artificial with every passing month. 

What I do promise, though, is to expose a little more of what’s going on within my soul. Ideally, I’d love for you to try and do the same. My hope is that these are no more than 5-minute reads. For your time, I’ll try to not bore you. Realize that this is an attempt to engage, however. So feel free to comment. I’ll read your reply and respond. Thanks for stopping by. 

—René

Many of my white brothers and sisters, at least on social media, have claimed to be willing to learn. For once, I am seeing white people break the silence and speak out. Some confess; others lament; some rage with anger; but for the first time in at least my lifetime, I am seeing white people break the colorblind paradigm by speaking out against racial injustice and other forms of racism. Many of you are saying you’re willing (and needing) to learn; I express both gratitude and a silent hallelujah. I offer you four initial starting points, or questions, to wrestle with to help you progress down the long path ahead of you. 


1. What did it take?
George Floyd wasn’t the first black man to die from police brutality. This also wasn’t the first Black Lives Matter protest as a response to racial injustice. What did it for you? This is important and you need to be able to articulate it. Was it the back-to-back incidents of publicized Black death that’s contributing to your awakening? Was it #IrunwithAhmaud #JusticeforBreonna #JusticeforGeorge, was it Amy Cooper, in New York, threatening the life of a black man with her white privilege? I’m asking you to be able to name whatever it is that’s moving you out of silence because we (people of color) will need you to stand with us the next time racial injustice happens. We need you to remember what moved you to come out of the shadows of silence, choosing to courageously use your white and influential voice; you’ll need to anchor into it. You'll need to do it again. 

2. Where were you? 
Be careful not to move from color blindness to only seeing in black and white. True justice reaches beyond the black/white binary and impacts the lives of all those oppressed and marginalized. I’m a first generation American, but my family is from Mexico. I have black hair, brown eyes, and brown skin. I’m a person of color, but I’m not black, I’m a brown Mexican born in America, I have indigenous American blood in me. After you understand what it took to get you to speak up, you need to wrestle with another question (and you need to develop another anchoring response). Where were you? Where were you when we (people of color) were being harassed by white America in the past? Where were you when Latina/os were detained in cages, while children die in ICE detention centers? Where were you when a white-supremacist shot up a Walmart in El Paso Tx. targeting and killing over twenty Mexicans? Where were you when my Asian brothers and sisters were crying out about being physically, verbally, and emotionally abused due to Covid-19 realities? Where are you when Indigenous Americans advocate for reparations and an honest indigenous history; why still observe Columbus Day and not mourn the beginning of an era of genocide? What keeps you silent? Again, you need to be aware of what can and will potentially keep you silent tomorrow (be it enjoying a privileged lifestyle, fear, ignorance, prejudice, etc.). Once you can articulate these two individual answers, you need to start becoming aware of the collective and racialized American landscape, and of how people of color see (and respond) to race realities and racism. I get it, you want to know what you can do (I’ve been asked this many times before and especially right now), but before you do anything you need to understand who else is in this society with you, and how we (a broad set of people of color) are navigating these tumultuous racialized waters. You will benefit from learning how and why (to many people of color) white people are perceived as the gate-keepers of the ideal society. 


3. Do you understand how people of color see race and whiteness?
For you, George Floyd and Black Lives Matter may be the start of your journey towards disentangling racism in society; but you need to understand that for decades, if not centuries, people of color have been ‘dealing with racism.' It’s important to know how different people of color see race. Previous generations pass on how to deal with issues of racism (especially because many occupy a different societal space--not white, but we are also not black). For many people of color, the best way to deal with racism is to do whatever we can to be you: to be white. Centuries of systemic racism and cultural racism have shaped the thinking of people of color, convincing them to alter their lifestyle and image to attain friendship with you; to be accepted by you and your circles, maybe even marry into your family (because for a long time, society has placed you at the top of the food chain, and it still appears that way--just look at how white people get to be “American” and everyone else has to be a hyphenated-American). For so many, myself included, the goal was to be as “white-passing” as possible. So I, like many others, believed the lie that if I traded in my Mexican flag for the American (or white) flag that I would become ‘one of the whites.’ 

4. How white do I need to be to be your friend?
Racism in America is compelling people to strip away who they are to become ‘American’ (which many people of color understand means becoming as white as possible). We crucify our language, our dress style, our values and priorities, our music, our way of life to attain 'salvation' in the American dream of the whites; we learn to love what you love and hate what you hate for the sake of acceptance. This is why so many people of color are also racist towards darker-skinned communities and why you have “white-washed” metaphors in many hyphenated-American communities. Every person of color in America has to choose which society to be a part of--the white community, the native ethnic community, or try to straddle both. What I’m trying to help you see is that many people of color attribute success with whiteness (here, referring to your culture, your way of living, and your image), and so, we too distance and step on those darker than us; we watch you reject others, and so we too reject those we’ve been told are ’not one of us,’ those further from being white-passing. Since we believe there’s limited room in white circles, we fight each other to get in the room of privilege. However, eventually people of color run into situations that remind us we are noticed and not considered one of you. This is where you, my white friends, can change the story. You can practice accepting (even embracing) what’s different, or you can respond like this racist lady who mistakes Puerto Ricans for Mexicans, and criticizes their language, music, and culture. Your work begins in a society where the oppressed oppress each other for the sake of getting ahead (of getting to where you started off by being born with white skin and into white culture). Here’s my point, ultimately you decide how white the rest of us need to be to get accepted into your society: your friend groups, your neighborhoods, your positions of leadership and influence, your churches, your businesses, your schools. Look at those spaces now. If you do not see people of color within close proximity, why is that? Where are they? Wake up to your position in society (and how you’re viewed by people of color) and stop perpetuating the ancient narratives that compel so many to assimilate to whiteness.

As you begin to journey alongside the rest of us, you have an opportunity to change the narrative. We, people of color, are used to hearing, "You can survive, even thrive, among us, if you become like us; you can keep your life, if you give up your identity...we will refrain from vomiting you out if you let us swallow you up" (Volf, p. 75). To my white family (especially evangelical Christian family), continue to learn and practice being different so tomorrow you can do what it requires of you. Don't let this be just a trend that will end, let it be the beginning (or continuation) of transformation. 

​Volf, Miroslav. 1996. Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. 1st Edition edition. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
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Could there be wisdom in thinking about how we may look back on this moment in history? 

I wonder, what will we say twenty years from now? Looking back at this moment in history, when America and Mexico were in conflict over immigration? What will those who identify as "Mexican-American" think fifty years from now? Will that label for identifying certain individuals still be in use? 

There's a song I sing that endorses a theology I believe in - it claims every human being is a "child of God" - and yet, If I'm honest, at least based on what I see, read, and hear (from many professing Jesus-followers), it seems being a child of God is second to being a child of "legal Americans." Because throughout two decades of ministry in various American Christian churches, these are the messages I received:

If we are legal, we are worthy of acceptance and hospitality.
If we are illegal, we are worthy of rejection and deportation.

If we are legal, others protect us from those who wish to commit hate-crimes.
If we are illegal, others must be protected from us - and so we experience racial and ethnic stereotyping, family separation, being detained in cages - all for the "safety of society."

If we are legal, many churches will allow us a seat at God's table of communion.
If we are illegal, we must first request a seat in America, only then are we qualified to request a seat at God's table.

If we are legal, others see our native Spanish language, dark hair, and dark skin as "ethnic" or "diverse."
If we are illegal, others see us as a threat to the ways of a "Native" North-American lifestyle.

If we are legal, Jesus-followers say God offers forgiveness and relationship through the gift of Jesus as risen Lord - accessible to all.
If we are illegal, Jesus-followers say access to God is available only by way of legal American relationship - this community is exclusive.

"We never said any of that," you may say, but actions (and in-action) speak louder than words. If we removed the label of "Mexican-Americans" or "Mexicans," how would our posture and attitude change? Would we change?

If "illegal Mexicans" became individuals from Mexico - children of God, born in Mexico, and if we actually believed this, what would we (as individuals and church communities) do differently? My theory is some would refuse to change anything - because their theology is infused and confused with nationalism and racism.

Do they know the Jesus who approached and welcomed those who were societally unwelcome - the Jesus who crossed exclusive boundaries? Do they know the Father who longs to bless the world through Abraham's offspring - who longs to be in relationship with the whole world? Do they know the Holy Spirit who challenged Peter to include non-Jewish people into God's family - making it possible for Gentiles to enter God's church - which includes Mexicans and Americans?  
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I wonder if we have forgotten who we are - Are we Israel? Are we Gentiles? Are we grateful that Jesus grants us access to this God? To follow Jesus is to accept the offer to be granted inclusion into God's family - a title we don't deserve, nor earn, but gladly receive and live from.

May we have eyes that see children of God, ears that hear their stories, and hearts that are open to new conversations.