Was Jesus that white?
by Isaac Villegas, Durham, N.C.
After reading the March 18 issue of The Mennonite, I passed it along to a black friend at church. I didn’t think twice about the color of Jesus depicted on the front cover. Felix pointed to the image and said, “Was Jesus really that white?” I told him no. He asked me if the people who put together the magazine are “prejudiced.” I said that I didn’t think so.
Many of the early Anabaptists were iconoclasts—they destroyed sculptures and artistic images of the divine. Maybe there is still something to learn from that tradition. A healthy dose of pious iconoclasm would teach us to be more careful when it comes to creating images of Jesus—especially since we can’t help but racialize him when we depict him.
Please remember that white is a color too. And, sadly, making Jesus a shade of white, however innocently, participates in the kind of dynamic that fueled the enslaving and genocidal histories of the United States and Europe.
Associated Issue: Agnus Dei: Lamb of God - March 18, 2008
Associated Article: Agnus Dei: Lamb of God
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