{"id":85,"date":"2012-03-15T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-15T11:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wordynerdy\/2012\/03\/who-owns-this-house\/"},"modified":"2012-03-15T11:27:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-15T11:27:00","slug":"who-owns-this-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wordynerdy\/2012\/03\/who-owns-this-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Owns This House?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

\n
I lied.\"\"<\/div>\n
I said I finished my series on race, but I\u2019m not done\u2014and I worry it makes folks uncomfortable out there.<\/div>\n
Because talking about race in America almost always feels uncomfortable.<\/div>\n
I spent last week at InterVarsity\u2019s Multiethnic Conference.\u00a0 \u00a0350 campus staff of almost every stripe showed up\u2014we had Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asians, Natives, and Middle Easterners.\u00a0 The Asian group alone included focus groups of East Asians, South Asians, Southeast Asians and Filipinos.<\/div>\n
I suspect it felt a little tense for everyone.<\/div>\n
Especially when certain groups cheered when certain things were preached.\u00a0 Especially when folks made edgy comments, or voiced pain, or even a little rage.\u00a0 The danger, as Tara Edelschick pointed out in\u00a0\u201cWhy White Parents Don\u2019t Talk about Race,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0is that research suggests racial attitudes worsen when diverse groups gather.<\/div>\n
Years ago, when I worked in New York City on a team with 2-3 of every kind, a major conflict arose over when to hold our ethnic student conferences.\u00a0 At these conferences, Black, Latino, Asian, and White students worked through issues of ethnic identity, community and faith in a safe environment.\u00a0 \u00a0Our leaders had put the conferences at a time that felt difficult, which led some of us, me in particular, to talk about feeling exploited.<\/div>\n
Nothing like a person of color using strong words to get a meeting convened!<\/div>\n
When we met with our two White leaders, I realized I was talking far more than my minority teammates.\u00a0 Not only was I talking more, I was saying the things they had said privately, but weren\u2019t voicing in the group.\u00a0 I finally called them on it.<\/div>\n
The discussion then focused on what prevented them from speaking up.<\/div>\n
And God gave me a picture.<\/div>\n
Our ministry was like a house with all sorts of staff living in it.\u00a0 Most of the White staff felt like they owned the house.\u00a0 They felt free to move the furniture, decorate the walls, put their feet up, and cook the foods they liked to eat.<\/div>\n
But most of the minority staff felt like guests.\u00a0 As a guest, it\u2019s impolite to move the furniture or criticize the decor, and if you don\u2019t like the food served, you don\u2019t complain, because if you complain, you\u2019re not invited back.<\/div>\n
Despite being Chinese, I felt like I an owner not a guest.\u00a0 There were all sorts of reason this may have been so.\u00a0 Maybe growing up in Hawaii as part of the majority gave me confidence.\u00a0 Maybe all the privileges I\u2019d enjoyed gave me a sense of entitlement.\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019d been welcomed so well I had heard the message I was part of the family.\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019m just kind of arrogant that way.<\/div>\n
Whatever the reason, I felt completely free to move furniture, discuss the decorations and serve my own style of food to make our ministry feel like home.<\/div>\n
The picture resonated.\u00a0 My colleagues of color admitted they didn\u2019t feel like they owned the house.\u00a0 They felt like guests, and at times like unwelcome guests.<\/div>\n
In the discussion that followed, our supervisors made clear that they wanted every one of us to own the house.<\/div>\n
But we realized that if we all own the house, the house will feel a little awkward for everyone. It might even look tacky to some tastes.\u00a0 There may be a kente cloth hanging from the wall, and feijoada in the fridge, a Japanese screen to go with the clean lines of a Scandinavian sofa.\u00a0 Rock and roll might play in the living room, hip hop in the family room, salsa in the kitchen, and a Beethovan concerto in the den.<\/div>\n
The Multiethnic Conference also felt messy at times. \u00a0It\u2019s difficult to sing in a language you don\u2019t speak. \u00a0It\u2019s painful to learn truths about American history you never knew while watching\u00a0Race, the Power of an Illusion pt. 3<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 But in that chaotic blend, as we talked and prayed, as we humbled ourselves to listen, and risked saying stupid things, my hope and prayer is that bad racial attitudes didn\u2019t solidify, but that we took a step closer to our future\u2014one where every tongue, nation and tribe gathers in worship before the throne of God.<\/div>\n
Because in Jesus\u2019s kingdom, we all get to be owners.<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I lied. I said I finished my series on race, but I\u2019m not done\u2014and I worry it makes folks uncomfortable out there. Because talking about race in America almost always feels uncomfortable. 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