One of Us

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash 

Reading this story about why Whoopi Goldberg agreed to be in Star Trek Next Generation, I am saddened by Whoopi's reason: "There was...a Black woman in the cast [Nichelle Nichols]. And it made me think, One of us must have made it.”

If I understand correctly, she means that a Black person made it past all the racism and attempted genocide not only to be on the show, but also to survive into the future. 

Representation in public spaces means so much more than we realize. The obstacles are also greater than we fully understand.  As a child, I was told I could be whatever I want when I grow up, and I believed that. Imagine if you couldn't, simply because people like you were not as accepted, even hated so much that people like you got killed simply for being you? 

This is the reality for people of color, and LGBTQIA. It's one of the ways our culture has taught us who is ok and who is not, and what roles are ok for what kinds of people.  It's a lot of hogwash.

This is why we need to watch shows that expand our perceptions.  Like Queer Eye on Netflix.  A reviewer says, "It's beginner's exposure to queer people as genuinely good human beings," and they're right.  If you're feeling down or discouraged, this show is full of joy and hope, which is especially remarkable considering what some of these people have been through, both the makeover recipients and the hosts.

If you only want to watch one episode, watch season 2 episode 1 "God Bless Gay."  This is one of the episodes in which Bobby Berk talks about his church scars.  We get to hear how hard he tried to be what his conservative evangelical parents and church wanted him to be, even to the point of being suicidal. It was so hard that he almost refused to do the episode, according to this article, but the producers convinced him by saying, "Don’t do it for the church, do it for all the little Bobbys who are still sitting in those churches. Do it for them in the hope that the church won’t do to them what it did to you."

Ever since I saw that episode, I have been wanting to help people like Bobby know that there are church people who know that loving God and loving our neighbors means loving people with God's eyes, eyes of love, not socially conditioned eyes that see some people as unacceptable or less than others.

One of the hardest hurdles in overcoming our social conditioning is not believing it's there.  May God help us all to see the ways in which we fall short of seeing people with God's unconditionally loving eyes.

Thanks, God.