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THE MO'KELLY REPORT: Guest Columnist - Jesus Wasn't Black
*There’s a lot of writing talent out there that needs to be seen and their voices heard. With that in mind, The Mo’Kelly Report will feature guest writers from time to time; allowing them a platform to develop their published portfolios as well as polish their poetic prose. If you are an aspiring writer and think you can withstand the intense scrutiny of the loyal EUR readers, feel free to reach out to me. The faint of heart need not apply.
Mo’Kelly
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With no further adieu…I’m pleased to introduce Miss Alicia Nassardeen.
Preface: I am Christian. This is written from a Christian standpoint. If you are of another religion and don’t agree with what I’m saying from a theological standpoint, respect my gangsta enough to not indulge me in an argument about God…please…
Jesus wasn’t black.
Yeah, I said it. And it’s true. Jesus, God’s only son, Lord and Savior, your homeboy and mine, was not black. Give it a minute to swirl around in your mind.
Before you ask me any questions, label me a heretic, or make a grab at my black card, read the rest of this. After that, I’ll accept any and all comments…and I’m using “accept” very loosely here.
Consider what your definition of a black person is. If you live in America, you probably believe a black person to be (a) anyone who has a black person in their lineage or (b) someone whose skin is brown or darker (excluding those who identify themselves as “brown” – and you KNOW what I mean). Now…ask yourself WHY that is. And thus begins our history lesson.
If you’re black, you’ve probably heard the words mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, and the “one-drop rule” sometime in your life. I submit to you that these expressions have muddled the minds of black people so much, that they have effectively narrowed down our conception of God to a Martin Luther King-ish person with a Florida Evans ‘fro. Not cool.
The “-oon” terms date back to 17th century America as categorical designations for hypodescent (read: determining the lineage of a person of mixed heritage by assigning them the race of his socially subordinate parent). In other words, when you had a mixed child in America (when, most likely, the parents were a black slave and a white slave master), the child was deemed to be black. The actual terms mulatto (half black), quadroon (1/4 black – or one black grandparent), and the like developed from this practice, normally when used to classify the social standing of someone. The more white you had in you, the better off you were, socially.
The one-drop rule also developed from the practice of hypodescent. This “theory” maintains that a person with any percentage of black ancestry should be classified as black. The main purpose of this rule, which was actually codified by several states in the early 1900’s, was to maintain the purity of the white race by preventing interracial relationships. That and push as many black people as possible south of the Mason-Dixon, but I digress.
In any case, this logic is largely fallible – the slave diaspora and high incidence of master-slave relations alone makes about 85% of white people in America black. Add in Rick James and Wilt Chamberlain and the number would probably jump to 90%. So why do we continue to subscribe to this theory? I’ve yet to hear one person who identifies himself or herself as having a diverse racial heritage not call themselves black at the end of the day. Except for Tiger Woods and me, because I’m Jamblackanese.
Back to Jesus. Because the practice of designating anyone with a black person in their lineage as black only seems to occur in America, it seems a bit bass-ackwards to box the Son of Man into one racial category. True enough, Jesus did have black ancestors, but He also had Israeli and Arab ancestors. Christianity is not an American religion (as hard as that is to believe nowadays), so the Man should not be held to our racial standard.
Now, who wants to go scripture digging?!!?!
Fine then…I’ll go.
Genesis 1:26-27 – Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Now, logic tells me that if I am making something in my image, I’m making something that looks like me. If Jesus, who is God in the flesh and His likeness, was black, that makes God black. If God is black, the only people that would exist on this earth would be black. From what I’ve seen, that isn’t exactly the case.
Other than that, there really is nothing in the Bible that describes how Jesus looked while he was on earth. A few scriptures say He was of lovely countenance, but I would expect that Jesus would have been the best-looking man in the world. I mean, come on…an ugly Jesus? Not happening.
“But Alicia, the Bible says His hair was like wool and His skin was like burnt brass. Surely He’s black.”
Yeah it does, but I would like you to tell me where in the Bible that is written. Any takers? Ok, now who has burned brass to know what it actually looks like?
*crickets*
Ok, great. That scripture being referred to is in the book of Revelation:
Revelation 1:14-15 – His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters.
I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sound like a human to me. In actuality, this was a description of Jesus in a vision that came to John while on the island of Patmos. Besides, the next verse goes on to say: “He had in his right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.” Ummm, yeah… this is definitely not a description of Jesus while He was on earth with the disciples.
Face it. The Son of Man wasn’t black. Not that it should matter or anything, but I thought I’d tell you before you go to judgment and get disappointed. Stop putting the weight on His physical appearance and pay attention to what He is – the Word of God. And another thing – stop letting America and your skin tone dictate who you are. Langston Hughes wrote:
You see, unfortunately, I am not black. There are lots of different kinds of blood in our family. But here in the United States, the word ”Negro” is used to mean anyone who has any Negro blood at all in his veins. In Africa, the word is more pure. It all means Negro, therefore black. I am brown.
And I agree. FREE YOR MIND, suckas. Jesus is as much black as He is every other race in this world. Like it or hate it, it really shouldn’t matter at the end of the day.
Alicia Nassardeen is a 22-year-old Los Angeles native with a knack for pissing people off. Her writing aims to “stir the pot” by challenging the groupthink mentality that plagues the masses into complacency. Alicia can be reached at pligga.neese@gmail.com
