Is it okay for a person to be proud of their race?

[LOVEthroughINTELLECT]

Not only is biological race a myth, it is a myth used to justify oppression.

Therefore, not only am I not going to be proud of something that does not exist, I am not going to embrace and identify with an instrument that is used to mistreat people.

It is all summarized in the American Anthropological Association
Statement on "Race".

 

[Ed Caton]

Should a person or persons be proud of their race? Doesn't it seem unfair especially for a white person that a white person cannot be proud of his or her race? Black people are proud of our race all of the time. Granted, it sickens me that there are hateful people who have twisted the word pride around to justify thinking that their views are okay and that they think they are better than other people. As I mentioned earlier, why can't a white person be proud of their race like everybody else? I CAN say that all of us no matter how we identify ourselves should be proud of who we are racially and otherwise. Jonas Salk and Nikola Tesla were white and they have accomplished good things. Dr. King and other black people accomplished good things too.

However, there are young white people who seemed ashamed of being white because of racists and bigots and for deplorable deeds of the past. Ironically, a person being proud of their race doesn't seem to be in a position like someone who seems to be ashamed of being black or white? There is even racism there, not just someone who claims to be conscious of what happened in the world, and also a case of self esteem issues, but that is just my humble opinion. The racism in fact in my view from the last sentence is that the narrative that white=racist and black=victim. Black people have been victimized and were marginalized in America, but have ALL white people played a role? I am looking at facts not just opinion.

By the way, what would the Bible say about racial pride? How does the Word of God define the concept of race? Is racial and ethnic pride wrong according to the Bible? Is racial pride inherently wrong? You may or may not agree with me, but a person's race is only a part of who they are, despite the marginalization of some and the institutionalization that exists in some areas of society. This brings one final question. Is race REALLY a social construct?

Should a person or persons be proud of their race? Doesn't it seem unfair especially for a white person that a white person cannot be proud of his or her race? Black people are proud of our race all of the time. Granted, it sickens me that there are hateful people who have twisted the word pride around to justify thinking that their views are okay and that they think they are better than other people. As I mentioned earlier, why can't a white person be proud of their race like everybody else? I CAN say that all of us no matter how we identify ourselves should be proud of who we are racially and otherwise. Jonas Salk and Nikola Tesla were white and they have accomplished good things. Dr. King and other black people accomplished good things too.

However, there are young white people who seemed ashamed of being white because of racists and bigots and for deplorable deeds of the past. Ironically, a person being proud of their race doesn't seem to be in a position like someone who seems to be ashamed of being black or white? There is even racism there, not just someone who claims to be conscious of what happened in the world, and also a case of self esteem issues, but that is just my humble opinion. The racism in fact in my view from the last sentence is that the narrative that white=racist and black=victim. Black people have been victimized and were marginalized in America, but have ALL white people played a role? I am looking at facts not just opinion.

By the way, what would the Bible say about racial pride? How does the Word of God define the concept of race? Is racial and ethnic pride wrong according to the Bible? Is racial pride inherently wrong? You may or may not agree with me, but a person's race is only a part of who they are, despite the marginalization of some and the institutionalization that exists in some areas of society. This brings one final question. Is race REALLY a social construct?

Pride of any sort in dishonorable in the Bible. Pride is discussed 49 times in the Bible both Old and New Testaments. In each case the original Greek or Hebrew word carries an evil meaning. Jesus taught in Mark 7:20-23 that pride, among other traits such as adultery, fornication, and murder are evil and defile anyone who has this issue. The antithesis of pride is humility. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time 1 Peter 5:6.

I had this conversation with a black lady at a pizza joint. She said she was African American. Another gal said she was Native American. I sort of threw a wet blanket on that conversation when I said I was a Swedish American youbetcha. Holding on to one's race as an identifier of who you are, overshadows the intimate individual person that you truly are. Am I Swedish first or am I me first in my picture of who I am. Ya ya, I'm a white guy who just doesn't get it. This African American gal and I discussed if her being an African first was keeping her self-portrait locked in a particular cultural or ethnic box. Yes her culture was important to her but she admitted it should not be the largest paintbrush she used to paint her self-portrait. Neither should my Swedish heritage be the primary guiding force in my life. I am who I am and that is all that I am except for the god grace of God. We also discussed whether the culture of slavery in this nation has been cursed by God that all future generations would suffer because of the slave owners and traders. Slavery has always been an issue in human history whether racially, ethnically or class based. I chose to be a bond-slave to Jehovah, although I severely need His help to get there.

 

[Cearbhall]

Should a person or persons be proud of their race? Doesn't it seem unfair especially for a white person that a white person cannot be proud of his or her race?

I'm white, but that doesn't really mean anything to me. It's not an actual thing. It's a particularly meaningless classification.

I'm certainly proud of my ethnicity. It's an important part of my identity and my life, and I don't try to hide it.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Race is the term commonly used to describe peoples with certain physical features and skin color.

 

[sarahbethcole]

I think it can be taken a little legalistic when people are saying the Scriptures warning against pride are talking about not being proud of one's ethnicity. For example, I'm proud to be a Texan and I don't believe that's the kind of pride that's being referred to in the Scriptures. When God's Word talks against pride, it is talking about the selfish mindset of a person thinking they are better than others or that their own desires are more important than anyone else's desires.

I'm proud to be a follower of Christ, and I'm sure those Scriptures do not fault me for that.

I understand when people are saying race is a man-made social construct. But I also think it's really just a matter of semantics...OP is using ethnicity and race interchangeably, which I have no problem with.

To answer your question, I don't think it is unbiblical to be proud of one's ethnicity, ancestry, and heritage, as long as you don't take it too far, just like you said in your post. We can be glad of the family and ethnicity we were born into and also have an appreciation for others in their varying ethnicities, just as God made them.

 

[LovebirdsFlying]

Proud of your race, ethnicity, family lineage, and such..... The sword can cut both ways when it's not thought of as a thing to be proud of, yet you can't do anything about it. The descendants of the man who invented the guillotine changed their last names so they wouldn't be associated with it. At the start of World War I, there were numerous families in the New York City phone books with the last name of Hitler or Hittler. By the end of World War II, not a one was left. They had all changed their names.

My mother was once married to a man who was the great-nephew of members of a certain Old West outlaw gang. He had the same last name. My uncle couldn't understand how my mother's husband could be proud of that. "Who were that gang? Train robbers, thieves.... and he's proud he's a....?" And I thought, "Yeah, but what should he be, ashamed of it? He can't change what his family did."

I think the problem comes in because a lot of people at least semi-subconsciously translate, "I'm proud to be X" as "X's are the top of the line. Boy, am I glad I'm an X, because that sure makes me better than you!" As I'm guessing Sarah of the above post can relate to, that comes across with what's known as Southern pride. I'm from Kentucky and married a Washingtonian who grew up in California. The first time he pointed out to me that only Southerners care whether or not someone is "a true child of the South," and the rest of the country doesn't give a hangnail, I wanted to hit him upside the head with a cast iron skillet full of hot cornbread. But you know, he's right.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

We can be glad of the family and ethnicity we were born into and also have an appreciation for others in their varying ethnicities, just as God made them.

I'm glad, not proud, that I'm white. However if I was born in China I would probably be glad to be Chinese.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

I think it's important to be proud of your ethnicity. Which black people lost that, when they were sold into slavery. Most might not even know their ethnicity. Which was stolen from them. Most white people know their, unless they were adopted or something.

 

[Gadarene]

So if race is just a social construct and therefore nothing worthy of being proud of, does that apply also to black pride, Asian pride, etc?

Are we going to see people dismissing those in the same terms, or it is only white pride that's meaningless nonsense?

 

[sarahbethcole]

As I'm guessing Sarah of the above post can relate to, that comes across with what's known as Southern pride. I'm from Kentucky and married a Washingtonian who grew up in California. The first time he pointed out to me that only Southerners care whether or not someone is "a true child of the South," and the rest of the country doesn't give a hangnail, I wanted to hit him upside the head with a cast iron skillet full of hot cornbread. But you know, he's right.

Haha I love this!!

 

[JuiceBoxxed]

I think it is ignorant for a person to say anything at all about their "race" since there is no such thing as a "race." Races exist only in our imaginations, and even there, they have only caused us problems. We need to realize that we are all just varieties of human beings.

Bullseye.