I grew up not seeing color in others, I just saw them for the people that they were based on their values and their behaviors. Then I moved here and way too much of the talk was about racial differences. Wouldn’t we be better off if people stopped seeing color and just treated each other as they would want to be treated themselves?

Your daughter does have a point. And, it it great that she is nice to everyone she meets. No one can deny that she has not – personally – been involved in oppressing any group of people. Likewise, no one can deny that she has benefited from the results of that oppression.

Now, I do not expect nor do I request the government pay me (or Black people) any reparations. That would be too easy a “fix,” that really would fix nothing. The hard work comes in having open discussions on race and the impact of racism. The hard work comes in removing the cognitive dissonance that numbs us to the issues. The hard work comes in building vehicles for self-sufficiency.

White people need reparations too! All of us have been broken by the experience of slavery…master and slave. And, both of us need healing. Reparations is an expression of Christian love. Come and get your reparations!