Black History Month: Day Fourteen--God's End Game

*Note: For The Journey: Day Twenty-Seven see my earlier post today.

Black History Month: The History and the Controversy

Day Fourteen: God’s End Game

The controversy is clear, yet complex: is Black History Month necessary? A net positive? Is it fair to have one month designated for one cultural group? Does it actually minimize African American contributions by relegating them to only one month? Wouldn’t it be better to integrate all cultures year-round in all our historical studies?

On and on the questions go. Sometimes they cause more cultural tension rather than building intercultural harmony.

Here’s my take; my Readers’ Digest version.

1. God’s End Game: Culture Is Everlasting

According to the Bible (Rev. 7:9-10, among many other passages), cultural, ethnic differences will be celebrated for all eternity. God’s end game is not one homogenous group, but unity in diversity. Such unity in diversity reflects God. Our Trinitarian God is Three-in-One: unity in diversity.

So, while people may debate whether “race” is culturally-constructed, the Bible is clear that culture is God-constructed. God does not want us to be “culture-blind.” He wants us to recognize, appreciate, and celebrate our differences in biblical unity.

2. Our Game Plan: Celebrate Unity in Diversity

Ideally, life could and should be both/and. We could have books that highlight the unique accomplishments of various cultural groups—celebrating their legacy. And, we could have books that integrate in a fair and balanced way the contributions of all cultural groups.

The same could be true of “history months.” We could have months celebrating specific cultural groups. And, we could and should, year-round, celebrate the contributions of all cultural groups.

3. Our Current Game Strategy: Bring Balance to Historical Imbalance

Given the clearly documented lack of past historical balance (dead white guys getting all the press and other cultures and women given little honor), it still makes sense to me to highlight “minority cultures” and women in special months, books, etc. We can do this while also working toward integrating men and women, and people of all cultures, into year-round study and into overview books in fair and balanced ways.

My Final Summary: One Man's Convictions

Here’s another way to summarize my convictions.

*When history becomes truly integrated, then we can enjoy special recognition (special books, special months) and fair and balanced recognition (survey books, year-round study) simply out of the joy of unity in diversity.

*Today, we still need special recognition (special books, special months) and fair and balanced recognition (survey books, year-round study) to make up for the past and current lack of balanced treatment.