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Race, Beauty, Appearance, and Representation

 

Photograph: The cast of Hamilton greets President Obama, July 18, 2015. Photo credit: Pete Souza | Public Domain

 

Introduction

 

The following resources engage the vexing problem of racism as related to issues of beauty, appearance, and representation.

 

Conversation Stations

These are the images used in artistic physical displays. They are survey questions and conversation starters that are topically and thematically organized. They demonstrate how Jesus is relevant to each topic or theme. You can also just view the images on your device. If you would like, see all our Conversation Stations; below are the ones that relate to the topic of Race.

 
 

Other Resources on Race and Beauty, Appearance, and Representation

 

Bell Hooks, Black Looks: Race and Representation. South End Press | Amazon page, 1992.

What Would You Do?  Bike Theft. VladCantSleep, May 27, 2010.  A 4:40 minute video.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Good, Racist People. New York Times, Mar 6, 2013.

Tony Dokoupil, What Adopting a White Girl Taught One Black Family. Newsweek Magazine, Apr 22, 2009.

Janell Hobson, The Rise of Beyonce, the Fall of Lauryn Hill: A Tale of Two Icons. Feminist Wire blog, May 13, 2013.

Lisa Wade, The Hookup Elites: Not Everyone in College is Hooking Up - Mostly White and Wealthy. Slate, Jul 19, 2013.

Marjory Romeyn-Sanabria, Feminism is for White Women. PolicyMic, Aug 20, 2013.

Ritchie King, The Uncomfortable Racial Preferences Revealed by Dating Online. Quartz, Nov 20, 2013.

eBaum's World, Guy Brings His White Girlfriend to Barbershop and Gets Hated On. eBaum’s World, Dec 9, 2013.

David Byunghyun Lee, Transformed into White Gods: What Happens in America Without Love. Gawker, Jan 4, 2014.

Francie Latour, How Blind People See Race. Boston Globe, Jan 19, 2014.

Michelle Lee, Without You. 1theK, Mar 20, 2014.  A song in Korean by a singer who is Black and Korean.

Antwuan Sargent, 7 Lies We Need to Stop Telling African-American Girls. PolicyMic, Apr 24, 2014.

Franchesca Ramsey, She Begged Her Mother For Braces. There's A Good Reason She Refused. Upworthy.  about Nigerian actress Uzo Aduba

Christopher Ingraham, The Most Racist Places in the America, According to Google. Washington Post, Apr 28, 2015.

Gillian B. White, The Weakening Definition of Diversity. The Atlantic, May 13, 2015.

Michael Lipka, The Most and Least Racially Diverse U.S. Religious Groups. Pew Research Center, Jul 27, 2015.

Janelle S Wong, Editorial: The Source of the "Asian Advantage" Isn't Asian Values. NBC, Oct 13, 2015.

Lucy Sherriff, A Graduate Had Her Job Offer Revoked Because The Company 'Does Not Accept' Braided Hair. Huffington Post, Nov 26, 2015.

Ellen Brait, Resume Whitening Doubles Callbacks for Minority Job Candidates, Study Finds. The Guardian, Mar 17, 2016.

John Metta, It's Not About Race! Medium, Sep 18, 2016.  race is a proxy for culture

Noel Gutierrez-Morfin, U.S. Court Rules Dreadlock Ban During Hiring Process Is Legal NBC, Sep 21, 2016.

Karen Grigsby Bates, New Evidence Shows There's Still Bias Against Black Natural Hair. NPR, Feb 6, 2017.

Brittney Cooper, How Michelle Obama Subverted Respectability Politics With a Ponytail. Christian Century, Feb 22, 2018.

Nick Sibilla, Tennessee Has Fined Residents Nearly $100,000, Just For Braiding Hair. Forbes, Mar 13, 2018.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, I’m Not Black, I’m Kanye. The Atlantic, May 7, 2018.  On "white freedom"

Brittany Wong, On Dating Apps, Casual Racism Has Become The Norm For Asian Men. Huffington Post, May 31, 2018.  “Sorry, no Asians” on dating profiles

CBS News, California Becomes First State to Ban Discrimination Against Natural Hair. CBS News, Jul 4, 2019.

Christine Bumatay, I’m a Filipina Who Was Addicted To Skin Lightening Products. Huffington Post, Sep 5, 2019.  “How hundreds of years of stereotypes made it difficult for this Filipina to embrace her brown skin.” See also, Garin Flowers, ‘Transracial’ Man, Born White, Says He Feels Filipino. USA Today, Nov 13, 2017.

John Iadarola and Jayar Jackson, Black Swimmer Disqualified for Her Body. The Damage Report, Sep 11, 2019.

Jena McGregor, More States Are Trying to Protect Black Employees Who Want to Wear Natural Hair at Work. Washington Post, Sep 19, 2019.

Adam Neely, Music Theory and White Supremacy. Adam Neely, Sep 7, 2020.

Priya Elan, Swimming Caps for Natural Black Hair Ruled Out of the Olympic Games. The Guardian, Jul 2, 2021.

Griesham Taan, The Way Colonialism Has Affected Our Understanding of Beauty. BBC, Dec 9, 2021.

Spencer Buell, An MIT Student Asked AI to Make Her Headshot More ‘Professional.’ It Gave Her Lighter Skin and Blue Eyes.  Boston Globe, Jul 19, 2023.  A Chinese-American student used Playground AI and it made her look White.

 
 

Race: Topics:

This section on Race contains the following: Slavery examines the intersections of religious beliefs and slavery, both in the U.S. and elsewhere during colonialism. Land and Housing explores Native American land seizure, white supremacy in housing, and gentrification. Banks and Finance spotlights racial discrimination in access to capital. Criminal Justice highlights historical racism not only in disparities but practices like convict-leasing, lynching, and hate crimes. Employment lists forms of discrimination in the workplace, hiring, labor unionizing and participation. Eugenics traces the history of eugenics in white American and elsewhere. Schooling examines disparities in the educational system and racial impacts of funding and administration. Politics and Power examines the use of race in political campaigns, the procedural justice wrongs such as voting rights denied and gerrymandering, substantive justice wrongs like education, health, and welfare, and racial fascism in the U.S. Immigration examines the moral, economic, and political challenges of immigration, along with the political manipulation of immigration as an issue. Child Development highlights racial implications in emotional development and psychological awareness. Health Disparities examines the significance of race on epigenetic factors, environmental factors, medical treatment, and health care politics. Beauty examines how race impacts notions of beauty and professionalism. Race is part of our critique of the political Right and Left in the U.S.

 
 

Church and Empire: Topics:

The following topics are also listed under the “Church and Empire” section of our website. They are offered here to remind us what Christian faith was like prior to colonialism, and in resistance to colonialism, to show that Christianity is not “a white man’s religion.”