Article June 15, 1981 Issue

Correct identification heals racial hatred

ESSIE A. DIGGS

When the high schools in the large city where I live were slowly integrating the faculty and the student body, I was teaching in a school that was 90 percent white and 10 percent black. At the time, the teacher in the classroom next to mine was white and would never speak to me, even though I spoke to him. Thinking the presence of a black person next door had shocked him, I felt he would get over it as he got accustomed to seeing me. But time went on, and he still ignored me. When I was on hall duty, he'd walk by so close to me he would almost step on my feet, but he never even looked in my direction. To him, I did not exist. Not having anyone to talk to before school and between classes made my day very long and very lonely. I felt rejected and humiliated.

I had begun studying Christian Science about a year before and decided to apply the new knowledge I was gleaning of God and His love for man. Instead of seeing man as a mere mortal made from dust, I knew I had to reverse this outlook and see man as God made him. The first chapter of Genesis tells us, "God created man in his own image." Gen. 1:27. An image is the very likeness of the original in every detail.

The mortal picture facing mankind would have us believe man is fallible, corrupt, destructive. But our duty to mankind is to realize and maintain the correct view. Man, the reflection of God, is pure, serene, perfect, and complete—not sometimes but all the time. He expresses such traits as integrity, love, and uprightness. As we acknowledge this truth, we are better able to see ourselves and others as God made us to be. Instead of viewing man as divided into races—or even into desirables and undesirables, rich and poor, intelligent and not so intelligent—we can strive to see the real and only man, who is neither this color nor that, neither rich nor poor; he is actually the image of God. This brings the Christ's healing influence to bear on the actions of individuals.

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June 15, 1981
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