The Bothersome Conundrum in a Box of Crayons: An Itinerary from the Innocent to the Insidious

Abstract by Willie Edward Hucks II

Crayola has been producing crayons since 1903, and black and brown were among the original eight colors. Interestingly, white was not among those first eight and it was not added until 1949. Regardless of its purpose, the presence of the white crayon among the others connotes color in the same way that the other crayons possess color.

The terms People of Color or Persons of Color (POC), have been widely employed to describe those who are not white. While this term and its closely related Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) describe groups who are considered minorities, its use carries the implication that white (and by extension, whiteness) transcends such distinctions. Furthermore, white becomes the norm and all others become anomalies. Far from being innocent, this bifurcation reinforces unacknowledged worldwide existing strata with insidious implications for the well-being of those whose presence is theologically but not existentially normalized.

How can the Seventh-day Adventist Church better address these unacknowledged worldwide existing strata, and thus live out the principle of Galatians 3:28?