Diversity and a Bomb Threat

Thanks to a blogger friend, Wendy, I was inspired to add my own two cents worth on the topic of diversity. I don't claim to be an expert. But, I think I have had enough experience with different cultures to be able to speak on the subject. I have always been one fascinated to learn about other races and cultures. Probably, because I grew up in South Dakota, where diversity at the time when I was growing up meant basically two races: white and native American. And I think God put this little spark in me to always want to reach out to anyone who looked different than me. In elementary school my best friend was the only African American girl in the whole school. She was adopted by a white family. I remember our girlhood conversations about race. We talked about our heritage. She was African and German American. I was all German-American. I was also a close friend with a Native American girl, also adopted by white parents. This girl was heavier set and lots of kids teased her about that, but I always felt proud to sit by her in the bus. When I was in high school my best friends were from Laos and Germany. When I went away to college my best friends where Japanese, Koreans and Chinese. I spent a lot of time at the home of my Lao friend in high school. We would sit on the floor eating Lao food with our hands, watching Lao music videos. I became part of their family. And I remember one Saturday morning, after another sleepover, I went into the bathroom and almost scared myself when I looked at my face in the mirror when I noticed how white I looked. I ended up going as a missionary to Japan, where I lived for six and a half years. I saw plenty of Americans, (unfortunately, even some missionaries), who acted like their way of life was better. They were always comparing and contrasting and not wanting to really integrate into the daily way of life in Japan. I guess that I'm just different. I want to experience another way of life, another way of looking at things. But, the one thing I do believe in, is that there is One LIVING GOD. That's why I went out as a missionary. I did not want to change the people. I wanted the people to know that there is a living God who is EVERYWHERE! Even, if they don't know Him, yet, He knows them and loves them as His own. He has paid the fee for them to be His adopted kids. He just wants them to say, "Yes!" to enter into His family. I'm so thankful that I had the experience of living by myself in another culture and having to learn another language in order for people to understand me. It helps me understand a little of what my daughter had to go through in coming to this country. In our family, we don't try to teach her that everything "Americana" is the way to go. In fact, just last night at the dinner table, we were sitting there playing Yahtzee and I was so proud of our daughter playing her music out loud on her ipod Touch. The music she was choosing to share with her parents was mostly Chinese folk music, along with Thai and Korean pop music. And, lately, she has a favorite song by the cutest girl from Japan. And the cool thing is that she doesn't hang out with only the Asian kids at school. She also comes home mentioning names of friends like "Theresa and Cesar". One of the things that prompted me to post on this subject was Wendy's post. But, also, I witnessed a white, Christian, adoptive mom saying the stupidest thing last Sunday at a church where I had gone to volunteer at for their Orphan Care weekend. Her adopted daughter was adopted as a baby from China and is now a teen. This woman was talking to another teenage girl, also adopted as a baby from China. I had asked the teen girl how old she was when she entered her family. After she said, "Four months," this other woman piped up and said, "Oh, that's like our daughter, Jasmine. Then you must not even feel different." This was followed by a very awkward silence by myself and the teenage girl as we were probably both wondering what to say in response to such a dumb statement. So, finally, the woman spoke again to try to fill the awkward silence. She said, "Well, we always try to tell Jasmine that she's not different, she's special." That, too, in my opinion, is not a good thing to tell a child. EVERY child is Special! And it does nothing to acknowledge and celebrate what is different about her. She has a story to tell and part of it is her racial background. Even if she was adopted at a young age, it doesn't matter. Part of her will always be Chinese, because that's the part that everyone sees. And this poor girl has lost not only her connection with her birth parents. But, because she left when she was so young, she doesn't know firsthand, about her birth culture and has lost the opportunity to speak her native language. I wonder if the mother has tried to help her learn about those things, of course, if her daughter is open to learning about them. In many ways, I'm thankful that my daughter still knows Thai and can remember her homeland. She knows about the good and the bad. There is no ideal special place in the world. They all have their special, unique characteristics. And every place is also tainted by sin in this world. So, I always tell Penny to remember that no place is perfect. There will be good and bad everywhere! It's our job to find the good and focus on that and do our part to try and bring change to what is bad and wrong. Speaking of the bad...yesterday, on Veteran's Day, some kid thought they'd be "smart" and help the kids get out of school by planting a bomb threat note in a computer disk drive in the library at Penny's school. Thankfully, Jay had the day off from school and Penny was able to borrow her friend's cell phone to call him. He picked her up as the bomb squad was searching the building. I was out enjoying my 10 minute walk during my lunch break just two blocks away. I wondered why I saw several teenagers walking down the street. I thought that a lot of them were walking home for their lunch break. Just as I was walking through the parking lot back to my school a horn honked and I turned around to see Jay and Penny driving up. I thought, "What in the world is she doing out of school and why are they here?" My first thought was that she had become ill. So, I was quite surprised to hear that they had been released due to a bomb threat. It just seems like such a different world that we're living in. I never had to deal with things like that. My world was such a sheltered place, going to a small high school of just 60 kids. But, thankfully, even in such a small school, I had the opportunity to meet kids from Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Laos, Africa and Guatemala. And my life was enriched for the better!