Analysis Of Why Jesus Skin Color Matters By Christena Cleveland

Christena Cleveland’s article, “Why Jesus’ Skin Color Matters”, makes it a point to analyze who Jesus was historically and its connections to his, for lack of a better term, white washing throughout history. Firstly, it targets the main perception Americans and Europeans would have of Jesus, and that is his appearance. Jesus’ face can be found anywhere, from medieval depictions in art, in artwork hung up in Church, and even in the candle section of stores at times. Implictaclly, when thinking of Jesus you will think about a white man with his hair parted in the middle. However, Cleveland brings up this was not always in the case. In fact, there was a time in history, roughly before the 6th century, where Jesus Chrsit was described as a dark

Infamously, the colonial period saw a widespread slave trading and the abuse of people of color by white Europeans traveling the world. Cleveland describes the use of white Jesus as a way for slave owners to cope with their cruelty and even justify seeing people of color as lesser than. One can infer from this point that seeing their God as white means they can interpret as white people as pure and divine and therefore, always in the right. With this justification and a mix of pride derived from the slaveholder hierarchy, Cleveland explains these types of people were able to easily forget Jesus’ disapproval of slave ownership and demands for slaves to be set

Of course, there are many Christians out there who studied the Bible and its figures and are aware of Jesus' suffering and may even be aware of him personally struggling. Some may even be aware of his marginalized status. However, this does not fully negate those who are not aware and may even express some disgust at the idea of Jesus not being presented as white. To better illustrate this point, some people with Christian aligned beliefs often use the argument of the Bible to demean certain groups of people. More recently in America, this can be found in discussions regarding abortion and trans people. Many have used the argument Jesus would not approve of people not identifying with their biological gender. Not to mention, if one were to drive down a long enough road in the South, it would be difficult to miss a sign with Jesus pleading with the viewer they are hurting him and God by "killing their children with abortion." Jesus and other Christian iconographies are sometimes used to dismiss and dehumanize anyone who does not fall under a certain lifestyle to some white Americans. If your values are not as conservative or you express support in what some deem as "misfits" you may be faced with arguments that you will be damned to Hell or have disappointed Jesus. To reiterate, this sometimes comes from people with a belief in a euro-centric Jesus. In other words, it can be argued this