Thursday, 17 September 2009
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CrazySexyCool
By TLC
see relatedThe Racism of Christianity
There’s a popular t-shirt that’s mostly worn by suburban teenagers, twentysomething white professionals, and Asian tourists who like to shop at Urban Outfitters while in America. The t-shirt has an image of Jesus Christ and says “Jesus is my homeboy.” I’ve been seeing this t-shirt around for several years, but I’ve never paid much attention to it. However, last week I saw someone at the local Subway with a t-shirt that said “Jesus is not my homeboy. (He is my Savior.)”, and now I can’t stop thinking about either shirt.While it’s not always good to assume things about people you’ve never met, I’m going to assume a few things about this Subway sandwich eater. I’m going to assume that he’s Christian, since, via his t-shirt, he is identifying that Jesus Christ is his “savior”. Furthermore I’m going to assume that he does not identify Jesus as his “homeboy” and that this t-shirt is in direct defiance to t-shirts that say “Jesus is my homeboy.”
It’s not really clear to me why Jesus can’t simultaneously be someone’s “homeboy” and “savior”. As far as I know, most Christians view Jesus as their “friend”, which is essentially what a “homeboy” is. To say that Jesus is not your “homeboy” is to say that he’s not your good friend, which is a sentiment that I think most Christians would not agree with. Of all the Christians I know, they all view Jesus as both their friend and savior, so I can’t think of a good reason why the person wearing this t-shirt wouldn’t consider Jesus his “homeboy”. At most, calling Jesus your homeboy is silly and cute, but it isn’t negative, subversive, or derogatory in any way that this person seemingly suggests. The only significant issue with “homeboy” is that it’s a slang term used mostly by non-white urban and inner city people. If that’s the issue that this Jesus freak has with calling Jesus his “homeboy”, then his t-shirt strikes me as being extremely racist.
Now, in all likelihood the person I saw in Subway is not a bigot. I’m sure he doesn’t hate people who are black, brown, or yellow, but his t-shirt is an example of a kind of blind racism that I’m certain everyone is guilty of committing. You don’t have to be a racist to do racist things. Sadly, racism is so institutionalized in politics, religion, and the fabric of American society that you only have to be alive to perpetuate it. For example, while Christians aren’t’ necessarily racist, Christianity acts like a racist religion. For all intents and purposes, Christianity is a white religion, and it all began when Europeans turned Jesus into a white boy during the Middle Ages. The Age of Exploration ignited the spread of Christianity throughout the world, and this resulted in a bunch of non-white people worshipping a European guy. The traditional depiction of a bearded white Jesus has detrimental effects for Christians who aren’t European. Throughout history, civilizations and cultures have thrived the most when they’re allowed to worship their own deities who look like them and practice their own rituals. Nations are most successful when their religions make sense to their people. This is true for all affluent countries today, and this is the reason why most third world countries are Christian.
In this day and age, I'm sure people have learned to look past Jesus' ethnicity and focus on what he stood for. But, we can't ignore the fact that religion as we know it is a product of its history. If you want to know where you’re going you have to know where you’ve been. Christians are generally not racist, but that doesn’t mean that Christianity doesn’t have racial ramifications. You don't have to be racist to do racist things.
Some people will say that I cry racism too much, and that’s probably true. However, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. What’s worse is when people refuse to recognize race at all. It might sound nice to say that race doesn’t matter. It might sound noble to say that you’re colorblind and don’t think twice about race. But, when you ignore something you’re simply breeding ignorance. Race shouldn’t be a taboo topic. I hate racism as much as the next guy. I don’t want it to exist. But we can’t eradicate it if we don’t want to look for it.
The t-shirt “Jesus is my homeboy” might be offensive, but it’s the image of white Jesus, not the words, that’s obscene.
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Comments (13)
when you petition the lord...speak directly into the homeboy.
jesus was actually a raptor, so everyone's got it wrong.
so what youre saying is youre going into the tee shirt bidness and adding all manner of jesus likenesses?
Anyone who claims any knowledge of Christianity should recognize that Jesus was a Jew from the Middle East. Not exactly Caucasian... But so what if people want to depict him as white? You said it yourself that people do better under Gods who "look like them." I also disagree with your idea that we can't eradicate racism if we don't look for it. What kind of logic is that? If you go looking for something to complain about you're going to find something eventually...
@AmusedYetConfused - "But so what if people want to depict him as white? You said it yourself that people do better under Gods who "look like them.""
This is why Christianity work better for white people than it does for people of color.
@manilajones - Why can people who aren't white figure out that Jesus wasn't white for themselves?
@AmusedYetConfused - People are figuring that out, but you can't undo overnight what has been centuries of spiritual and mental oppression. Christianity, for the most part, has been touted as a white religion for the past 1000 years.
Back when i lived in baltimore there was this big billboard that said 'Jesus. He's everybodies homey'
Back to your post. I think you're reading too much into the jesus is not my homeboy shirt personally. While i DO think a lot of christians are racist (but mostly because the heart of christianity in this nation is the south), i DON'T think that shirt was. Jesus fucking christ. You know the text editor in xanga says you've misspelled jesus and christian, if they're not capitalized?
I think you misunderstand the types of Christians who wear these shirts. There ARE Christians who truly believe that Jesus is their friend (i.e. homeboy). And then, there are Christians who believe that it is our job to fear God. By using the word 'homeboy', or even the more white-friendly word, "friend", they feel that is intensely disrespectful. These are the types that wear "Jesus is not my homeboy he is my God" shirts. I don't think this is a matter of race as much as it is different theologies, and what one group finds disrespectful, and the other doesn't.
Is Jesus even white? I mean, come on, guys. I thought he was a Jew. From Palestine. Doesn't exactly sound white to me.
@Shy___Away - something similar. im not sure they would balk at friend, but the less formal "buddy" like the "buddy jesus" figurines would be considered, not racially unacceptable, but rather disrespectful. im not exactly certain how to draw a corrolary other than, say if you were friends with a national leader. there is a certain "dignity" that goes with the position that you as a friend would not want to see violated.
"This is true for all affluent countries today, and this is the reason why most third world countries are Christian." you mean "first world"?
i appreciate the thought you put into this, but i don't quite agree with a few of your points. for one, christianity is more alive and well in places like south korea and even africa than it is in the US, and certainly than in europe. christianity is almost a dead religion in much of europe.
i have no idea what color skin Jesus has - pale white or olive colored, it doesn't matter. i worship Him. i consider Him my friend, but i wouldn't call Him my buddy or my homeboy or my whatever. the friendship i want to have with Him is much, much deeper than that. i'm not looking to watch the game or share a beer with Him. and there's also the aspect of reverential awe: we're talking Holy of Holies, not Homey of Homies.
one thing we always need to tease out is "cultural christianity" versus christianity itself. the christianity you might see from the average american may look different from one country to another. you have a big beef against cultural christianity, and rightly so. but to say christianity is inherently racist is to completely ignore what Jesus actually taught. maybe christianity in america is racist, at least in certain parts of the country. but the faith itself does not endorse racism. "Here there is no Greek
or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or
free, but Christ is all, and is in all."