Intro

There are two medical procedures I’ve had that I despise.

The first was getting an armpit abscess drained. And, the second was getting dental fillings.

If you’ve never experienced the latter, you need to know two things.

You’re given a numbing gel for the gum area, followed by a local anesthetic injection to minimize pain around the forthcoming “construction area,” just before the drilling starts.

Within a few minutes, your tongue—amongst other organs—will gradually numb.

Post-procedure, you’re not supposed to eat until the anesthetic wears off. If you’re hungry, sipping on a smoothie or soup on the side of the mouth that isn’t numb is suggested, though fasting is preferred.

Well, after my second round of fillings, I didn’t get a chance to shop for soup or smoothies. And, following a nearly 60-minute walk back to my relative’s home from the dental office, I was hungry.

So, as the anesthetic was wearing off, I attempted to eat soft solids (e.g., mushy chickpeas).

I thought I had excellent control of my chewing.

The result? My tongue was hurting like hell the following morning.

Turns out, I hadn’t mastered the art of chewing food while unable to feel half of my tongue.

If you’re a beige-skinned man who resides in a phenotypically diverse country that attained its wealth by way of chattel slavery, and you create visual content that honors Christ and/or contemplates the Christian life, then this post is for (some of) you.

The Pattern: Erasure

In 2025 A.D., I will assume you know that we live in a complexion-discriminatory society.

Now, what you may not be mindful of 24/7 is a subtle, visual habit that implies darker-skinned or brown-skinned women are non-existent, and therefore, not fully human. The habit in question is the widespread practice of rarely (or never) featuring—be it in an interview or a short film—women bearing browner complexions.

Over the years (the latest being last year), I’ve alerted influential Christian media platforms in the US and the UK of this…infection.

When Christian platforms that push out human-interest stories consistently erase my phenotype, they erase my three-dimensional humanity. And, they reject that I, too, might be an image-bearer.

As a race-conscious and bias-aware hue-man, I know there’s a good chance you predominantly grew up in beige-skinned communities and primarily interacted with beige-skinned individuals, be they principals, pastors, professors, physicians, police officers, etc.

If that’s your case, then think of the numbing gel you received as the complexion-centric segregation that marked your childhood and adulthood. (This is the logical output of colonization and chattel slavery.)

And, the local anesthetic injection would be the all-pervasive media programming that centers beige-ness—plus straighter strands and double eyelids—on a globe where at least one billion brown-skinned beings reside.

The numbing gel attacks your Soul. The injection impacts your mind.

You may not feel something is off—you may feel that you’ve got excellent control of your “empathy response” (to borrow from Dr. Elizabeth A. Segal)—but your Soul and mind are hurting.

You just can’t feel it.

That’s why, to this day, I continue to meet kindhearted, beige-skinned pastors who have a tough time accepting my full humanity.

Within a thirty-minute convo, I can tell if such an individual perceives me as 50 percent human (or almost-human) through statements or inquiries that their minds don’t automatically register as injurious or problematic.

This is where you come in.

Inspecting The Pattern

From a biblical perspective, (phenotypic) diversity is not a coincidence.

Neither is division.

As a beige-skinned man who functions as a content creator, the biased digital universe is designed in such a way that you can capture audiences that I cannot.

You can garner g-dlike praise for elevating awareness of a societal issue (by regurgitating knowledge learned from darker-skinned persons) that I cannot. (For the digital record, I don’t need praise.)

And, without having to wear makeup or revealing clothing, you can command a surreal level of attention and respect when addressing controversial (or critical) topics that I cannot.

Your influence currency remains undefeated in multiple areas of life on Earth.

And, that’s great…if you’re willing to effectively steward what the game of bias affords you.

If you love Christ and fear your G-d, then you have an opportunity to exercise media leadership in the faith arena by taking on the responsibility to represent the corps of Christ through balanced portraits.

If you’ve got an interest in doing this, then here’s what that can mean:

Recommendation #1: Desegregating Your Storytelling

If you’re a beige-skinned man residing in a phenotypically diverse country, yet your friendship or acquaintance circle excludes darker-skinned women (of any constructed nationality or ethnicity), then I don’t recommend going out of your way to befriend darker-skinned women (or men) simply to attain “good person” points. Friendships that cross the color lines are ideally launched through organic engagement. Instead, I suggest working with an anti-bias consultant or enrolling in meetups that exist to engage individuals of different hues.

Now, if you understand the social importance—and spiritual value—of featuring darker-skinned women on your media platform who can offer a diversity of perspectives, then before securing interviews, I would explore the top, bias-motivated behavioral patterns that beige-skinned persons typically act on when interacting with a brown-skinned woman. (My counsel assumes you are an emotionally healthy, self-aware and humble being who has processed your pain.) Then, you’ve got a couple of avenues you can take re: who you interview.

If you’re a justice-oriented media platform, then, as an example, it would make sense to seek an interview with a brown-skinned theologian who can share their views on the societal obsession with portraying all women of the Bible as pale-skinned beings.

If you’re a human-interest platform, then, as an example, I would choose a topic you’re obsessed with—let’s say A.I. and the anti-christ—and seek a brown-skinned theologian who could offer their views on this topic, keeping in mind that they may not touch on complexion bias at all, which is okay.  

Recommendation #2: One-Minute of Mindfulness

For one minute, think of a woman you know who bears my phenotype, and whose existence you’re grateful for. How do you think they would feel if a Christ-centered platform strictly interviewed beige-skinned women and men on a range of topics? In doing this, you might also think about who else isn’t being featured (e.g., persons with visible differences, persons born with monolids, persons with vitiligo, and so on). Then, think of the strategically designed hue-archy that goes against the Gospel’s values and contradicts the Good News presented in the Book of John. Lastly, ask yourself if consistently excluding darker-skinned women from expressing their respective perspectives aligns with the marriage-supper-of-the-Lamb narrative.

Recommendation #3: Balancing Phenotypic Diversity

On my previous visual storytelling website, I made an effort to balance the phenotypes of interviewees whom I featured. For example, I would aim to feature a brown-skinned interviewee, then a beige-skinned interviewee, and repeat this pattern. I would make sure to include individuals born with monolids and those born with double eyelids. I’m not suggesting you repeat this exact pattern. However, I am recommending that you remind your audience that numerous humans with brown skin suits (and different eyelid shapes) exist by featuring their diverse stories. This small yet significant act can encourage many with beige skin suits to “engage in social empathy” (again, borrowing from Dr. Elizabeth A. Segal).

(Free Tip: If, through your lens, you’re opting to minimize the erasure of darker-skinned women, then I highly recommend that you do this when you’re 100 percent comfortable responding to a compliment—be it sent via email or planted in your IG comments—from a darker-skinned woman who notices the lack of erasure on your social channels and/or website.) 

Outro

I believe humble leaders feel for those who do—and do not—look like them.

I believe humble leaders serve those whom society readily deems “ugly” and “unworthy.”

And, I believe humble leaders challenge the manipulators who succeeded in convincing the masses that the Gospel of Segregation is the Good News.

If you’re now choosing to lead differently in a space that typically promotes one hue in the name of a colorless G-d—and you’re choosing to carefully carve out a corner of your heart to invite empathy and compassion for darker-skinned women who are consistently regarded as the scum of the Earth—then you, my Brethren, have chosen to set your Soul free.

The future is hue-man,

Your melanated neighbor  

P.S. One faith community that I hope emerging and established content creators of the beige hue pay attention to is From Dust.