Tuesday, February 07, 2006

On Being the White Shadow It's compliments like this that I love receiving: While giving one of my soccer players--who is an African-American 12th grader--a ride home, the young man told me, "Mr. W, I don't even think of you as white anymore. You're not like most white people. You've got a little flavor, like a hispanic or a black person." I received a similar comment  a few years ago.  Another kid I was coaching  said, "Man, Mr. W is the whitest black man at [the school]." Of course, I take such comments as a tremendous compliment. I guess they give me some sense of having arrived as a cross-cultural worker. It's the same thing that missionaries strive for when they spend years in the host culture. In order for their message to be received, they themselves first have to be fully accepted and trusted by their hosts, indeed seen as one of them. If I desire to influence inner-city youth, then it bodes well that I am becoming accepted at this level. I like it. Oh, and, or course, I've also been called the n-word. 9:39:29 PM    comment []trackback []