Well, it wasn't long after graduation that I learned just how differently the rest of the world viewed BJU. First there were the rules. Was there really a light bell? Yes, that one was true. Were women always in skirts? Yep. Did you really have to get permission at 22 years of age to leave campus in your own car? Right again.
Then there were the dating regulations. Everyone wanted to know if the sidewalks were really painted pink for girls and blue for boys. Nah--that one's not true. Was there really a place called the Dating Parlor? Sadly, that is affirmative as well. Not that I ever visited much. AHEM! Was there really such a thing as the six-inch rule? Quite true. Again, I didn't have any experience with that one either.
I was peppered with questions everywhere I went, and it got a bit old, but most of the time I didn't mind too much. However, sometimes those questions turned more poignant. People wanted to ask about race. Was interracial dating allowed? Did the university promote discrimination? Those questions were harder to answer, and they bothered me.
I'm Caucasian. I'm blonde with pale skin and green eyes. Yeah, I'm really white. It's genetics in action. Growing up, I was never taught that one race was better than another, but I do recall being taught that the races shouldn't mix. My pastor's wife even went so far as to lecture me about a crush I had on a boy named Dominic. He was full-blooded Italian, and my pastor's wife considered him a different race and off limits. Even then I thought that was completely ridiculous, and I remember my sister and I discussing it at length with some of our friends.
I went to college, and the same rules applied. I couldn't date outside my race. Well, dating at BJU was pretty much non-existent for me, and so I didn't mind the rule much at all. Sure, I thought it was over-the-top and had nothing to do with Scripture, but it was what I had gotten used to growing up after all, and it didn't personally affect me, and therein lies the key. It should have...
After college, I was challenged again and again about that rule from my non-BJU friends. They wanted to know how I could attend a school where there were such racial issues. Did you know about the rule? Yes, I told them, I did, but it didn't affect me personally, and it was then that I started thinking about my answer more in depth...
What if I had attended a college where I was one of only a few minority students, and I was told from day one that I could only date those of my own race? What if I had been told my options for love were limited? If I were Korean, I would need to find another Korean to see. If I were Indian, I would need to find a fellow Indian to date and so on. And not only that, but if I were bi-racial, I would need to select my race on day one and stick to those people in my racial dating pool, so to speak. That disgusts me now, and yet that was actually happening to some of my dear friends at BJU, and I had no idea what they were facing.
A few months ago, someone forward me a link to check out, and it got me thinking about this topic again. The site was started by some former BJU students who wrote a petition to the school president to ask BJU to publicly acknowledge the university's past of racial discrimination and then apologize for those wrongs done in the name of Christianity. It took me just a few moments to determine without any doubt that I personally needed to sign the petition, and so I did.
A couple of months later on November 20th, BJU issued a statement about race, complete with the following:
BJU’s history has been chiefly characterized by striving to achieve those goals; but like any human institution, we have failures as well. For almost two centuries American Christianity, including BJU in its early stages, was characterized by the segregationist ethos of American culture. Consequently, for far too long, we allowed institutional policies regarding race to be shaped more directly by that ethos than by the principles and precepts of the Scriptures. We conformed to the culture rather than provide a clear Christian counterpoint to it.I was glad to see the university own up to the past mistakes, which paves the way for a more harmonious future. I think that was primarily "our" objective at collecting the signatures on the petition: apologize for the past so we can move forward. But personally, this has still been plaguing me, and so I think I need to do the same...
In so doing, we failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry. Though no known antagonism toward minorities or expressions of racism on a personal level have ever been tolerated on our campus, we allowed institutional policies to remain in place that were racially hurtful.
Dear Friends:
I wish I had known then what I know now...Hindsight being 20/20 and all. Back then I went along with the tide, afraid to rock the boat or upset the status quo. I chose to keep my thoughts and opinions to myself. Looking back, I'm quite sure there have been many students over the years that felt discriminated against while attending BJU and that breaks my heart. I am so sorry. Please forgive me for going along with things as they were and not speaking out. Please forgive me for not showing more of Christ's unconditional, non-discriminatory love. I'm sorry if any of my actions or lack of response to what was going on caused any pain or hurt to anyone.
We're all members of the same race, humanity. We are brothers and sisters, and as Christians we are really all part of the same family. Sadly, we are a highly disfunctional family at times, but in HIM, in our Heavenly FATHER, we truly are united and will one day become the family HE wants us to be. So this is your sister speaking, and I want you to know that I love you. I really truly do. GOD bless!
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