This picture is of the infant Jesus commonly placed in king cakes (a Mardi Gras tradition). Every year I order two king cakes from Publix and every year I'm asked the same question - white Jesus or black Jesus? (My 3 year old daughter calls them a yellow Jesus and a brown Jesus). I can find no justification ordering two white babies. Even though the overwhelming majority of St Michael's is white, I am not comfortable picking the white baby over the black baby. So I order both. Yes, there are usually some odd looks when one cake produces a white baby and the other, an unexpected black baby - but I think the looks are worth the point made that Jesus wasn't Scandinavian. And for that matter, Jesus wasn't African. As a man, Jesus was a Jew - a man living in Palestine. As a Savior - Jesus isn't white or black - he's plaid. He's every color. He's all colors. He's no color.
As a son of the south, I've seen racism and reverse racism since day 1. I think every year brings more healing, but I still wonder if things will not change until a couple of generations (perhaps mine) are long gone. I wish we could be at a point in which we did not have to choose between a white Jesus and a black Jesus. Why not just - Jesus?
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