We’re all ethnic

“Racially Diverse History Given Priority” (January) reports on the Mennonite Church USA Racial Ethnic Council asking for more representation in the denominational archives. But they might first want to renegotiate the unfortunate label of “racial ethnic.” The term embodies the dominant White European majority point of view. It implies that we White majority Mennonites are not “racial” nor “ethnic” and that we are the norm while they are different. I recommend the term “cultural minorities.”

Europe-derived Mennonites tend to be reluctant to regard themselves as ethnic. Not so. We bear signs of group cultural distinctives, as other ethnic groups do. We share history, geography, institutions, language, music preferences, food traditions, plain speech, occupations and a host of other indicators. Our ethnicity includes how we perceive ourselves (as dissenters) and the way others perceive us (as clannish).

To see our ethnicity clearly, attend a Mennonite relief sale. The sales are folk festivals where Mennonites enact their identities. Today that includes Vietnamese egg rolls, Hispanic tamales, Indian curry, Indigenous bands and other new customary behaviors that expand the nature of Mennonite ethnicity.

As one European, new to the sale, observed, “Now I know who Mennonites are.” But who are we becoming? We are in danger of being suckered into American and Canadian popular culture more than we already are — either marching in the street with political activists or singing with electronic bands in evangelical and fundamentalist megachurches.

Acknowledging our racial and ethnic preferences and respecting those of our cultural minority brothers and sisters will create a healthier church community.   

Ervin Beck, Goshen, Ind.

Anabaptist World

Anabaptist World Inc. (AW) is an independent journalistic ministry serving the global Anabaptist movement. We seek to inform, inspire and Read More

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