Photograph by Mauro Mora via Unsplash

I was born in Boston and attended the Boston Public Schools. Infamously known as highly segregated in the 1960s, Boston schools were forced to desegregate under federal mandates by US Federal district judge, Wendell Arthur Garrity, Jr. in 1974. These were turbulent times of busing students from one neighborhood to another at the dismay of angry parents.

At Phillips Brooks Elementary School that I attended in Roxbury, when it was primarily populated by Irish and Italian Americans, I was labeled as “colored” as one to enhance integration. By the time I attended Patrick T. Campbell Junior High School, Roxbury became a predominantly Black neighborhood. I was now labeled “white” to again improve on integration numbers! While there may have been token diversity and inclusiveness in appearance when I was growing up, there wasn’t much equity! I was hardly noticed as a Chinese American. Sadly, for me a Boston public education in those days was subpar. We were labeled as underprivileged.

It would have been very easy to become stuck in Roxbury. But being a part of First Baptist Church of Boston located in the Back Bay of Boston, I had an outlet. After my father returned from serving with the U.S. Army in World War II, this church sponsored my mother and older brother to emigrate from China to America. From my house in Roxbury, I took the Dudley Street Station bus on Blue Hill Avenue, then the Orange Line subway train to downtown, and finally the Green Line trolley to First Baptist. My involvement at First Baptist introduced me to a larger neighborhood beyond Roxbury.

The membership at First Baptist was primarily white and gradually became multicultural. By the time I was in high school, John Chin and Wilbur Wyatt became the first Chinese American and African American deacons, respectively. Perhaps one of the most memorable activities that endured over a number of years was a youth exchange that was planned by two Baptist Youth Fellowship advisors: Billie Gammon of North Livermore Falls in Maine and Millie Brooks of FBC Boston. “The Maine kids were all white, while the Boston kids were mostly Chinese Americans,” we observed. The youth groups traveled to each other’s churches and communities that expanded their horizons of diversity and inclusiveness. I remember my first night sleeping on the floor in the North Livermore church when it wasn’t necessary to lock the front door!

In retrospect, when I was called to join the youth ministry national staff in American Baptist Educational Ministries in 1978, I was what some today might call a “DEI” (diversity, equity, and inclusion) hire. Out of the 4 full-time positions, I became the only person of color. Now and then, I spoke on behalf of Asian Americans, knowing that I would never be able to represent the many peoples who are grouped into a category of AAPI. I was welcomed to freely share perspectives that were experienced by me as a person growing up in Roxbury and as a Chinese American. My prayer was that my presence would make a difference in my colleagues’ lives as I prayed that their lives would make a difference in my life. In the end, I believe that my 20-plus years on national staff made a difference in fostering a closer resemblance of the Body of Christ in the denomination. Nothing wrong with DEI here!

After my ministry on national staff concluded, I served as senior pastor of First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco for over 17 years. It is a historically Chinese American church since 1880. Most of its members are Asian Americans, but it is keenly aware of other people in San Francisco too. There is still much effort that needs to be done toward ending prejudice and racism in our churches and in our nation. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, paraphrasing Kyle Haselden’s famous line: “I think it is one of the tragedies of our nation, one of the shameful tragedies, that eleven o’clock on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours, if not the most segregated hours, in Christian America.” A commitment to DEI is a beginning to strive for God’s favor on earth.

Biblically, DEI is supported by Scripture: Diversity (1 Corinthians 12:27-31), Equity (1 Timothy 5:18), and Inclusion (Galatians 3:28).

In Acts 2, we read about the Day of Pentecost. People from all over the known world were gathered because they heard about Jesus Christ from the disciples. Over their differences of speaking different languages and coming from a diverse geography of places, these new converts were able through the unifying power of the Holy Spirit to understand each other! We can imagine that they may have taught each other different words for something in common. Perhaps they brought covered dishes from their different cuisines for a potluck dinner. From their diverse backgrounds, they discovered inclusion in Christ that led them to equitably share everything that they had among them.

Nothing wrong with DEI at Pentecost!

Our human nature often leads us to be more comfortable with people who are like us. We can say that it might have derived from our early ancestors’ need for survival. But the world is expecting us to represent more DEI. We are more creative and blessed when we represent more DEI. And our Christian faith calls us to represent DEI because it is God’s heart seen and felt by us in Jesus Christ.