- You can find him on t-shirts, posters, jewelry, dishes.
There's even a toaster that will put his face on your bread.
And I'm not talking about your favorite pop star.
I'm talking about Jesus.
Regardless of your religious beliefs
or what part of the world you're in.
Chances are you could pick Jesus out of a lineup.
Shoulder length, dirty blonde hair,
blue eyes, beard, washboard abs of steel
I feel like there's a cross fit joke in there somewhere.
But this globally recognized version of Jesus
didn't come from Bethlehem.
This guy is actually a 20th century American.
The 1941 Head of Christ painting is the most widely
reproduced piece of artwork in world history.
Making this, the most popular Jesus.
So, what did Jesus actually look like?
Well, the earliest drawings of Jesus
and his disciples dates back to 235.
In the first images he was too young for facial hair.
But, the hair on his head was short and curly
and in the 4th century Jesus starts popping
up in Roman catacombs with short dark hair,
a beard and noticeably melanated skin.
People have been arguing about Jesus
appearance basically since the beginning of time.
The bible doesn't ever mention Jesus's race.
Which makes sense
Christianity had to be universal for it to spread.
So there was no point in
confining him to one race or another.
But, one of the biggest disputes
among theologist had nothing to do with
his skin color, but his level of attractiveness.
On one hand,
a plain and average Jesus would be
relateable and non threatening.
But, on the other hand,
how could a holy savior be anything other than gorgeous?
In 2001, the BBC TV series of Son of God
did a facial reconstruction of Jesus using forensic science
combined with the early artistic portrals,
ethnic traits and the fashion of the day.
The finished product was a dark skinned
beared short haired Jesus.
So, how did Jesus go from looking
like a dark haired Jewish guy
to a white blonde guy?
Starting in the middle ages,
that's somewhere around 476
and especially in the Renaissance.
Artists became depicting Jesus as white
usually with blue eyes and blondish hair.
Many speculate that the term was influenced by
bible verses that use lightness to symbolize
purity and darkness for sin and evil.
On the surface,
white or light equaling good and pure
and black and dark equaling evil and bad.
Seems harmless,
but when bias gets put into the mix things get dicey.
Medieval Christians didn't like the idea of
Jesus being dark skinned and dark haired.
Because that meant he looked Jewish.
Spoiler alert!
He was Jewish.
Because Medieval Christians didn't like Jewish people.
In fact, they were actually the first
to force them into ghettos
complete with special armed bands.
Both of which were later
revived by the Nazi's in the 1930's.
Yikes...
That light equals good and dark equals bad idea
even carried over into anti-Semitic propaganda.
Jewish people were portrayed as dark
and menacing with giant noses,
darker complexions and bushy facial hair.
And you can't really oppress Jewish people
when your own savior looks Jewish.
Thus, white Jesus gained more popularity.
But, the Medieval Christian's weren't the only
ones to use this new and improved white Jesus
to justify oppression.
Can any say Colonialism?
In 1600's Catholic missionaries
sprung up all over the new world
with plans to convert the indigenous people.
This conversion included
inslavement, forcing many to abandon their
native languages and traditions,
genocide and of course stealing their land.
Again, we see this narrative of dark skin people being bad.
Thus, getting to be tamed or killed in order to
conform to this good or white standard.
Hello, white supremacy!
Now, here's where things get interesting.
During slavery,
you see two very different versions of Jesus
in Christianity spring up.
For pro-slavery Christians,
converting slaves to Christianity and getting rid of their
hedonistic religions and languages was part of their
Godly mission.
Slave owners used religion as a means of control.
And persuaded slaves to convert with
the promise of heaven and spiritual freedom.
Not to be confusd with freedom, freedom.
But, black slave ministers zeroed in
on God freeing the slaves from Egypt.
Not to mention Jesus's persecution,
execution and resurrection.
Is a classic good overcoming evil story.
And to the horror of slave owners
many slave rebellions were inspired by that very triumph.
And despite these very different versions
of being a good Christian.
The black church became an incredible pillar
of the black community.
For slaves who had be separated from their families
the church became a new family
and a place of refugee.
Especially, post civil war.
Heck, the Civil Rights Movement was born in black churches.
I'm thinking of a Baptist minister with the initials M.LK.
Ever heard of him?
So, what does all of this mean?
Are we saying that Jesus and Christianity are bad?
Because historically two many
people have used it to justify terrible things?
Absolutely not!
Anything can be twisted and abused
especially religion.
But in the same way we try to tackle
race and pop culture here.
It's important to look how iconography
can also be influenced and shaped
for the purpose of oppression.
And it's also important to remember
that misuse isn't exclusive to any one religion.
Today, you can see all kind of different depictions
of Jesus around the world.
There's an Asian version, Native American version
and tons of artwork
with locks sporting black Jesus.
There's even a Black Jesus TV show.
When white oppressive power structure
excluded other versions of Jesus appearance.
They were using religion to spread discrimination.
Now, communities across the globe
are reclaiming their right to see Jesus
however they choose.
While a Korean or a black Jesus might
not be historically accurate
just like a blonde hair blue-eyed Jesus.
People of color have the
right to see themselves in their religion.
Especially, after centuries of being taught
and forced to worship a God that doesn't look like them.
We aren't saying that white people are
wrong for wanting to see a Jesus that looks like them.
But, that historically white Jesus
has been used to oppress
and erase the histories with people of color.
In a way that Korean Jesus or a black Jesus is not.
Honestly, we may never know
what Jesus really looked like,
but whatever you do.
Don't get me started in white santa
because this video is already way too long.
So, do you have any other examples
of historical figures being white washed?
Let us know in the comments below
and we'll see you next week on Decoded.
In our last vlog we asked,
why do you think stereotypes are true?
Here's what you had to say.
Deez, it is heartbreaking to hear that you didn't follow
your passions just because
you didn't want to live up to a stereotype.
I hope now maybe you find the confidence
to go back and give dancing another try.
Aw Bomi, these comments are breaking my heart.
I am so sad to hear that this stereotype has such a profound
effect on you, but I'm hoping that by talking about it.
We can make more people aware that stereotypes
do have real consequences even the good ones.
In our last sketch we asked,
No, where are you really from?
Here's what you had to say.
Beeexcited, I am not excited to
hear that people ask you, what are you?
What a strange question. I hope that you come up
with a good comeback like a human being.
Hey Annie K, we actually talked about
Asian stereotypes in our last vlog about
why people think stereotypes are true.
But we are always open to
suggestions for topics here on Decoded.
So, please feel free to leave us some in the comments.