We're all kin …

Reading "UCC head responds to attacks on Obama's church" (Feb. 12) reminded me that America has experienced many horrible crimes related to racism and years of slavery. Several years ago the earliest known human fossil was discovered in Africa and named "Lucy." Paleontologists and anthropologists have determined that all humans alive today are descendants of Lucy, an African woman who lived some 3 million years ago.

While many of us (European Americans) have spent hours on beaches to get a tan to improve our looks, no one is really white or black. The darkest African may be a raw umber color or burnt umber (lighter). No one can put his or her hand on a pure white sheet of paper and have difficulty seeing it. Nor is anyone pure black. We are all varying shades and hues of brown. We're all brown, and we're all descendants of Lucy!

Hal Dean

Spencerport, N. Y.

COPYRIGHT 2008 The Christian Century Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning