Homogeneous

Homogeneous: composed of parts or elements that are all the same kind; same nature, essentially alike. (Dictionary.com)

I've noticed in our current upswing building and updating economy, the trend lies in a neutral clean slate. Bricks, slabs, and panels are all finishing with an "unfinished" look. Primer is the popular primary color. While I love white and grey as much as the next gal, and love the frugality of unfinished styles, I can't help but see the similarities between our structural preferences and our identities. We just saw the inspiring film, Just Mercy, based on the book and true story of Bryan Stevenson, a Harvard Law graduate and founding executive director of Equal Justice Initiative, fighting poverty and challenging racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. Not only was the film about his impact on death row inmates powerful, but his 2012 TED talk, highlighted the power of identity. He spoke of the power that TED talks have solely because of their "identity" A speech on some other platform would not carry as much significance. He said, "TED has an identity. You can actually say things here that have an impact around the world." Stevenson mentions much of history and problems that occur when we choose to ignore those moments that were heinous to our nation. "We risk losing our identities," he says because we must integrate hopelessness with creativity and innovation, not ignore those topics that seem despairing. In other words, we have to examine things with both our minds and our hearts.
Our country seems to pride itself on diversity (at least it hopes to celebrate it more readily), yet we are stripping away the fundamentals of distinctiveness by extracting personal pronouns. We mustn't get too personal or categorize gender or familiarity. In an effort to include everyone we begin to exclude everyone. In hopes of not offending differences, we have actually begun to all look the same. The homogenous homes, public restrooms, standard schools, and political correctness of our day has moved us to blot out the beauty of our heterogeneity. As with humanity, when there are those desirous of eradication of any kind, we don't gain more distinction, but less diversity. Forced neutrality negates our convictions and concerns itself with the wrong motives. Whether you know where it lies or not, we all have an identity in something. Trying to homogenize the world only hurts our ability to identify with anyone. Stevenson's great line from the movie and on TED talk reinforces the power and importance of identity: "Each of us is more than the worst thing we have ever done."

As I strive to humbly show my boys that we will all make mistakes, and they are more than those mess ups, I also thank God for making them such unique and distinct individuals, currently figuring out their little identities as they grow together.