"God created man and then He added color to His creation to beautify him," boomed the "black" preacher. I, a 20 year-old Southern man, squirmed uneasily, suddenly very uncomfortable at being the only "white" person in the building.

The preacher continued. "Everybody knows that an unpainted house just isn't very beautiful. It needs color to beautify it." The way he stretched out the word "color" rang in my mind. He sang, "So God added color to some of us to beautify us. Without color we are plain, we are unattractive. But with color we are beautiful."

I was stunned, feeling like an unpainted house -- inferior and out of place. I wanted to get away, but the sermon went on for 45 minutes. I felt forced to sit and listen to the glories of having dark skin and to the curses of having light skin.

Finally the preacher ended the sermon saying: "So celebrate your color. It makes you special because it is a gift from God that everybody doesn't have. Now I see we have a visitor here today. Won't you stand up and testify?"

Then there was silence. I made a few panic-driven glances around the room and discovered that all eyes were on me. As I slowly stood my hands were shaking. To my surprise I found myself saying: "I'm glad to be here and I love Jesus. To Him it doesn't matter what we look like because He loves us all."

After I sat down the preacher ended the service with a prayer. Then I made a rapid departure — eager to hide my unpainted and embarrassed self from a room full of beautifully painted folks.

For a few minutes in 1971, I, a "white" man, had to sit and listen as dark skin was proclaimed as good and light skin was proclaimed as bad. It hurt. And perhaps many so-called "white" people would have gone away mad or done something even worse. But I went away thinking.

What if "black" people had twisted the Bible and falsely developed "the curse of Ham" to teach that God has permanently cursed "white" people and made their "race" inferior, suited only to be servants or slaves? How would that make me feel about myself as a "white" person?

What if Thomas Jefferson had been "black" and while writing the words, "all men are created equal," he had personally enslaved almost 200 "white" men, women, and children? Would I think Tom a hero or a villain?

What if Nat Turner had been a "white" man who was owned and forced to do hard labor by some "black" people? When he led a rebellion to try to free himself and others, would I have considered Nat a villain or a hero?

If a "black" man, named John Brown, had tried to free "white" people held in slavery would John have been executed as a villain or glorified as a hero? If millions of "black" people had seceded from the Union and taken up arms to defend their "right" to enslave "white" people, 142 years after their defeat would almost every town in the South have a statue to honor their rebel soldiers?

"White" Americans look at American history through our "white" eyes. What does American history look like through "black" eyes? Or through an impartial God's eyes?

In 1971 I was subjected to 45 minutes of my skin color being put down. "Black" Americans have been subject to their skin color being put down for 24/7 all their lives. The concept is woven clearly in the fabric of America~"light skin is good, dark skin is bad."

Thank God that the Civil Rights movement changed some oppressive laws and practices. Meanwhile America's culture, history, and power structure continue to belittle America's darker skinned citizens. Light skinned people like me have trouble seeing that.