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In Black, White, Other, protagonist Nina Armstrong looks to God to help her get through an identity crisis. " title="In Black, White, Other, protagonist Nina Armstrong looks to God to help her get through an identity crisis.
In Black, White, Other, protagonist Nina Armstrong looks to God to help her get through an identity crisis. " title="In Black, White, Other, protagonist Nina Armstrong looks to God to help her get through an identity crisis.

Black, White, Other shows we are all God’s children

By  Annette Gagliano, Youth Speak News
  • September 7, 2011

Who am I? This ultimate question of self-identity will cross everyone’s mind at some point in their lives. The answer, for Catholics, is quite simple: we are all God’s children regardless of race, colour, age, socio-economic status or disability. We are all equally welcome in the house of God.

But in our world today, living out God’s message and recognizing the presence of God in all of creation is often undermined. Racism and other forms of discrimination develop and begin to fester in society. As a result, God’s message cannot be recognized and some individuals fail to hear God’s voice amidst all of the prejudice.   

In Joan Steinau Lester’s young adult fiction novel, Black, White, Other: In Search of Nina Armstrong, the 15-year-old protagonist, Nina, has an identity crisis of her own. Her world is in a muddle. In the midst of coping with the pressures of her first year of high school, Nina begins to question who she is and where she truly belongs. Nina is bi-racial, or, as she prefers to call it, “scrambled.” She is feeling torn between two worlds and feels that she has to choose between the African-American descent on her paternal side or her mother’s Irish heritage.

 

Through Nina’s eyes, Lester offers a vivid and realistic portrayal of the type of schisms that occur between races all over the world.

Nina sees a clear colour divide that has never been apparent to her before.

Since the recent divorce of her parents, she finds herself drifting between two homes and she is made aware of the conflicting attitudes between races in Canyon Valley. Why can’t Nina be part of both worlds?

At times, Nina finds it difficult to grapple with the notion that God is all-loving. “If God is love, I don’t see how such terrible things as slavery could happen. Or friends splitting by race. Or lying about each other. God isn’t supposed to let stuff like that happen. But a part of me argues back, telling me that just because things aren’t perfect or right, that doesn’t mean that God’s not there.”

Nina becomes more fixed on God when she feels His presence. During the climax of the story, Nina finds herself drawn to a Gothic cathedral because of its grandeur and beauty. “I wanted to come in,” Nina tells Fr. Jorge, the young priest who sits down with Nina in one of the pews and they pray together, asking God to guide Nina on the right path. Prayer comforts Nina, and it is through prayer that she comes to terms with her situation.

Nina think to herself: “My dad always told me, ‘People are people.’ That we’re all God’s children underneath. The colour of their skin is the last thing that’s important.”  Throughout the book, references are made to God, which stir up hope inside the readers, knowing that during both the good times and the not so good times, God is always there for us.

Black, White, Other serves as an inspiration for readers, young and old, to recognize God’s presence in times of hardships, knowing that in spite all of the conflict, God is hope and He will always be at our side.

(Gagliano, 20, is a life sciences student at the University of Toronto.)

More in this category: « Unity through prayer and communion A new year of Youth Speak News »

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