Ken Ham Shares 'Answer' to Racism and Says There Aren't 'White' or 'Black' People

Jun 05, 2017 10:01 AM EDT

Answers in Genesis president Ken Ham has said that using terms like "white" and "black" promotes "division and prejudice" and argued that for racism to truly end, people must understand that everyone belongs to the same race and family.

"There aren't 'white' or 'black' people-we're all the same color," Ham wrote in a Facebook post. "All humans have the same basic color of skin (which comes from the pigment melanin) just different shades--there are no 'white' or 'black' people. Using terms like 'white' and 'black' promotes division, racism, and prejudice--all are brown."

The founder of the Creation Museum suggested that for racism to end, people must understand that everyone belongs to the same race and family - regardless of their skin color.

"Genetically and biblically all humans are one biological race. All humans are people of color--if you don't have color you have a problem!" he said.

He added, "The answer to racism is to understand all humans are one race and all have the same problem of sin, and need to judge their behavior against the absolute authority of God's Word."

Ham made his comments in response to a Washington Post article about how Evergreen State College in Washington state held a "Day of Absence," in which white students, faculty and staff were asked to leave campus for a day in an "effort to increase social awareness."

When biology Professor Bret Weinstein refused to participate, activists demanded that he resign and held protests across campus.

Reported one outlet: "[Weinstein] was at one point advised by the campus police chief that it would be unsafe for him to be on campus amid reports that some students were engaged in marches around campus to find him."

"They imagined that I'm a racist," Weinstein, who has taught at the famously liberal school for 15 years, told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" last week. "That has caused them to imagine that I have no right to speak."

Weinstein said in an email to an event organizer that he saw "a huge difference between a group or coalition deciding to voluntarily absent themselves from a shared space in order to highlight their vital and underappreciated roles" and that same group "encouraging another group to go away."

"The first is a forceful call to consciousness," he wrote. "The second is a show of force, and an act of oppression in and of itself." He added that "on a college campus, one's right to speak - or to be - must never be based on skin color."

Last month, Evergreen State College was forced to shut down following an anonymous telephone call threatening violence, and over the weekend, the school was forced to cancel classes again following a "new external threat."

Concluding his thoughts on the issue, Ham one final solution: "If students were taught the truth about race and skin shade (one race; same color) it would help stop racism and prejudice."

This is not the first time the Youth Earth Creationist has said that there is only one race and that we are all colored people, just various shades of brown.

In a controversial op-ed published last year, Ham accused leaders including President Obama, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson of "fueling racial tension" and called on them to "abandon the word 'races' and use 'people groups' instead - to emphasize we are all one race, one blood and one family, and get away from any racist connotations."

"We are one blood, one family," he wrote. "What a difference it would make if we all started looking on each person, wherever they are in the world, as our relative - each is a family member deserving our love and care. Each of us needs to judge our actions against the absolute authority of God's word and recognize that we are all made in God's image, but are sinners and fall short of his glory."