Irvin MacQuarrie
Seattle, WA
I’m white and I coach tennis and tutor at a urban high school that is probably best known for the number of professional basketball players it has produced. I also used to be a volunteer leader for a predominantly white youth group and one of the kids told me about how he wrote his College admissions essay on the white Superman complex. It got me thinking about the stereotype of white Christians gallivanting around the World to change the World whether it be building wells in Africa or working in orphanages in South America or whatever else. The high school I coach at is one of the most diverse schools in America and yet a large number of the teachers and tutors as well as some of the coaches are white.
I don’t coach to be the white guy riding in to save the day, but because my faith leads to help those who have less resources at their disposal. The job has often been challenging, but the reward of the relationships with these remarkable kids makes it all worth while.
