One of my tasks in the graphics team was to select photos for use in media publications and to report to the church’s headquarters in Korea.

A missionary would come in and stand over my shoulder, pointing out what I should look for in a good photo.

A photo with white people in the foreground was good.

A photo featuring too many people of color was bad.

The pastor would deride photos with too many people of color. Is this Africa Zion? DR Zion? No, this is America.

Having Asians too visible in a photo was especially bad, because the church originated in Korea and showing Asians didn’t say much about the “spread of the gospel” to other peoples and nations.

According to the pastor, the way to represent “America” was to fill photos with white people.

White people would be placed at the front in group photos, and white people were preferred for special or public-facing positions in the church.

As a person of Asian descent, I was never in the spotlight, which worked fine for my introverted self. But the racist undertones disturbed me.

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The head pastor also taught to preferentially preach to white people. People of color were considered “low hanging fruit” that were easy to get and poor quality compared to white “fruit.”