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Author and Bible student Baker wants readers to look deeply into the matter of race as we now understand it, based on what we know of biblical lands and times. If we truly study the Bible, using our knowledge of the location of the stories therein, we will conclude that its central characters—Abraham, Sarah, Noah, David, Solomon, “and on and on through the Bible”—were dark-skinned or, as some would now designate it, black or people of color. One country, Egypt, definitively can be said to be African, and its people are of that origin. Why is this understanding so crucial for believing Christians and others today? Baker is proud of his own biblical heritage and wants others of the black race to experience that sense of pride. He also exhorts those of the white race to recognize the essential equality that this knowledge invokes.
Baker, who has written previously on this subject (Skin Color: Skin Deep), describes his childhood in the era of segregation when black children walked to school and were given used, discarded schoolbooks while white children were bused to their schools and given the latest educational materials. His great-grandmother told him horrifying tales of her life as a slave. His wish is not to impugn the white race but to remind them that by digging deeper and using proven facts, they must reach the same conclusions he has: the people of the Bible were dark-skinned—even Jesus himself—and that in the eyes of God, skin color does not matter. Baker believes this is a truth that can enlighten and free all of us and give us the courage to accept our common destiny. His short book is inspiring and would make a useful focus and discussion for Bible study among thoughtful believers.