On Race
I remember how tense the classroom felt that first day. I had chosen this class to help fill out my degree program in Ethics & Society at Gordon-Conwell. I had chosen it with a great deal of apprehension, knowing how uncomfortable it might make me. Nevertheless, I believed I should take it.
That first evening of the “Ethnic Identities and Reconciliation” class was as difficult as I imagined. When I had seen the name of the instructor, I had imagined the professor would be African-American, and this made me fear I might encounter some antagonism given just how white I am. You see, my ancestors all hail from the British Isles, excepting a few German immigrants who got into the mix. I grew up in a town that was 99% white. I’m so white, I constantly run to shade for fear of skin cancer. It’s what I am, and there’s no denying it.
To my surprise, and honestly to my relief, I learned the professor was white when he walked in. An old, white Episcopal priest. I was relieved, because I thought I might avoid that antagonism I feared. I wanted fair treatment. I wanted someone who knew where I was coming from. Perhaps that’s why I became so unsettled when he dove right into “white privilege.” He took aim at me straight-away.
The notion of white privilege frustrated me greatly. I never denied that I was privileged, but I attributed such privilege to the blood, sweat, and tears shed by my forefathers. On both sides of my family, going back at least 200 years, we were not much more than dirt farmers, occasionally dabbling in some trade. My father was a truck-driver, my mother a nurse. Everything I enjoyed in life came from their self-less sacrifice and my dutifulness in stewarding what God had given me. When this professor suggested that my family on the whole was privileged, merely because of our race, it enraged me. He didn’t know what he was talking about. We never knew a silver-spoon in these United States.
As he continued talking, and in time as the course went on, I slowly began to realize that his point was exactly that: to help me realize what my family has never known. My family never knew the violence of being kidnapped from their homeland. They never knew the chains and the heat of a Southern sun. They never knew the walk to the back of a bus. And that hardly accounts for the depth and breadth of suffering my brothers and sisters of African origin have faced. My family’s normal, no-name history is a privilege in their eyes. What a tragedy.
I still do not favor the term “white privilege” as it seems to produce more confusion than clarity. I prefer to state the reality in this way: people of color in the United States face peculiar and unjust challenges that white people do not face. Perhaps my white readers might initially dispute that, but consider this: If given the choice, would you choose to be any race other than white in this country? I would not, and not merely because I love my heritage, but because I know full well that I would face challenges that I do not now face. This should not be the case – my theoretical change in race should not introduce these sorts of challenges. Being born a different race should be as inconsequential as my birth-heritage changing from English to French.
This difference should trouble us. More troubling is that while we have made progress in making all people equal under the letter of the law, the reality of such equality is still left wanting. White people loathing themselves for being born white will not solve this problem. This is neither productive nor Christian. We have all been made in the image of our Creator – no one should carry shame because of the color of his or her skin.
And yet, something more than legal reform is required. Yes, we must demand that the government, most visibly manifested by our police officers, will submit to the same standards of just conduct every citizen is expected to follow. However, we should know that this will never be enough. There will always be a bad cop, because we know that in every occupation the sin of prejudice can always manifest itself, as any sin can. This can be mitigated through thorough hiring practices and extensive training, but no amount of procedure and training can offer perfect assurance. We must demand greater assurances, but we must also not satisfy ourselves with this.
No “perfection” of worldly government will give us the redemption we desire. Only Christ can do this. And before we look at others, we must look at ourselves, for Christ to do that work in us. Examining myself, I know prejudices hide in the alcoves of my heart. I actively wrestle and repent of them – it grieves me how naturally they arise. By the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, by God’s grace, my heart is reformed by degrees and I act consciously against the unjust murmurings within me.
We must loathe the sin within us, not the skin that covers us. We must be dissatisfied with good appearances and desire our perfection. This is the way of Christ, not the ravings of progressive zealotry. If you are disturbed rightly by the injustice of rioting and looting, be likewise disturbed by the injustices suffered by people of color. Do not let politics distract you from an opportunity for soul-searching repentance, personally and as a nation. And let us not merely see and hear, but do.
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. - James 1:19-25 [ESV]
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.