Fear is what we feel, denial is what we do, and defensiveness is how we do it.
I drove over to see my mom this morning and as she commented on the Christmas card I sent her (which mentioned every little hint of progressive awesomeness I could think up), she blatantly said, “I’m racist Greg! Get over it. I hate black people. But not all of them, you have some friends like Rony who act and talk white, I like him.”
After vomiting in my mouth and calling her out on such disgusting thoughts, it had me wondering about where the Church is in the race conversation.
I don’t think most churches are explicitly racist as my mom. I do think that dominant versions of Christianity promote Western Culture, one rooted in white privilege, to it’s extreme. Sunday morning is, after all, the most segregated hour of the week.
In my conversations with progressives, it is often assumed that simply because we don’t talk like Glen Beck, act like the KKK, or say things like Rush Limbaugh, that we ourselves are somehow free from racism.
When we can align all the “racist” people on one side of the spectrum, we can situate ourselves on the other side. When in reality, we aren’t on the “other side” we are simple sitting in the middle, passively getting by and not recognizing the problems of racial inequality.
Racism is not just some negative word spoken to another, racial privilege is a complex web of oppressive forces elevating white persons and segregating People of Color. Often denied, because it isn’t as “clear” as one might hope, we as white people cannot deny our racial privilege.
We tell ourselves we are not racist but that’s only because our understanding of privilege and race seem to be very limited – so limited that many folks really just mean, “I don’t say nigger, and I have a Mexican friend.” Recently in evangelical communities many have moved to the inner city and end up claiming they aren’t racists because, “I live in the hood, I get it.”
Before I continue, I think its important to explain what I mean by “racist”….it is, “race prejudice and privilege through social and institutional power, a system of advantage based on race, a system of oppression based on race – a white supremacy system.” Tema Okum says, the key to this type of definition is that racism is more than personal prejudice, to qualify as racism, thoughts, behaviors or acts must by systemically supported be institutional and cultural power.
Because someone claims no racist or privileged intent, they assume they are not racist, which in turn for them, means that racism is no longer happening. We ignore racism as a subject because we are terrified of dealing with the guilt and shame. Once we do uncover our participation in a racist society, we run and hide to never actually deal with the problems.
Fear is what we feel, denial is what we do, and defensiveness is how we do it.
We deny in order to benefit.
For use to recognize our white privilege, for us to recognize our white racism and for us not to run but to engage the subject will radically alter the orthopraxy of the Church.
So let me say it again, we need a serious conversation on race and privilege. We need to re-think our Western theologies. We need to rediscover marginalized voices. We need a more holistic understanding of race. We need to take what we learn and implement it into our churches.
I used to be somewhat in touch with and even active in the social justice and peacemaking and wonderfulness part of the PCUSA. Some of our folks wondered if blacks would be comfortable because we run our congregational meetings, and those of higher echelons, according to Roberts Rules.
Apparently, some people think blacks are uncomfortable with this much structure or something.
Now, presuming they’d stopped smoking that nasty weed and were straight for a bit, what if they’re right?
Any of this racist?
Thanks for this. Lots to chew on. I attend a fairly upbeat, contemporary “seeker friendly” church. It’s fairly homogenous and represents its community, which is, by census count, about 97% white. Two miles away is the casino, where the population is probably a good solid mix of white, asian, and black. I don’t think we can use the argument that our churches are white because our community is white–obviously, the casino draws a diverse crowd with (as far as I can tell from their marketing) no attempt to segment their marketing and advertising by race or class or even gender.… Read more »
Yes, it can be very difficult to step away from the perceived power and advantage of privilege. However, it is worth the effort, for I believe followers of Christ are called to seek God’s kingdom, not just shore up the status quo. So, thanks for the challenge.
You should know better than to start pontificating without defining your target. In using the Church I don’t know which religious group you’re talking about. You see depending on the religious group the answers can vary greatly. You see I you were talking about the Southern Baptists that I grew up with they were even more racist than your mother. But I you are talking about the Unitarian Universalists the opposite is true. If you look at photos from the sixities racial demonstrations you will see a scattering of white people; most were UUs. Also to use the word nigger… Read more »
I think part of the problem is (obviously) we don’t feel white privilege. So when you tell someone they have white privilege they instantly get defensive. You know, we’re just NORMAL and minorities have it HARDER than normal, that doesn’t make us privileged it just makes them unprivileged (a surprisingly common rationalisation of white privilege, perhaps almost as common as “black people just don’t work hard enough to be at the same level as white people”).
It’s amazing to me that you have this insightful attitude (which I get and agree with and think you are correct) but you are still holding onto the “faggot” word in the other thread. That’s straight privilege, you know.
I’m not holding onto the word at all, I would never even admit to using the word faggot outside of the circle in real life. I’m just trying to give insight into how the word is used within straight (predominantly male I’d guess) circles. I’m not defending the use of the word, though I see why it sounds like I am, I’m just trying to explain that the word isn’t always related to gay people.
I guess I don’t understand why you’d use it at all if you only use it in a kind of hidden circle. If it is used predominantly in straight circles, and it’s known to be related to gay men, what else does it mean? Dumb? Jerk? Then why not use those words? I think, and it’s my opinion only, it’s because the word does have a “charge” of sorts. And the charge is about homosexuality. You’d never admit to using it outside the circle? If there is nothing wrong with it, why not? I believe you when you say you… Read more »
Hey there Rick, Thanks for reading and taking the time to respond! This is a great response. Your first few points, I could bicker about like any good blogger 😉 but I’d rather stick with your last part – the solution. I agree. I agree. I agree. I agree. I agree. I might then even add: A healthy way of responding to negative defensive responses. In helping folks (like myself) handle the initial knee-jerk reaction we often have to such difficult and overwhelming conversations, I think we as Christians should develop more material on how to respond to defensiveness. A… Read more »
First, asking if churches are as racist as your mom when, really, you mean “white churches,” is part of the problem you’re describing. You are taking the American white evangelical paradigm as *the* paradigm. I think that’s problematic. I don’t deny that white privilege is a problem, but I also think using “white church” and “church” interchangeably is a pretty big problem…a white privilege problem. You are treating white-dominated churches as the norm…and then there are other churches. Second, the version of racism which only calls someone’s behavior racist if it’s backed up by institutional power is just an apology… Read more »