White Privilege

I’ve watched with both pride and concern as my college-aged son has immersed himself in the Black Lives Matter movement, ranging from large, loud protests to riding through downtown Grand Rapids in a skateboard protest. My concerns, given the violence that has rocked some of these protests, is obvious. My pride comes from seeing my son taking a stand on important social issues and from his increasing pride of being a black man.

Me, I’m a white male so my son has and will continue to deal with challenges I’ll never know. This is a gap that no amount of reading, educational activities, or black-themed movies is going to allow me to close. I’ll never know what it is to walk down the street as a black male. But I know it is different than what walking down the street is for me.

On an intellectual level, I can address some concerns. I’ve had conversations with my son about keeping his hands on the steering wheel when the police pull him over. I’ve supported him when he politely tells the woman helping pick out eyeglasses that she should say the glasses look good with his “complexion” and not his “tan.” I can “get” the issues, but I do not live with them every day.

Here at Hope College, and in our office, most of us don’t have to deal with racial issues every day. We have that choice. Others do not. In some ways, not needing to address racial issues every day may be the simplest form of systemic racism. When addressing racism is optional, it tells you where you stand in society. As my son says about “Blues Live Matter” — “I don’t get to take my black off at the end of the day. And I didn’t choose to put it on.”

Those of us who don’t have to deal with racial issues daily need to think about how this impacts people who do. And while I acknowledge that no amount of reading is going to close the gap, we are called as creations of God to be a people of justice. The first step in that process is learning about injustice. Martin Luther King, in his powerful “Letter from Birmingham Jail” calls on Christians to work with God in being active agents in progress in this area. He expresses his disappointment that white ministers (whom he is responding to in this letter after they asked him to “tone it down”), saying “I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action.” I don’t want those words aimed at me, yet so often they would be right on target.

There are a lot of good articles available, including 6 Things White People Say That Highlight Their Privilege. (And if you don’t like the idea of “white privilege,” she addresses that as well). The article is as straightforward as the title implies and helped me see how these six phrases may not mean what we always think they mean:

1. “It’s not my job to fix racism because I’m not racist.”

2. “I don’t see color.”

3. “There’s no need to worry about the police if you’re not doing anything illegal.”

4. “I don’t want to post about racism on social media because I’m scared of the backlash.”

5. “I don’t have white privilege.”

6. “I’m not sure when I should start talking to my kids about racism.”

Conversations about race are difficult but only optional for those who don’t have to deal with racism as a daily part of our life. So we need to engage in those conversations and be open to learning. Maybe the statements above, once understood, will help you feel less worried about saying the wrong thing. Because, really, the wrong thing to say is to say nothing.