NOTE: Please read Part 1 before reading this post. In both, I am discussing the causes and cures for what is commonly called “white fragility.” That term describes the often strong tendency of many white people to avoid honest discussions about racial issues. Christians cannot isolate themselves from other Christians who are different from them. We are God’s family and caring about one another and meeting the needs of one another is simply not optional. Part 2 digs in even more deeply to this part of the subject. Thank you for reading it.
Cause #3 – White Guilt
Dictionary.com defines this term as “the feelings of shame and remorse some white people experience when they recognize the legacy of racism and racial injustice and perceive the ways they have benefited from it.” For most of us light-skinned people, our guilt is far less defined. It is often something sensed, but with a question mark. What should we feel? That vague uneasiness we feel is connected to our ignorance about what we keep hearing about. We may feel accused without knowing the exact details of the accusations. Since we don’t know as much about the overall topic as some seem to know or expect us to know, we can feel guilty about our lack of knowledge and wonder what else we should feel guilty about. It’s confusing and it is scary for the uninformed. Until and unless we start trying get educated further, our feelings are going to remain muddled and our fragility is going to continue.
It is important to understand the difference between feeling guilty and feeling badly. I feel badly for the plights of people in all kinds of hurtful situations, but if I am personally in no way responsible for what they are suffering, I don’t feel guilty about it. So, I can feel badly for others but not guilty if I wasn’t responsible. I don’t know if any of my ancestors owned slaves, but if they did, I would feel badly but not guilty. What hits closer to home for me is having the awareness that some of my relatives were bigoted racists. That knowledge brings sharp pain into my heart but not personal guilt. It also makes me increasingly thankful that my parents were not among that number. Praise God for that!
The responsibility I do feel in the realm of racism involves my desire to help, which is what prompted my starting this blogsite. I just wanted to try helping in the ways I have already described. If we can do something to help, we are responsible for doing it. Opportunity carries with it responsibility, and we all have the opportunity to help in this area in some way. Galatians 6:10 puts it this way: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” James 4:17 words it more strongly in these words: “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” Proverbs 18:19 gives us a very sobering concept: “One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.” In other words, it is just as wrong to fail to build as it is to tear down something already built.
Bottom line, should you and I as white people feel guilty for anything connected to racism? Yes, but we have to be clear on the why. If I have overt prejudices, I need to feel guilty and repent. If I have systemic racist attitudes of which I am unconscious, I have the responsibility to gain more understanding of what those might be and then repent. If I have the opportunities to help others of my race become more aware of their own prejudicial attitudes, hidden or not, I am responsible to help them get woke. If I have opportunities to help those who are receiving the brunt of overt or systemic racism, then I also have the responsibility to help them bear those burdens. The beginning point of helping the latter is listening, learning, empathizing and serving. Opportunity plus knowledge plus ability equals responsibility.
Hopefully these brief explanation has made it clearer regarding what we should and should not feel guilt for. I grieve over American history of slavery, but I am not responsible and thus don’t have or feel guilt for what my ancestors may have done. I grieve for what other ancestors definitely did in holding racist attitudes and often putting those attitudes into practice by treating others badly. But I am not responsible for their attitudes and actions. Here are the things for which I am responsible.
To reiterate, I am responsible for repenting of known racial prejudices in my heart. I am responsible for educating myself and discovering similar prejudices of which I am presently unaware. I am responsible for helping my white friends to do the same – to become more knowledgeable in those same two areas. I am responsible for helping my friends of color to work through their challenges and heartaches due to living in a world where injustices reign. In a nutshell, failing to do what I can do to help myself and others should produce guilt in us, motivating us to handle that guilt in God’s way – by repenting and changing and doing what we can do going forward.
Cause #4 – Refusal to Embrace True Christianity
When I inform people about my blogsite, I explain my reasons for having it something like this: “I want to help my white brothers and sisters in Christ to better understand our fellow Christians who live in a different world than we do. I also want to help my brothers and sisters of color to handle an unjust world in the way that Christ did.” If we are to help bear the burdens of others, as Galatians 6:2 directs us, we have to know what those burdens are. If we are to “bear up under the pain of unjust suffering because we are conscious of God (1 Peter 2:19), we have to purposely imitate Christ. On either side of that coin, we must receive help from one another, which means that we of different “worlds” must cross the aisle in order to accomplish it.
Do we have a choice in this matter? Not if we are going to live as Christians. Look at the following passage, the likes of which could be multiplied:
Philippians 2:3-8
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!
So what’s the primary thrust of this passage? Do not give in to selfishness and pride as you value others and their interests (to say nothing of needs) above your own. Do give in to the challenge of imitating Jesus, whose sacrifices to save and serve us go beyond our comprehension – by light years. Why is white fragility so pervasive in our American society? Because we aren’t intently set on following Jesus and his teaching, plain and simple. Regarding those who don’t claim to be Christians, I feel sad for them but not mad at them. They are lost in many ways. Regarding those who do claim to be Christians and are not even trying to get out of their comfort zones to help those who are hurting and being hurt, that’s another matter entirely.
Commands, Not Suggestions
Those verses quoted above are not mere suggestions; they are commands. Thus, they are not optional. Continual ignorance and willful ignorance are not acceptable for Christians – period. No buts and no ifs. Unacceptable. Read what Jesus said:
Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 7:16-20
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Luke 6:46
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
The Bottom Line
Do you not see the bottom line here? Claiming to be a Christian doesn’t make you one. What do I think about Christianity in America? I think most of those who claim to be Christians aren’t. But it doesn’t matter what I think, right? I’m not the Judge; only God is. Let’s not stop there though. It doesn’t matter what you think either. You aren’t the Judge.
It only matters what God thinks, and I know what he thinks because he had it written in this book we call the Bible. This picking and choosing what we prefer in the Bible and skipping the rest is a soul-damning exercise. My fellow white church members, if you are not willing to try to follow Jesus into the world of the hurting, those hurting for any reason, including racism, you are not of Him. My fellow church members of color, if you are rationalizing and excusing your own forms of prejudice and anger toward others, you are not of Him.
Thankfully, I have many white friends in Christ who have repented and are trying to learn and serve. I have some blog posts from some of them. A couple of days ago, I received a note in response to an article directed toward common attitudes among those who have been unjustly treated. The title of that article is “Vengeance is Not Yours, Says the Lord!” (blog post 50). Here is what this disciple named Nona wrote and my response to her. It will serve as a fitting close to an article intended to help us all repent where needed, regardless of our color or the challenges we face. Christians must be Christian, which is to say, followers and imitators of Christ.
Gordon, I’m black & I knew I had to deal with bitterness & resentment toward whites in general & in particular because of the way I was treated all my life. It was openly confessed as I studied the Bible before baptism. It has to be. With Jesus as our example NO ONE can excuse racial animosity in any degree. In these times you have to pray for days to handle what goes on in the world. For a lifetime! Imitating Jesus is a 24/7 calling. No exceptions or excuses. Keep teaching & guiding us Gordon as one race, the wretched sinning race.
That is a wonderful testimony, Nona, an excellent example to call us all higher! Our identity is first of all disciple of Christ. To me you are a disciple who happens to be black, not a black disciple. I’m a disciple who happens to be white, not a white disciple. From a scientific perspective, there is only one race, and unfortunately, you described it all too well in your words. We are all on level ground at the foot of the cross. No one is superior and no one is inferior. We all need the grace of God and one another. The world will always be a mess without Christ. As the song puts it, this world is not my home. My citizenship is in heaven. Thanks so much for your testimony and may God bless you!
Introduction
I have not added any articles to this blog for quite a while now, due to focusing on other writing. I have written three short books during that interim, all of which are in some part of my publisher’s pipeline. This article was written by the daughter of two of my dear friends of many decades. Hannah wrote it in the wake of the media attention following the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Her comments on Facebook accompanied an article she posted by Mike Patz from his blog entitled, “White Americans Need to Condemn White Racism in America.” The comments by Hannah comprise this blog post.
Hannah DeSouza
“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Rather he chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God…” (Hebrews 11:24-25)
I’ve read these verses numerous times in my Christian life but today (Friday, May 8, 2020) they spoke to me differently and I felt compelled to share it. Today, I read these verses and saw a man who was born into privilege (taken in as a baby by the daughter of the most powerful man in the Ancient World), choosing not to sit back in his palace and enjoy his fortunate position, but rather to use it; use it to benefit those who had not received that same privilege. Sure, he didn’t do it perfectly. (His initial attempt at seeking justice led to him murdering an Egyptian that he saw abusing a Hebrew outside the palace walls!) But what I saw in Moses today, and deeply respect, was a man that went outside of the palace walls in the first place to see the abuse taking place. He didn’t withdraw or hide inside his palace, hide in his privilege and pretend he couldn’t see the horrors going on outside. No wonder he was being commended as a man of great faith thousands of years later!
Fast forward to May 2020. What are our palaces and how might we step out of them? Baby steps. The first step might just be acknowledging that you’re in one! This was the case for me. Being of mixed race, I have never classified myself as white and yet I know, to the casual onlooker, I am typically perceived as such, which in itself makes me a person of privilege. I remember the first time this truly dawned on me was when I was pulled over in the middle of the night by a police officer 2 years ago – as a Brit trying to drive in America! Instead of being met with fear and mistrust, such was dismissed the moment he saw me and heard my explanation. Instead, he responded with a cheery “Welcome to America!” That is privilege!
Stepping out of your palace might simply be liking or sharing someone else’s post on this issue (in doing so you are acknowledging that there is an issue). It might mean going on a run before the day ends in honour of Ahmaud and – as you run – praying for all the injustices in the world and asking God to show you what your unique role might be in alleviating them. Stepping out of your palace might be starting to change the narrative in your own mind; to say “there’s my brother” the next time you see a black man run past you. To say a prayer for him under your breath because, like you, he’s someone’s child. Humanize him. Let’s value his right to life over our right to fear, feel threatened, or be suspicious.
I feel compelled to say that this is nothing to do with a “white savior complex” (we already have a Savior – who, for the record, wasn’t white 😬). This is about recognizing privilege and choosing to not sit back in silence and enjoy it (it is completely unmerited so no pride should be taken in it). This is about saying to our brothers and sisters that are carrying heavier burdens in this life than our own that we see them, that we want to fight a flawed system alongside them, that their voices will no longer be the loudest ones demanding justice, that we’re running with them. #IRunWithMaud #stepoutofyourpalace #stepoutofyourprivilege
A few days ago, I posted articles twice on Facebook about the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Many others have posted similarly, generating many responses. Most responses indicate that more and more of us are starting to understand the depth of the problem and are looking for ways to help needed changes occur. A few respond in ways that are shocking and saddening to me, showing that they don’t understand the systemic nature of racism in our society. Whatever else may be said, any rationalization of two ordinary citizens taking the law into their own hands, complete with firearms, is absolutely indefensible – period!
This podcast by Michael Burns is one that I would love for every American to hear, especially all who identify as Christians. Michael does the best job of identifying all elements of biases, prejudices and racism of anyone I have ever read or heard from, and that as a white man. His insights are simply amazing, shown clearly through his books, “Crossing the Line: Culture, Race and Kingdom” and “All Things to All People.” I think these books are simply spectacular, must-read books for all Christians.
As you will discover in the podcast, Michael speaks as a true follower of Christ. Unlike many whose heightened emotions cause them to make valid points in an invalid, worldly manner, Michael shows genuine love for those who disagree with him and would consider themselves as his enemies. He is perhaps the finest example I know of one who speaks the truth in love – love that can be perceived in his manner. He is one of the rare ones who both understands and practices what 2 Timothy 2:23-26 commands.
2 Timothy 2:23-26
23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
I understand all too well the challenge of addressing topics that are personal and emotional. I am emotionally based person and often have to repent of, and apologize for, allowing my temper to escalate and be expressed in ways that violate this Scripture. It has been a lifetime struggle for me, and although I have made significant improvements, it can at times still be a battle. The problem with not controlling our tempers in speaking or writing is that we both sin against other people and reduce the impact for good that we might otherwise have enjoyed.
I see this loss of impact often when people communicate about the topic of racism, especially if they are people of color themselves. Their insights and observations are spot on and very needed, but their manner turns off the audience they most want to affect (white people). To add to the problem, they may attempt to justify their manner by noting either their own personal experiences and the pain it has brought them or in showing the heinous nature of the issue itself. The content is valid in both cases, but the manner derails what might have been helpful.
On the other side of the coin are those who are defensive about the issue, trying to rationalize what cannot be rationalized. Biases, prejudices and racist attitudes – even if unconsciously held, are real, wrong and damaging. They hurt the ones holding them and they hurt the ones who are the object of them. On either side of this coin, when we don’t control our emotions in communicating, we drive each other further away from where we think they should be, for we are perceived as shedding more heat than light on the situation.
Let’s all please work on this in order to help ourselves and one another. Gentle instruction of those who oppose us is, after all, the will of God.
May you now listen to Michael and may God bless him to have greater and greater influence in an area that is so crucial to our nation and world.
What can Christians do against prejudice and hate? A perspective from Michael Burns, teacher in the Two Cities Church.
Posted by Michael Mbuso Burns on Saturday, May 9, 2020
Last semester I had the privilege to share work on a grad school class project with four men, all African American, three of them ministers. The entire class demographic was probably 2/3 men, and 2/3 Caucasian. When we were put into groups, I soon learned that I was the only female and the only white person in my group. I smiled to myself, knowing I was in for a treat. I was thrilled, because I sensed that working together with these men would be a wonderful learning experience. It was. Our assignment was part of a “fishbowl project.” I am still not sure why the professor labeled it a “fishbowl project,” except we were all swimming around together and the way we “swam together” was visible by what was produced.
We met together regularly (virtually) and worked on a common group goal—a project/video (thanks to one of our members who was a professional videographer) describing numerous ways Christians in the book of Acts responded to various crises.
I listened, learned, and contributed. In this group of men, I was shown tremendous respect and sought to show each of them the same. In the process of working together, I learned about their lives as they learned of mine. I came to appreciate them, the things they stood for, and ways they were striving to make a difference in lives around them as they ministered to primarily African American communities. One of the men (not a minister) was preparing for a kidney transplant, and we all tried to do extra for him so he would need to do only what his health allowed. I think they were all quite good at showing respect, mainly because respect and humility flowed from their hearts. What’s in our hearts flows out, as Jesus taught (Mark 7:20-23). I have seen this respectful response in many of my close African American brothers in the church. They, most often, do not speak from a place of power and privilege. Such atrocities that continue to come to the light most often happen when people with power lack love, respect, and humility. Then, the unthinkable happens. When humility is little, power corrupts. When love is absent, power is destructive.
The day after our project ended was the same day the events surrounding Ahmaud Arbery surfaced. I sent my “fellow fishbowlers” the following note, because I felt at a loss for an appropriate response. Should I organize something to show how I feel? Join a march? What can I DO? I long to imitate Jesus’ heart and actions that were so full of love and courage and sought justice for the oppressed. But my voice is so small. How can I be part of a solution? So, I wrote my fishbowl friends that question in the email below.
I have a question for which I would like your input. My heart is deeply grieved for yet another act of hateful violence in the latest account (of way too many accounts) of senseless shootings, this time of Ahmaud Arbery back in February. I cannot imagine how these things make you feel. I just want to say, with tears, how deeply sorry I am for what you likely all have to endure simply for being wonderful black men in America. I know that I am, through no choice of my own, part of the privileged. My question is this. How can I, as one with white privilege, best contribute to needed social justice? I don’t know, and I would like to know what you feel would be some way to contribute to change (other than living as a disciple and speaking up whenever I can). Thanks so much. With love and respect, Jeanie
I got a reply from one of my friends this morning, even though it had been a while since I had written the group. Likely, the wrongful death of George Floyd evoked his response. Though he says kind things to me in the email (because he is a kind person), his response tells me something I can do. I can ask, I can listen, I can pray, and I can sympathize. I noted his response of sympathize, because I cannot really empathize. I have not had to live like this. As a women, I have felt effects of power gone awry though an attempted rape, exhibitionism, groping (all by white men), and numerous inequities just because I am female, but I have never had to worry about dying because of the color of my skin. My adopted son has. In fact, shortly after 9/11, while he was in high school he was stopped, ordered to the ground, and had eight state trooper cars surround him with guns pointed, all because of a mistaken identity where his skin tone caused suspicion for a crime in another town. Frightening.
Here is what my fishbowl friend answered in his email response:
Sorry for such a slow response
Your compassion, sensitivity, and willingness to talk openly is a great start in response to your question. Our humility and awareness will incite change in areas of indifference and racism. Continue to stay educated about the reality we live with by listening to the right voices, preferably voices closest to you. Stay proactive in doing what you did in this email: ask questions, provide prayer, offer sympathy, and listen to our individual stories. You’ll go a long way in being a part of the change we so desperately need.
I pray to be part of a solution, which can only truly happen with the love of Jesus. I long for a day when unity and peace prevail as His will is done on earth, as it is in heaven. I hope by more intentional listening, I can indeed be part of “the change we so desperately need.”
Introduction
After the truth came out about the death of Ahmaud Arbery, I received a letter via Facebook from an older white sister in the Boston church of which I was a part for sixteen years. Here is her letter along with my reply to it. More and more white people, inside and outside the church, are asking questions and having dialogue about racial issues. I have been impressed and encouraged by the large majority (not all) of what I have personally heard from them. Although the circumstances that have led to this are horrific, many of the results are quite the opposite.
Dorothea’s Letter
Good morning, Gordon Ferguson. May this young man rest in peace and may we do “something” to help so this will stop. I only have heard about this on TV and although there are usually two sides to every story, this one reminds me of other cases that have been similar. Are we disobeying God by not getting involved to stop this or is prayer “enough?” I haven’t read everything you and Michael Burns have written but I’ve read enough to be led by God to seek your collective wisdom. Please invite Michael to comment if he would like to do so. It is so difficult for me to understand prejudice, since as a young child, I have never seen colorlines.
At 70, many of my early playmates, college buddies, co-workers, best friends, spiritual and secular advisors, prayer partners, and disciplers have been “of color.” Over the years, I’ve had two spiritual daughters live with me and one who called me Mom honored me by asking me to serve as mother of the bride at her wedding because her mom could not get here from Haiti. People of color? What IS that?
I have watched the Roots TV mini-series (I have also read the book), and read other books or seen other accounts on TV, radio, movie, and theater about the plight of our brothers and sisters. I still cannot fathom the rationale (greed, power, exclusivity, distorted thinking, etc.). Yet maybe that in itself is prejudice? I don’t know, but I pray humbly and contritely that is not true and, if it is, that God will show it to me.
Advice? New blog? Thank you in advance for reading this and for any wisdom you (and Michael?) can impart.
Love to you & Theresa 💕
My Response
Dear Dorothea (Dot),
Thank you so much for your FB post and for your permission for me to publish it on this blogsite as an article. Some letters raise more questions than they meant to; other letters answer the very questions they raise. Yours is in the latter category. Your post helps answer the question of what more we can do as individuals to help in the spiritual battle against racism, especially if we are white.
I happen to have this Blog on which I can speak up and speak out. Not many have that avenue available to them, so what can they do to avoid just sitting idly by in the midst of the ugly racism that is embedded in American culture in far too many ways – ways that we often don’t see even in ourselves? This is an incredibly important question and I thank you for raising it. Your letter gives us some important examples and insights into what the average white person can do (and should do). More could be said, but I simply want to concentrate on what I see from your example as described in this letter to me.
- Be willing to admit that there is a problem, a really serious one. Your letter acknowledges the existence of the problem, although you have avoided racism yourself as far as you are aware. Many white people do not want to admit or address the reality that is far too obvious to hide. Those in this category absolutely astound me! But due to this current situation which prompted your letter in the first place, the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a growing number of white people are waking up to the harsh reality of racism. More and more are now willing to ask questions, educate themselves and enter discussionse. May God add to their number, quickly!
- Be willing to make concerned comments on social media, which some are unwilling to do because of their fear of potential disapproval. They simply remain silent and find ways to rationalize their non-involvement at any level. I think of this passage in Proverbs 18:9: “One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.” In other words, an idle person who fails to build is no better than the one who actively destroys what is already built. Edmund Burke’s famous quote reflects this biblical truth, as he stated that “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” People who keep ignoring this issue are not being ignored nor excused by God for so doing. Racism is hurting our brothers and sisters in Christ, our co-workers, our fellow citizens, and the list goes on. Enough is enough.
- Be willing to ask for help. You have specifically asked for advice, which is always a great act of humility and concern. I don’t see any of us thinking and living exactly like Jesus, which means that we ALL need help from others to keep learning, growing and changing. Those who are satisfied with the status quo of their present spirituality level do not have the heart of a disciple and clearly not the heart of Christ.
- Be willing to self-examine your own heart, along with asking for others to help you. You are asking serious questions of yourself – heart-probing, uncomfortable questions. God bless you for that! I once heard a white person state publicly that they were 100% prejudice free. He and I definitely had a frank discussion about that comment. None of us, regardless of color and culture, is entirely free of prejudices. Hopefully, that is our goal, shown by our actions. Striving toward that righteous goal begins with personal honesty of heart and a willingness for it to be examined by God and man. David put it this way in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
- Be willing to share your own experiences and thoughts about the issues. Wherever we happen to be in our own journey in this area, we can move forward further. I’m grateful for my good experiences, sorry for my bad ones, and determined to learn from both as I strive to keep improving. That seems clearly to be your heart in the matter.
- Be willing to educate yourself by reading books, articles, and by watching movies and documentaries on the topic. If every white person would do what you have done, it would be a different world already. We are all ignorant in many areas, but if we are Christ-followers, we cannot allow ourselves to remain ignorant in the areas that matter most to Him. I especially want my education to include a large dose of asking people of color what their experiences and feelings in the racial realm have been. I talk to people I know and people I meet in public places. I want to know more about their personal world. Therefore, I ask about it.
- Perhaps most importantly, have FRIENDS of color – real friends, like you describe. Many Christians interface with those of other races and cultures at church meetings of one type or another, but outside of those settings, the ones comprising their main circle of friends are the same color as they are. I have had friends of all races for decades – close ones. I love them; I want to be with them; I want to be seen with them; I talk about them with my other friends. My children dated those of other races, including African Americans. My son is married to a wonderful Asian disciple, my daughter by marriage. Although I don’t think much about color when I’m with my friends of color, my goal is not to be colorblind except in accessing our common value before our Creator. I want to be color aware and color appreciative.
Your example speaks volumes, Dot. Thank you for teaching us!
