Privilege

On August 11,12, and 13 during the Vacation Bible School, eleven open minded “Caucasians” (whatever that means today) gathered to learn about and discuss the topic of race. We used a video curriculum entitled Race – The Power of an Illusion, a three part, three hour long documentary style study series on race in America. The curriculum challenged many assumptions that the group had about race, and provided many examples of how our nation has historically favored one group of people over another. I would describe the experience as not so much an “in your face” encounter, but a steady “hammering away” at the resistance that refuses to hear that lighter skin coloring translates into privilege in our nation. By the end of our three days, I believe that everyone involved got the message that the curriculum was communicating, however we struggled to articulate what we could do about the injustice of it all. How do you change a system that is weighted? How do you reconcile the point that legal scholar John A. Powell makes in this statement: “The slick thing about whiteness is that you can reap the benefits of a racist society without personally being racist?” In the end, I concluded that I need to be more attentive to how people are being excluded or included within the systems that I interact with. Of course church life is a primary system that I interact with, so I’m challenged to ask “Whose voices are not being heard within the life of our church?” Are there ways that we can be more inclusive? Are there ways that we are being exclusive? I don’t have answers to those questions, but I have been challenged to look at all of this more closely and prayerfully. At the end of September we receive a special offering for Reconciliation, this provides our denomination with funding to help combat racism. This is an opportunity to do something concrete to help address this issue. I'm sure that each day will provide more opportunities to do something concrete.