Why Do Many White Conservative Christians Deny the Reality of White Privilege?

The recent events in Ferguson, MO have reignited discussions about white privilege in our society. Many people misunderstand what is meant by the term “white privilege.” No one is saying white people should repent for being white or that individual white people do not struggle against systemic difficulties in our culture. It simply means that in our society there are ways people benefit from being white that others do not have. The reason people call it privilege and not racism is because often those in white culture are blind to the privileges they enjoy. (Before you start yelling about reverse racism. Yes it exists in some quarters, but that is not the purpose of this post. Plus we have to be honest that much of what we call “reverse racism” is in response to the reality of white privilege and our inability to admit its existence.) For example, I have been pulled over double digit times for traffic violations in my twenty-one years of driving. (Thankfully there have only been two in the last decade.) During those times I was never questioned about anything other than the offense in question. My car was never searched and I was not asked why I was in the neighborhood I was in. Often men of color who are the age I was when I was pulled over would have faced a more diligent interrogation. Also, I have never had to worry that my words or actions would validate or invalidate an entire ethnicity in the minds of the people around me. No one has heard me speak and act surprised that I was “articulate.” When I was hired for a job, I’ve never wondered if I was a token hire. Simply put, this privilege exists and I never noticed until people told me I should think about it.

What I find most interesting is why many white conservative Christians want to deny this reality when it seems to be so plain. The only explanation I can come up with is that we refuse to acknowledge any facts which might give an inch to our adversaries in today’s polarized political culture. To acknowledge white privilege exists means we might have to admit that Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton have been right about something. If we admit they are right about something it validates them and gives them more political power. Therefore we must oppose them on this issue. We refuse to speak, refuse to acknowledge, and get angry about this because we don’t want our side to lose.

Conservative Christians in America need to face a stark reality and ask ourselves some difficult questions. Have we allowed conservative talk radio to shape our thinking and agenda more than the Bible? You may wonder what the Bible has to do with acknowledging white privilege. When we fail to admit our part, even if it is not purposeful, in a system that marginalizes and oppresses others, we are failing to practice repentance. And the truth is that white Christians in America still have issues with ethnicity we must work through. We hold latent attitudes that we must repent of. We need to listen and learn from our black brothers and sisters so we can learn how to love them in a way that brings glory to Jesus. We want to see our lives and churches begin to reflect the beautiful diversity of the Kingdom of God. This will not happen while our worldview is being shaped by combative voices with agendas to gain power instead of the Bible.

This is important for Christians to think through because ethnicity is a Gospel issue. All men and women are created in God’s image and possess dignity and worth. Every person from every ethnicity has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, standing under his judgement. Jesus died in the stead of men and women of every race, color, language, and tribe. We come back to God the same way- through repentance and faith in Christ. Those who trust in Christ, of every race and ethnicity, are the adopted children of God and joint heirs with Christ. How can we for one second stand silent about issues that treat our brothers and sisters in Christ as less than us? To see the existence of the vestiges of racism and to nothing about them is to deny in practice the Gospel we claim to believe. Is the Kingdom of Jesus not of greater value than the Republican Party winning the midterm elections?

For Further Reading:
Bloodlines by John Piper
White Like Me by Tim Wise