A Condition Not an Accusation
“Racist” is a word we are hearing a great deal these days: the cops are racist, Confederate monuments are racist, the President is racist, our country was built on racist principles. Moreover, white people are being challenged by Black, Indigenous, People Color (BOIPOC) to deal with their white supremacy and racism. Most of the time when the word “racist” is used, it comes off as an accusation, the declaration of a moral and ethical flaw from which one must repent and change. When used as an accusation, the word “racist” sends a sharp wave of guilt, shame, and anger through many a white person’s heart. No one wants to be called a racist and will do whatever it takes to deflect such an accusation.
But what if instead of regarding racism an accusation, we looked at it as a description of our condition as Americans, particularly white Americans. While there are some groups who are vehemently and proudly opposed to the demands and needs of BIPOC, most white people I know are just trying to live their lives, and while they may not have significant contact or personal relationships with black, brown, indigenous or Asian folks, they also don’t go around shouting racial expletives. Yet they are racist. It is their condition. It is our condition as white people in American society.
Recovering From Racism
This is why whenever I am asked to speak on the topic of whites and racism, I always begin by acknowledging that I am a “recovering racist.” I name the condition of the society that shaped me, and like a recovering addict, I seek every day to unlearn racist ways of thinking and acting and relearn ways of thinking and acting that are more just, inclusive, and open. Like a recovering addict, I realize dealing with the racism in my life and in the world around me is a lifelong endeavor, something I must continually address and work on. Let me explain why.
Racism is not just some derogatory words or actions passed between people, it is a system of laws, policies, practices, and beliefs that have infused the American ethos from the very beginning. Racism is a guiding force in the way our society grew and designed itself. It is the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the way we have been socialized to live. It is something built in our system that must be reversed and undone.
America’s Original Sin
Sojourner’s Jim Wallis has made famous what the late Rev. William Sloan Coffin, former pastor of Riverside Church in New York City, once said: “Racism is America’s Original Sin.” From the moment the European settlers landed in Jamestown and Puritans at Plymouth Bay, they encountered indigenous peoples who they diminished and nearly extinguished by guile, war, and disease. Then in 1619 some black slaves were rescued from a Dutch ship, thus initiating chattel slavery through mass capture and importing of men and women from the western coast of Africa. Slavery was written into local laws, and even the U.S. Constitution, such that the indigenous people were regarded simply as “savages” and the Africans 3/5 of a person.
The economy of the South was enriched by the slave-harvested cotton which was then shipped to the knitting Mills of the North. The early years of America’s economic growth grew on the labor of the African slaves and the land dispossession of the native peoples. Even a Civil War, which led to the legal citizenship of Black men, did not stop the degradation of Black people as Jim Crow practices, sundown laws, tenant farming, convict leasing, lynching, redlining, and segregation were practiced well into the 20th century. Similar practices were used against immigrants from China, Japan, Mexico, and elsewhere, thus regarding anyone not considered “white” to be less than fully endowed with the full rights of American citizenship. And while less overt, such discriminatory practices have been documented up until the present.
Through it all, the United States became the economic and political power it now is in the world, often using the free or cheap labor of those not considered “White”. As we are now being reminded, some of our national heroes, such as Columbus, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Teddy Roosevelt were avowed and active purveyors of racist practices. Many of the great banks and corporations got their start in the era of slavery and Jim Crow, amassing capital at the expense of BIPOC. Thus when Rev. Coffin said, “Racism is America’s Original Sin… this is what he meant. We would not be who we are as a nation and as white people, were it not for racism.
Made Clear During the Pandemic
Racism is built into our systems and institutions. The current pandemic has highlighted the inequities in criminal justice, health care, educations, income, and employment in our society. While not solely racially divided, those most affected negatively are disproportionately BIPOC. And then when George Floyd was killed, black people in particular and their allies, rose up to say “Enough!” As a group, black and brown people had suffered injustice and death disproportionately at the hands of the police. Anyone who has studied America’s history of racism, or paid close attention to current events is not surprised by the marches, the protests, and calls for change. Racist is our condition as people. Racist is history. Racist is our foundation.
Let me give one example. For the past eight years, I have been involved in an effort to compel the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to change the racially biased way they distribute funds for public education. Our group – POWER- have been able to show that the greater the percentage of students of BIPOC origins in a school system, the less money per student that school district will receive from the State. The legislature has even passed a formula designed to rectify that inequity but chooses to only run a fraction of their education budget through the formula THEY adopted. Now I am guessing most of the legislators are decent, law-abiding citizens who believe in fair play, but they have created a system that is racially discriminatory when it comes to education. This is not an accusation, this is a fact they will readily admit and make excuses for. Racist is their condition.
Facing Our Condition
About five years ago a doctor told me that my blood pressure and cholesterol were too high, and I had to either lose weight or go on medication. She laid out in clear and certain terms my physical condition. I had to respond, and I did. I lost weight, changed my diet, and reversed the factors threatening my health.
It is much the same with us as white people.
Many BIPOC are calling for we who are white to deal with the racism in our lives, in our communities, in our institutions, in our society. They are willing to help us, in fact, they are more than eager. BUT …. We must admit our condition. We must come to terms that we live in a racially discriminatory society that has given whites privileges and access to opportunities and resources denied to many BIPOC. That doesn’t deny our hard work, it just says the system is rigged in our favor. Can we deal with that? Can we face the reality that our system, our society has been racist for 400+ years and still is today?
Racist is not an accusation. It is our condition. Are we willing to face it? Are we willing to change?
Baloney. I do not believe in your charge of racism. Whether it’s an accusation or a condition. And I don’t agree with your term white supremacy. Total bull. But it does fit in nicely with your leftist politics. Anyone that doesn’t toe the line with your view of the world is conveniently accused of racism. A total croc
Steve. Are you saying every person, no matter their race, has equal opportunity in our country? Are you suggesting that MLK’s Dream has been realized? I would love to understand your evidence and position.
Basically yes.
Wow. Do you know other people that have a different life experience than you? Have you lived in a poor urban neighborhood or other poor community? I know these ideas are threatening but like Jesus, we’re called to understand and love others. Life is not about securing my position and power. I guess that’s the big question, are you a follower of Jesus?
What difference does it make if I’m a Christian or not. I have dealt with and helped poor people of all races. And my wife and I have given tens of thousands of dollars to support programs to help the disadvantaged
pretty much my sentiments exactly… the idea that racism is not an accusation will come as a surprise to all the people who daily accuse others of racism.
and the idea that its “only a condition” usurps one’s ability to even defend oneself from the accusation..
like if i called the author mentally retarded, and when he got upset i could say “oh no no no, i didnt mean as an accusation, i just meant it as describing your condition”… far from taking away any of the intended sting of the accusation, it simply puts a period after it, suggesting its not even up for discussion. wow
Well said Nathan
Nathan – I have the same question for you as I did Steve (see above). And if you are mentally retarded, then it’s important to recognize that and figure out how to work with it. Where your analogy falls apart is that one is a condition of sin that demands our action and the other is a genetic condition that requires support.
Simon. You just showed you colors. You and your mouth is the reason It’s hard to have a conversation. My question for you, are you a Christian? Most Christians I know don’t call someone mentally retarded. You really need to apologize.
When he told the story of the “tax collector and the Pharisee” Jesus explained that the social reject who humbled himself and acknowledged his fault, “went home justified before God.” Maybe we descendents of the colonialists need to humble ourselves. Maybe we need to call for a national day of collective repentance. Perhaps the Almighty will have mercy on us.
Great idea Alan. What is the church of Jesus doing to address this?
For one thing Simon, the church of Jesus needs to stop calling people names.