A Guide for a personal Moral Inventory
In our struggle to address racism, there are some parallels with the first steps of AA. Our society makes it easy for us to live in denial. Many of us are not overtly bigoted. We may seek to avoid acts of discrimination. In the abstract, we can agree that racism is wrong. To use a cliche, “why can’t everyone just get along.”
A FIRST STEP
Like in AA, the first step is the ability to admit that “I am a recovering racist.” That doesn’t mean you are a bad person, or that you aren’t against racism. It does mean that we live in and benefit from a society that, in both attitudes and structure, is geared to reflect that to be White is both normal and has its benefits.
Let me give you a few examples:
When was the last time you were invited to a party or a company meeting and immediately wondered if there would be others with your skin color there?
Have you ever taken a job or enrolled in a college with an affirmative action policy and had a peer assume you got your position because of your race rather than your skills?
When was the last time someone said, “You are a real credit to your race?”
When did someone ask you to speak for all White people?
When did you read about a police shooting involving teenagers and realize that you needed to talk to your children about how to avoid police violence?
Have you ever felt that people of another race just assumed that they were superior to you and the people of your race?
None of that make you a bad person or even a narrow-minded one. It does suggest that you live in a society that generally works in your favor.
A Fourth Step
The fourth step in AA, is to do a personal moral inventory. The parallel for us is to view society as having some built in inequities that do discriminate and from which you benefit at least quietly.
Try to identify at least ten ways a White person might have an advantage. In many cases, the benefit might even be so natural that you don’t even have to think about it and that also is to your advantage. You will benefit from writing out your list.
Some possible examples:
Have you ever wondered whether having a different skin color would give you an advantage –?
- In a job interview
- Being stopped for speeding
- Negotiating for a loan
- Getting medical treatment
- Asking for assistance
What are the invisible attitudes in our society that may give a White person an advantage in these and other situations?
Have you ever had to wonder if your skin color is a disadvantage in some social situations?
A JOKE WITH A PUNCH
There is a joke I recently heard that does have a punch to it.
“What is one thing that is not in the Bible?”
“The answer is White people.”
Has it occurred to you to ask what color you think Jesus’ skin was?
Now that the question is asked, how does that affect you?
Since Jesus frequently associated with the outsider and the marginalized, how does that affect you?
YOUR PRIVATE INVENTORY
Your “moral inventory” doesn’t need to be shown to anyone else, but by actually writing it down, it helps you bring your honest self before God.
Grace is when you know what God knows and God loves you anyway.
