RACISM AND PRIVILEGE
How does the Christian church respond to the systemic racism that plagues our society? How do we faithfully respond to the fact that predominantly White congregations[i] have been infected by a cancer of racism that infuses their life and distorts their experience of the Gospel as they practice their ministry within the culture of the United States of America. Rather than react in either denial or paralyzing guilt, I believe that the recognition of this reality offers immense promise for our understanding the saving nature of the church in our society.
RACISM AND PREJUDICE
In examining this situation, it is helpful to begin with some clarification of terms.
First, the term racism refers to a condition that applies primarily to White[ii] people. Racism is distinct from, although related to, prejudice. Prejudice can be part of any person’s attitude. It is, as the word implies, a prejudgment that negatively reflects on one’s attitude towards a situation, people, or person. Often people make prejudicial judgments about categories of people based on religion, skin color, dress, age, or size.
In preparation for understanding the distinction between prejudice and racism, it is helpful to understand that prejudice can work for and against people. For example, I am white, male, over six feet tall, and have no obvious physical abnormalities. I do not have to be consciously prejudiced against any person who does not have those qualifications to recognize that I have benefited from privileges granted to me by society because of those characteristics. I not only benefit from such privileges but, despite my desire for a fairer and more just world, I am not inclined to refuse such benefits in pursuit of the cause of justice and fairness.
At the same time, people’s prejudice can work against a person. I might see a person dressed in dirty, smelly clothes and assume that the person is illiterate, lazy, and perhaps dangerous. There might be a number of other explanations for the person’s condition, but my prejudgment hinders, and many times prevents, further information from being gathered that might alter my perception of that person.
Such prejudgments or prejudicial conclusions are frequently made about people who are distinctly different from us. In this country, race is a major factor that feeds such prejudice. Racism combines prejudice with power. Racism includes the prejudice, whether conscious or unconscious, that people of color are in some way inferior to Caucasian people. Have you ever met a Caucasian person whose basic assumption was that Black people as a race were superior to Whites? Many Black people have prejudices with respect to Caucasian people, but the difference is that the structures of society give Caucasians the advantage.
