{"id":6531,"date":"2016-07-13T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T15:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=6531"},"modified":"2026-02-27T07:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:36:21","slug":"the-skin-i-didnt-ask-for-bemoaning-my-white-privilege-and-the-evil-of-racial-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2016\/07\/13\/the-skin-i-didnt-ask-for-bemoaning-my-white-privilege-and-the-evil-of-racial-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"The skin I didn’t ask for: Bemoaning my white privilege and the evil of racial violence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I am afraid this blog post is going to be a terrible, tangled mess: sorry about that. But considering the mess this is all about, a jumble might be the best I can give.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My thoughts are tangled because so much has been stirring within me since last week when I learned about the killings of Alton Sterling (in Louisiana) and Philando Castile (in Minnesota), and then police officers Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Lorne Ahrens, and Michael Smith (in Dallas).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My heart has been heavy with more sadness—too similar to <\/span>my grief for the 50 people killed in Orlando<\/span><\/a> on June 12th. I\u2019ve been praying prayers of lament and trying to lean on my faith; that love prevails. As a Christian who desires to be an agent of nonviolent social change, I have also felt overwhelmed, helpless, disappointed, doubtful and frustrated—how can these horrific events and lingering tensions lead to healing and peace?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mostly though, I have been feeling a lot of guilt.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(And I understand that <\/span>some people perceive white guilt to be another type of racism<\/span><\/a>, but I don’t think they\u2019re referring to guilt in the context I\u2019ve been dealing with.)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t ask to be born with this white skin. I never wanted to inherit <\/span>centuries of stolen privilege and power<\/span><\/a>. I\u2019ve never wanted to be an oppressor and blindly participate in social structures that keep my brothers and sisters of color in poverty, assumed criminals. I\u2019ve never wanted to walk around wearing white privilege every day, but I do.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I understand now (but didn’t before: more about it later) that much of the racial violence flaring up throughout our nation has been centuries in the making. As a nation we\u2019ve never healed our racist wounds and now racism has become an infection, sickening and slowing our chances for unity and peace. The disease of racism has corrupted our economics, communities and ways of relating to one another.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can’t blame anyone for the racial conflicts but ourselves, as we\u2019ve all contributed to the causes that ignite anger and hate among us; <\/span>structural racism<\/span><\/a> is real and creating a mess of problems, tangled together and killing our children. When we submit to lies and take a side, when we ignore the suffering of anyone—this is sin and evil staring us down and laughing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether I like it or not, I participate in the evil of racism every time I enjoy my white privilege. When I feel the tinge of excitement over seeing a “run-down” neighborhood flipped into an area with funky shops and remodeled homes (that’s what <\/span>gentrification <\/span><\/a>is), I’m ignoring the plight of the poor. When I savor easy access to healthy food and transportation without anger for the lack of attainability my black and brown brothers and sisters have of such beneficial basics, I’m failing to love. And, when I experience nothing but respect and kindness from police officers and assume it\u2019s everyone’s experience, I\u2019m turning away from the Truth.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to leave the nearly all-white farming community in Iowa where I grew up in order to learn the ugly truth: racism, as portrayed to me in history class, didn’t end after the civil rights movement. I discovered this in college partly through Jonathan Kozol\u2019s <\/span>Savage Inequalities<\/span><\/i><\/a> (which really impacted my life); while studying abroad in South Africa; while serving in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps <\/a>and witnessing lack of health care for people of color. I first heard about predator police patrolling black neighborhoods from my students at an all-boys African-American high school on Chicago\u2019s south side. T<\/span>he powerful truth in this video mirrors their stories (but be warned: it\u2019s violent and contains offensive language).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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