Is There White Privilege?

Today we are asking two basic questions, Is White Privilege Real? And How should I respond if someone says, “All Whites have White Privilege.” Let’s start with, Is White Privilege real? Before I proceed any further, let me be clear:  Racism is real. Some whites truly hate blacks.  Some blacks truly hate whites.  Ditto for every other ethnic group.  But you can’t legislate hate away.   You can’t shame hate away.  The only way to get rid of ETHNIC HATE is by changing people’s hearts. Hate is fundamentally a spiritual issue because it is a heart problem that denigrates the image of God in all of us. It is a prime example of what the Bible calls sin.  And if it is a spiritual issue, then the PRIMARY solution must be spiritual as well.  Trying to fix a primarily spiritual problem by applying an external systemic solution, is like trying to heal cancer with a Band-aid and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. The first problem with White Privilege is that Asian Americans and Jewish Americans have been able to do BETTER than Whites despite not having White Privilege. The second problem with the term “White Privilege” is that it DEMONIZES ALL White people simply for the UNPARDONABLE SIN of being born White. The third problem is that the term “White Privilege” assumes the fundamental problem behind racism is SYSTEMIC not personal or spiritual. The problem is external.  Therefore, if you change the system, you can change the individual person. Christianity believes that racism is inherently a spiritual problem. An individual sin problem.   Therefore, you must first change the heart in order to change the system. How should I respond when someone accuses me, or someone I know, of “White Privilege?” First, recognize that it does not properly diagnose the problem, because it ignores instances that don’t fit the model. Second, recognize that is often intentionally weaponized to make White folks shut up. Third, recognize it assumes the problem is systemic, not personal or spiritual.   Finally, recognizing the accusation targets the emotional center of your brain, not the logical part of your brain. Frontal lobe. Seat of logic.  Brain stem. Seat of emotion. Understanding this is critical, because there are two basic kinds of arguments.  Arguments from logic. Arguments from emotion. Clarification: Arguments from emotion do NOT mean you get emotional.   It means they target the brain stem not the frontal lobe. Once you say, “This in my Truth,” You win! Let me say parenthetically that the whole concept of “My Truth” and “Your Truth” is ridiculous. But in order to be an effective communicator, I adopt the language my audience understands. If I don’t, I lose in the minds of my audience. However, if you want to take the conversation the next step, once your accuser finally shrugs in defeat, ASK:  “Would you like to know what I think the real problem and solution is?” Racism is fundamentally a spiritual problem - a problem of the heart, not a systemic problem. It denies that we are ALL created in God’s image. And if that is true, then the solution has to be primarily a spiritual solution—a remedy that changes the heart. I believe when Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” he gave us the way out of this dilemma. If Whites would TRY treat blacks the way they would want to be treated, and if blacks would TRY treat Whites the way they want to be treated, we would eventually solve all the ethnic bickering. But as long as we continue to DEMONIZE each other with terms like “White Privilege,” “Uncle Tom,”       the problem will only get worse. God is the issue, in every issue — especially the issue of White Privilege. This is Brad Bright.  Thanks for joining me today. If you found this podcast helpful, please like, subscribe or share. God Bless you as you seek to be salt and light in a very dark culture