Culture – What is the culture saying?
White privilege has received significant airtime recently in American society as seen in a Google trends analysis showing the interest of a word or phrase over time. As Christians who are concerned about preaching the gospel rightly in a way that is understandable to the culture, we would do well to understand the concept of white privilege.
White privilege is a concept born from critical race theory proposing that white people are born with an invisible bag of privileges and cultural assets of which they are unaware. Some authors writing on privilege broaden the concept of privilege do deal with any perceived power group in culture such as Ibram X. Kendi when he says: “We cannot be antiracist if we are homophobic or transphobic… To be queer antiracist is to understand the privileges of my cisgender, of my masculinity, of my heterosexuality, of their intersections” (How to Be, 197). However, specifically with regard to white privilege, a primary source would be Peggy McIntosh who describes it as “an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious.” (McIntosh, Peace and Freedom Magazine, July/August, 1989, pp. 10-12). Furthermore, she has created a white privilege checklist to help people understand this concept more.
It is fairly easy to understand the concept of privilege generally and white privilege specifically from McIntosh’s description. However, expanding on her concept, Delgado and Stefancic state that “White privilege refers to the myriad of social advantages, benefits, and courtesies that come with being a member of the dominant race” (Critical Race Theory: An Intro, 89-90). In a broader way, some posit that white privilege refers to “refers to the individual and systemic advantages afforded to White people by virtue of them belonging to the dominant ethnic group in society.” Much of the academic writing on white privilege focuses on both its invisibility and the intentionality of that invisibility. Meaning that white privilege is not simply a way to describe something that is invisible but it also carries moral intentionality because it is intended to remain unseen.
To be certain, this is a disputed area of research and there are many who point out that it (critical race theory) has developed a faulty method of epistemological reasoning which lacks empirical analysis. However, with its nascent popularity, Christian leaders should wisely engage this concept knowing the manner in which it developed.
Another point of consideration should be how everyday people use the concept. It is fair to assume that most people who have heard of (whether on Dr. Phil or other places) or utilize the term white privilege do not trace it back to critical race theory. For most people, they simply intend to describe the way that the historical and present ethnic majority in our country (white people) receive more cultural capital by nature of their ethnicity. This can result in a discrepancy in the way other people (non-white) are treated in everyday life when compared to white people.
Church – What is the church saying?
There are many in the church who are speaking on the idea of white privilege. For example, Matt Chandler describes white privilege as “an invisible bag that I can reach in that other people don’t possess.” His hope in sharing this concept is that “if you don’t let the gospel purify your heart. If you don’t let the Word of God direct you, you will expect other people to measure up to what you have access to you.” He further describes white privilege as “invisible air we breathe.” Eric Mason reflects on the invisibility of the air we breathe and the concept of white privilege by describing how fish do not know they are wet.
Jemar Tisby says that white privilege is a way of describing “how benefits are unequally distributed among different groups of people.” An author for CRU writes that “privilege, instead of being a pejorative judgment, is a simple, factual reality. It’s defined as ‘having systemic or inherited advantages in a society.’”
However, not all evangelicals are as positive as to the implementation of the concept of white privilege within Christianity. Neil Shenvi has shown that white privilege can be helpful in describing some racial disparities in our society. However, because white privilege as a concept was birthed from an epistemologically erroneous starting point (critical theory), it could do more harm than good. Furthermore, he laments that it is a rather simplistic way to describe the advantages and disadvantages people have in society. The concept of white privilege tends to conflate moral and non-moral categories making it confusing to understand what should be done about white privilege. This can be seen in the academic literature which connects the concept with moral intentionality.
Samuel Sey decries the implications of white privilege when he writes that “white privilege is a popular concept today because White people are encouraged to congratulate themselves for pitying their Black neighbours. White privilege is a popular concept today because the culture encourages Black people to embrace self-pity, bitterness, covetousness, and envy—and it turns Black people green for White people.” Furthermore, he highlights that taken in the worst reading, it is a racist conception because it assigns to entire ethnicity particular attributes and rights.
Christ – How should we consider this topic Christologically?
Some appeal to the theological concept of Kenosis in Philippians as way that white privilege could be thought of redemptively. It is argued that because Jesus is our example in how we should look to the interest of others, we should take the concept of white privilege as a means to further understand how we could look to the interests of others.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate privileged one who reigns in power. He is the firstborn of all creation. He is before all things. He is the head of the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. He is king of kings and Lord of Lords. He reigns over all. His place is a place of privilege. One must consider that if white privilege is so specifically pernicious and privilege is generally problematic, would not these kerfuffles over privilege and power ultimately result in the desire that God himself confess, lament, and divest Himself of His privilege?
Jesus commands us to be like Him in humility. A prime example of this by Jesus was through washing the feet of the disciples. He tells us the first shall be last and the last first. His kingdom is not one of power and lording over each other. It is one of being a servant and a bondservant of His kingdom. He views his “privilege” as something to be used to bless others. Power was not something Jesus sought on this earth. In fact, He rejected to temptation to use His privilege to gain power (as if it was something that could be given to Him) when tempted. In these ways, reflecting on possible privileges we possess could produce in us more humility.
Jesus was a first century Jew who understood ethnic tensions. He intentionally sought to minister to people who were seen as ‘less than’ and inferior in his day such as the Samaritan woman at the well. For Jesus, his privilege as the Son of God was something to be utilized for the good of others. The ministry of Jesus was one which was marked by his taking “privilege” and leveraging it for the good of others. However, reading back into the life of Christ the philosophy of critical race theory is highly problematic.
There is an argument that needs to be considered regarding the whiteness of Jesus (which sounds ludicrous at first). This is not an argument that is easily considered because Jesus was obviously a middle eastern Jew in the first century. Eric Metaxas recently attempted to make this argument and was lambasted. Yet, the way many people are arguing against the concept of whiteness, it seems that Jewish people are to be considered white. This would seem to implicate Jesus in upholding white privilege. Which brings us to a further point.
Is white privilege to be considered a sin? If not, is there a point at which denying either the existence of white privilege or not adequately working against white privilege is to be thought of as a sin? If one does not decry their white privilege and in so doing covertly promotes white normativity, would not this be perpetuating white supremacy according the logic of critical race theory? If so, are we to conclude that Jesus sinned by perpetuating white normativity such as upholding personal responsibility, family values, cause and effect relationships, a respect for authority, delayed gratification, intentions counting, etc.?
Care & Carry Out– How should we care about it? And carry out gospel mission?
We must be wise and discerning on how we should employee the concepts of privilege and what the gospel intention might be behind utilizing the concept. In one sense, we can acknowledge that in God’s sovereignty some people are born with more privileges than others. Christians are called to steward whatever privileges they have with wisdom and in light of God’s expectation that we steward our resources well. Christians who are part of majority ethnicities in any country around the world could consider how their cultural norms might place undue burdens on non-majority people or create real or perceived barriers to entry to community.
In another sense, we must be cautious about assigning to an entire ethnicity a particular group attribute. This is what is historically called racism. The idea that all white people are inherently privileged is a racist statement. To extend this logic, are we comfortable calling all Nigerians privileged within Nigeria because of the color of their skin? While white privilege could be redeemed within the missiological methods and principles in the Bible, one would be wise to consider its usefulness and compatibility within a worldview in which rich and poor, powerful and powerless, every tribe tongue and nation are called to submit in unity to Jesus Christ our King. One should be clear on how white privilege stems from a worldview which is not just agnostic but anti-God and materialistic.
Christians should be concerned about fairness and justice in light of God’s sovereignty and justice. If we allow ourselves to focus on the privileges that we do not have, we run the risk of living in bitterness. Yet, if we allow ourselves to ignore privileges we have been afforded, we run the risk of living thankless lives of self-righteousness. Couldn’t we teach all of this without pulling from the polluted waters of critical race theory? This concept of white privilege often goes with male privilege. Are Christians ready to start talking about male privilege? Why not? Regardless of the privileges society bestows upon us due to the way we look or way we talk or our gender, should the mission of the church be so intricately tied to theories which seek to undermine Christianity and reason itself?
Let’s run a though experiment. I am not tall. I wish I were. Alas, my height prevented me from excelling in sports like basketball. It could be argued that there is height privilege in basketball. What of it? How is this is a helpful way to view the world? What is the purpose of introducing the concept of white privilege into our churches? For some, the hope is that white people would lament. For others, it is an interesting way to consider how majority ethnic cultures might put undue burdens upon non-majority ethnic cultures.
When we condition success or achievement on privilege such as saying that success is contingent or requires privilege, we make racist claims that one’s success or lack of success in life is contingent on one’s skin color. This of course depends on how one defines success. For Christians, success looks faithfulness and being found in Christ. For our world, success looks like material and reputational acclaim. We can all acknowledge that certain privileges will lead to a higher likelihood of worldly success in certain areas. However, there are too many other variables that apply to someone’s worldly success to reduce all success to ethnic privilege. And when one does so, it appears incredibly racist.
We Christians already have categories for the way God bestows different privileges on different groups; providence and common grace. God has already told us how to use his common grace and blessings in our life (what others might refer to as privileges). He has told us to use them for the good of others, for the building up of the body of Christ, and to be thankful for any and all blessings. Whatever church planting context you find yourself in, the wisdom of Christ encourages us to consider the privileges bestowed upon you and how those might be utilized to serve the least of these. The missionary goal in church planting is not to speak against the majority ethnicity in any context but to call both majority and non-majority ethnicities to repent and believe the gospel.