I understood it for the first time last week.
This term has been thrown at me for the past 4 years of my life, and I've never quite gotten it. My heart was hardened toward the idea that I was grouped with closed-minded, middle class, suburban-living, white US citizens. Having grown up over-seas and never "white-washed", it made my blood boil that this was my identified party due to my complexion.
For years I openly rolled my eyes towards white people, boldly saying "Ugh I hate white people," being quickly (and correctly) responded to with "Hannah... You're white." To which I rolled my eyes and cursed my skin. Unknowingly, I was not only offending the privilege that comes with the shade I wear, but offending my God who created me exactly how He intended me to be, and rejoices in it.
It wasn't until this year, at 24 years old, that God opened my eyes to understanding this love that He has for me; the inherited value I have because God said so. It took 24 years for me to feel confident in the love that He has for EXACTLY who He created me to be, white skin and all. My first response to this understanding was to stop the white-shaming that I heard, and the white-shaming that I was (and am) guilty of.
Unlike us, God loves everyone. Why? Because He created everyone; every race, every nation, every tribe, every culture, every sub-culture, every language. All of it. In all of His beautiful creativity, He made people so different, so diverse, so unique, all to show His majesty and the beauty of Himself. He rejoices in our differences (why can't we do the same?). We allow our differences to divide us, rather than seeing the beauty of diversity and rejoice in it the way our creator does. God has this perfect perspective and capability to love all these differences, we do not.
In the eyes of God, we are all valuable; equally. Through the veils of sin that block our eyes from this clarity, we devalue one another and therefore demean, discriminate, and marginalize those who we find less valuable than ourselves.
This is what white privilege is: white lives are seen as more valuable than any other shade of life.
Doesn't that hurt?
If you're a person of color, doesn't that make you angry?
If you're white, doesn't that make you angry?
It makes my blood boil. I always denied that I was "guilty" of white privilege because I didn't grow up in white suburbia, I was never shown favoritism because of my whiteness, I've never considered myself "privileged" in any way (apart from being chosen by God through Christ's sacrifice).
But white privilege, when stripped of it's socio-economic benefits, is merely the idea that white lives are valued more.
Years of missing this, and suddenly it's like being hit by a train of reality. As much as I hate it, the world views my white nephew as more valuable than my black nephew.
Why have centuries of human "progress" left us incapable of honoring one another's human dignity and human value? If we can't acknowledge the simple truth of equal value for human life, have we progressed at all?
When it comes to the plethora of social issues discussed these past two weeks, everything from police brutality to black on black crime, we see this truth of white privilege proved. The reason white cops treat black men differently (less justly) than white men is because they see the white men as more valuable. The reason black cops treat black men differently (less justly) than white men is because they see white men as more valuable. The reason the media and news stations publicize criminal records for black men while listing the accomplishments of white men is because they view the white mans status in society as more valuable than a black mans, and will opening avoid any form of accomplishment a black man may have in order to prove his lack of value in society.
Tell me this isn't true, tell me this isn't happening!
I'm so sorry, it is.
How will this change? When we start viewing people the way God views people.
I am not sorry for saying this again, and again, and again and again and again: all lives are valuable because God said so. I say this a million and a half times a day and I still tear up when I think of the way that we have perverted, diluted, and demeaned humanity's inherited value.
White privilege has become accepted systematically and has been harnessed and used in order to oppress people of color. Christian, friend, this reality should anger you the way it angers God.
We can no longer live in ignorance of this injustice taking place because of the past lies of where value lies, but strive to show inherited value and view each other the way God views us; as beautiful image bearers of Himself. We need to stop perverting humanity to anything less.
This term has been thrown at me for the past 4 years of my life, and I've never quite gotten it. My heart was hardened toward the idea that I was grouped with closed-minded, middle class, suburban-living, white US citizens. Having grown up over-seas and never "white-washed", it made my blood boil that this was my identified party due to my complexion.
For years I openly rolled my eyes towards white people, boldly saying "Ugh I hate white people," being quickly (and correctly) responded to with "Hannah... You're white." To which I rolled my eyes and cursed my skin. Unknowingly, I was not only offending the privilege that comes with the shade I wear, but offending my God who created me exactly how He intended me to be, and rejoices in it.
It wasn't until this year, at 24 years old, that God opened my eyes to understanding this love that He has for me; the inherited value I have because God said so. It took 24 years for me to feel confident in the love that He has for EXACTLY who He created me to be, white skin and all. My first response to this understanding was to stop the white-shaming that I heard, and the white-shaming that I was (and am) guilty of.
Unlike us, God loves everyone. Why? Because He created everyone; every race, every nation, every tribe, every culture, every sub-culture, every language. All of it. In all of His beautiful creativity, He made people so different, so diverse, so unique, all to show His majesty and the beauty of Himself. He rejoices in our differences (why can't we do the same?). We allow our differences to divide us, rather than seeing the beauty of diversity and rejoice in it the way our creator does. God has this perfect perspective and capability to love all these differences, we do not.
In the eyes of God, we are all valuable; equally. Through the veils of sin that block our eyes from this clarity, we devalue one another and therefore demean, discriminate, and marginalize those who we find less valuable than ourselves.
This is what white privilege is: white lives are seen as more valuable than any other shade of life.
Doesn't that hurt?
If you're a person of color, doesn't that make you angry?
If you're white, doesn't that make you angry?
It makes my blood boil. I always denied that I was "guilty" of white privilege because I didn't grow up in white suburbia, I was never shown favoritism because of my whiteness, I've never considered myself "privileged" in any way (apart from being chosen by God through Christ's sacrifice).
But white privilege, when stripped of it's socio-economic benefits, is merely the idea that white lives are valued more.
Years of missing this, and suddenly it's like being hit by a train of reality. As much as I hate it, the world views my white nephew as more valuable than my black nephew.
Why have centuries of human "progress" left us incapable of honoring one another's human dignity and human value? If we can't acknowledge the simple truth of equal value for human life, have we progressed at all?
When it comes to the plethora of social issues discussed these past two weeks, everything from police brutality to black on black crime, we see this truth of white privilege proved. The reason white cops treat black men differently (less justly) than white men is because they see the white men as more valuable. The reason black cops treat black men differently (less justly) than white men is because they see white men as more valuable. The reason the media and news stations publicize criminal records for black men while listing the accomplishments of white men is because they view the white mans status in society as more valuable than a black mans, and will opening avoid any form of accomplishment a black man may have in order to prove his lack of value in society.
Tell me this isn't true, tell me this isn't happening!
I'm so sorry, it is.
How will this change? When we start viewing people the way God views people.
I am not sorry for saying this again, and again, and again and again and again: all lives are valuable because God said so. I say this a million and a half times a day and I still tear up when I think of the way that we have perverted, diluted, and demeaned humanity's inherited value.
White privilege has become accepted systematically and has been harnessed and used in order to oppress people of color. Christian, friend, this reality should anger you the way it angers God.
We can no longer live in ignorance of this injustice taking place because of the past lies of where value lies, but strive to show inherited value and view each other the way God views us; as beautiful image bearers of Himself. We need to stop perverting humanity to anything less.
