Are you a racist?

Well, if you know that you’re a racist and you like it that way, the answer is “yes.”

But, I reckon your answer to the question is “no, I’m not a racist.”

And you might add: “I’m sick and tired of people telling me that I am one!”

But just between you and me (nobody else is here and I’m not telling anyone), would you say that you’re perfect? Would you say that you don’t have anything you need to work on? Any growth or maturation that God wants to see through in you? Would you say that you no longer have any trace of the sinful nature in you?

If you’re still with me, I know you know that you’re a work in progress. I know you know that God is still growing you through your vices and weaknesses. I know you know that you still pray for grace and mercy every day.

So, then, let’s go back to the question: Are you a racist?

No, but could you confess that you are a sinner? And, as a sinner, could you confess that any sin could come out of you but for the grace of God?

If you answered “yes,” then you know how humble, open, and vigilant you need to be about sin. Even the sin of racism.

You know that acting like sin can’t happen or isn’t there is not the way to deal with sin. When we dismiss or ignore it, that is when it sneaks up and takes us.

The point of this post is not to get you to admit that you are a racist or that you have racist urges. I’m calling you to remember the grace of God you need because of your own weakness. It is to remind you to be humble and open and reaching out to God because your sinful nature makes you capable of anything–even racism.

I didn’t, however, invite you here to talk about you being a racist. Because, as I already wrote, I am sure that you don’t think of yourself as a racist and you don’t want to be a racist. In fact, I’m sure that you very much want to be an opponent of racism.

I believe you.

So, the next question I want to ask you is not are you a racist, but do you believe there is something racist about the way things are?

That is, do you think that racism could still be part of the way things work in our world? I’m not talking about individual racists; I’m talking about the “system.” It’s the way everything goes together and works in society. It’s the collective attitude or “energy” or “spirit” in everything. Could there be parts of it all that are racist?

As you are open to what sin could do in your own life, are you open to the possibility that the sin of racism could still be at work in the world?

That is what I’m asking you to consider. Again, not that you’re a racist.

I’m asking you to ask if racism could be a part of “the way things are.”

Could you ask that question and give it some honest thought? Just with yourself and not anyone else, so that it’s safe for you to tell yourself the truth. And so that you don’t appear to “virtue signal” for the world to see.

You may have a question for me now: How? How are you supposed to look to see if racism is still a part of “how things are”?

By looking at lived experience.

That is, by looking at your lived experience as a white person and then asking how it compares or contrasts to the lived experience of people of color. By “lived experience,” I mean how the outside world relates to you as you go about life.

This is not an analysis of your actions or attitudes towards people of color.

It is an analysis of how the world interacts with you in your daily life. Then, it is a comparison with how that same world interacts with people of color as they go about their daily lives.

Peggy McIntosh made a list of 50 life experiences common to all people. As you go through her list, you can choose to write “true,” “false,” “sometimes,” or “I don’t know” next to each lived experience.

What makes McIntosh’s list useful, however, is that white people will be able to write “true” next to almost all of the 50 lived experiences. People of color, however, will not be able to say many of the 50 lived experiences are true for them.

You can go through the checklist yourself here.

The point of McIntosh’s checklist is not to reveal that you are a racist. It is not to make you feel bad about being white.

But if you are white, her list helps you see that the lived experiences you take for granted are not the same for people of color. That “the way things are” for you are different from “the way things are” for people of color. And none of this has anything to do with you; it’s the way things are.

Christians are the people who pray to God: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

How can we be part the answer to this prayer?

How can we be part of earth looking a little more like heaven?

By opening our eyes to the parts of this world that are not like the place where God’s will is done. By committing ourselves to be the bridge between “the way things are” and the way God wants things to be for all of his beloved people.