More on Ferguson and White Privilege

Not quite sure I go along with Chandler here. I’ve been in and around minority communities—grew up near Gary, went to school with a lot of young people from Detroit, and have ministered among asians in Torrance, blacks and hispanics in Compton and Dallas, hispanics in Phoenix and Boulder, and the addicted and homeless in Boulder and Chicago, and the thing that strikes me is that the people who make it, no matter what the race, are those who approach others graciously and follow the rules. Those who do not make it, no matter what the race or ethnicity, are those who do not.

The one thing I can say that is true “poor luck” for the poor in general and many minorities in particular is being born into poverty, and many have the even worse luck of growing up among communities hurt by crime, but my experience is that after three weeks at Michigan State, kids from the poorest neighborhoods of Detroit and Flint were being seen for the content of their character instead of the color of their skin by most.

… the idea that white people, in most cases, have easier paths than most black people. The challenge with white privilege is that most white people cannot see it. We assume that the experiences and opportunities afforded to us are the same afforded to others. Sadly, this simply isn’t true.

In some cases (if you’ve ever filled out a FAFSA), the financially less privileged have advantages over the middle class.

• How is that contemporary African immigrants are able to come to America and thrive … but
• 3rd, 4th, 5th generation black americans are so hindered (generalizing - but compare and contrast)

• Mother left home because she was abused by her drunken father
• Had to get married because pg out of wedlock
• In a small subsistence farm a family is raised (Mattoon WI)
  • Farm house had no central heat except for wood stove. Toilet was a three holer outside. Water was from a pump
  • 3 boys slept in one bed
  • 4 of the five children are born at home.
  • Father spent weekdays in Milwaukee (170 miles away) staying in a boarding house
  • Mother raised cows and sold milk
• At the age of 17 the oldest son had “had it” and joined the Navy. Ultimately other two boys leave farm and join Navy
• Father had opportunity to move to Florida and work at a plant there. Remaining family left with only the belongings they could pack in a car and move

This sounds like Appalachia but it is a story of Northern Wisconsin poverty. This is the story of my wife’s family. The move to Florida was in the 1950’s … I think 1956. My wife was 5. The kids:

• Oldest son: after Navy graduated from Florida with an engineering degree. Worked for IBM and is now retired.
• 2nd son: made a career of the Navy as a helicopter mechanic. After Navy worked in timber industry in NW as a helicopter mechanic. Deceased
• 3rd son: After Navy graduated from Florida with an physical therapy degree. Now retired and dying from leukemia
• 4th child = daughter: graduated from Florida with a teaching degree. Has been a housewife and is now retired
• 5th child = daughter: graduated from Florida State with a degree in Math (4.0). Now a software architect and nearing retirement. My wife

Without knowing the facts of what actually happened at the time of the shooting in Ferguson, I think it’s clear that “white privilege” is not responsible for:

1. Assaulting a store owner and stealing things from the store.

2. Looting and violence as a “just” response to a perceived injustice.

And some more recent looting not being stopped by police because of the bad reaction and clashes when they were first deployed isn’t the solution either. This isn’t racial justice or “an understandable reaction.” It’s criminal behavior.

Being a white guy who enjoys white privilege, it’s hard for me to empathize with the hoards of people I have seen pot smoking, cursing, rioting and looting on TV in response to the shooting of a petty thief who was resisting/evading arrest and was possibly threatening the life of a police officer.

But in trying to empathize and listen to what blacks are saying, the looting is never justified, but at least, as a white person, I should try to understand:

1. White police shoot down a black man in the course of police duty every day in this country.

2. Black young men are looked at with suspicion because they are black and are presumed to have mal-intentions.

3. Black young men do not believe it is fair they should have to conform to white people’s standards of what is considered acceptable whether it be in clothing style (I.E. hoodies), talk, music, etc. in order to be released from the stigma that they have by white people. To do so would be to put the white standard and privilege in the superior position which is what they rightfully reject.

4. Because of the long history of government and law enforcement being primarily run by white people with white privilege, they are automatically defensive toward them feeling that they are not going to be represented fairly, that they will not be treated fairly because of the above suspicion that they feel that they live under every day.

5. Being seen with suspicion, as well as other stigmas that I won’t mention, blacks as a whole are put in an outcast position whether it is where they live, what resources are afforded to their schools, how they are treated by police in comparison to other people groups, etc…Many young men embrace the stigma with an attitude as is reflected in Rap and Hip-Hop culture as a means of rebelling, but in reality it only deepens their stigma and exacerbates their plight.

6 As a result of being under this suspicion by the establishment, when a incident like this occurs (regardless whether or not the black man is innocent or guilty), just the fact that the white officer appears to have assumed he was guilty and shot him when he was unarmed is enough to set off rage because it only confirms numbers 1-5 already mentioned above.

7. Rioting and looting come as a result of many feeling no other recourse to satisfy the black community’s sense of injustice against them. The justice system is mostly run by white people with white privilege, so they will destroy their own community because it’s a way of retaliating against the government who has to figure out how they will restore order and rebuild that community (not to mention a way of getting some reparation that they may feel are entitled to them that they wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity to obtain).

I don’t know for sure if this is completely accurate, but it’s my attempt to try to understand their feelings about it from a white person’s position of privilege. I’m not saying that it’s right or justifies any of the stuff we see in the news. Those of you who just say: “this has nothing to do with privilege, this is just a legal and criminal act that needs to be handled by the system….” or comments of that nature, are only seeing it through the lenses of white privilege. To refuse to acknowledge your white privilege and to refuse to try see past it, is really smug arrogance and apathy.

Sounds like your lens works only one way. If you see my attitude about criminal acts being wrong and needing to be dealt with (separately from issues of privilege) as arrogance and apathy, while ignoring the attitude of rebellion (not just against white standards, but standards of public decency in how to treat one another) that even you see expressed in hip-hop culture, then I would suggest that your way of looking at it is no less one-sided than you claim mine is.

You are right about one thing. I don’t really care if looting and rioting comes about because some disaffected group feels there is no other way. It’s still wrong. There are plenty of black people out there decrying this behavior, so it’s not a simple matter of my so-called “white privilege” getting in the way when I make that judgment.

In 1961 Dr. King stood up and said that the black population in America comprised 10% of the population, but did 59% of the crime. Dr. King then admonished his community to raise their moral standards. You will not hear Sharpton or Jackson saying that. Sharpton said to the mob, “You are not looters; you’re liberators”. Race Hustlers at their best. Today a young black man in the urban environment is many times more likely to be shot by another black man than a police officer. By the way, I grew up on the south side of Chicago and have been just outside Detroit for 30 years. Ben Carson, who grew up in a single parent home in Detroit, has some healthy perspective here. About 90 percent of black murder victims are murdered by other blacks. The idea that there is an epidemic of white police officers intentionally gunning down blacks is a myth. We have video tape proof that Michael Brown is a felon and a thug. The officer claims that Brown “rushed” him in his squad car and was on top of the officer wrestling him for his gun. I don’t know who is not telling the truth in this case. It will take much time and investigation to find the truth. I feel sorry for the law-abiding citizens, children, and business owners of Ferguson who have to put up with the thugs that are using this unfortunate incident to display their phony rage and godless behavior. All the schools have been shut down as well. I am sure that will help this community.

America’s Racial Divide, Charted It’s worth a look. I don’t agree with all the conclusions like “[the] divide is the reason that the events in Ferguson amount to something bigger than a local crime story” Looking at every chart … I cannot think of one area that they themselves cannot solve on their own. One of the major factors in the black community (and to underscore … they are the same human race as the rest of us - all of us made in the image and likeness of God): is the the breakdown of the family - Dads not in the picture. Add to that their self-imposed genocide.

One thing we could do is have a greater emphasis on missions and church planting to the black community

[dcbii]

Sounds like your lens works only one way. If you see my attitude about criminal acts being wrong and needing to be dealt with (separately from issues of privilege) as arrogance and apathy, while ignoring the attitude of rebellion (not just against white standards, but standards of public decency in how to treat one another) that even you see expressed in hip-hop culture, then I would suggest that your way of looking at it is no less one-sided than you claim mine is.

You are right about one thing. I don’t really care if looting and rioting comes about because some disaffected group feels there is no other way. It’s still wrong. There are plenty of black people out there decrying this behavior, so it’s not a simple matter of my so-called “white privilege” getting in the way when I make that judgment.

I agree with you assessment of the wrongness of such acts. My point is that if you won’t acknowledge your white privilege (if you’re white) then any pontificating is what I said it is…smug arrogance and apathy in your own rightness from a white point of view. At least acknowledge your privilege. If we as whites would at least acknowledge that…it could go along way to the black community.

My ancestors came to the USA from Ireland. They were treated as sub human by American culture. They came on the same slave ships that were used in the slave trade but the death rate was much higher for the Irishmen because they were not valuable cargo like slaves. They were just Irishmen. My grandfathers were both sharecroppers (legalized slaves). My parents came north to chase jobs. Neither one of my parents were high school grads. White privilege is a myth my friend. My parents were born again believers who worked hard and tried to leave a legacy for the children. My oldest sis was the first from either side of our family to graduate from college. “Privilege” and “victim” are terms used by secularists to describe our culture. The Bible uses terms like sinner and saint. Yes, I am white; but I reject that I have what I have today because of my “whiteness”. Many of our family members still live in deep poverty and crime because of choices that they have made. Smug? I don’t think so. Grateful for God’s grace? Absolutely!

[WilliamD]

dcbii wrote:

Sounds like your lens works only one way. If you see my attitude about criminal acts being wrong and needing to be dealt with (separately from issues of privilege) as arrogance and apathy, while ignoring the attitude of rebellion (not just against white standards, but standards of public decency in how to treat one another) that even you see expressed in hip-hop culture, then I would suggest that your way of looking at it is no less one-sided than you claim mine is.

You are right about one thing. I don’t really care if looting and rioting comes about because some disaffected group feels there is no other way. It’s still wrong. There are plenty of black people out there decrying this behavior, so it’s not a simple matter of my so-called “white privilege” getting in the way when I make that judgment.

I agree with you assessment of the wrongness of such acts. My point is that if you won’t acknowledge your white privilege (if you’re white) then any pontificating is what I said it is…smug arrogance and apathy in your own rightness from a white point of view. At least acknowledge your privilege. If we as whites would at least acknowledge that…it could go along way to the black community.

100 years ago, I would certainly have had privilege over African Americans because I was white. Today, I have not received any advantage or privilege because I am white. And it is racist to make such a claim. This why, as someone mentioned earlier, many immigrants of all colors tend to fair better than so many Afican Americans. A recent study in England found the same thing as it considered why young African immigrants could achieve so much in school while whites from the slums were not. It has nothing to do with race, and it is racist to claim it does.

[WilliamD]

I agree with you assessment of the wrongness of such acts. My point is that if you won’t acknowledge your white privilege (if you’re white) then any pontificating is what I said it is…smug arrogance and apathy in your own rightness from a white point of view. At least acknowledge your privilege. If we as whites would at least acknowledge that…it could go along way to the black community.

If, in fact, I were pontificating about whether or not police were abusing their powers in Ferguson when it came to how they treat people of a different race, or if I were to claim that blacks have no reason to feel disaffected in Ferguson or claim that there is no white privilege there without knowing all the facts, then I would agree with your assessment of my attitude. Obviously, on those points, most of us are still waiting to see the facts of the case. Since all I essentially said was that thuggery, thievery, looting and rioting have nothing to do with that privilege, then I will continue to disagree that calling such actions wrong regardless of any possible racial context is either smug or arrogant.

Kareem abdul Jabbar today wrote an opinion column that agrees with that point. Although I don’t agree with everything he wrote, he doesn’t think what is happening there is related to race either. He argues that it’s about class, not race.

Examples of white privilege for those of you who are privileged enough not to have to recognize your own privilege:

• My skin color does not work against me in terms of how people perceive my financial responsibility, style of dress, public speaking skills, or job performance.
• People do not assume that I got where I am professionally because of my race (or because of affirmative action programs).
• Store security personnel or law enforcement officers do not harass me, pull me over or follow me because of my race.

• When I am told about our national heritage or “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.

• Related, the schools that I attend or have attended use standard textbooks, which widely reflect people of my color and their contributions to the world.
• When I look at the national currency or see photographs of monuments on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., I see people of my race widely represented and celebrated.

[dcbii]

Since all I essentially said was that thuggery, thievery, looting and rioting have nothing to do with that privilege, then I will continue to disagree that calling such actions wrong regardless of any possible racial context is either smug or arrogant.

My friend Bob Bixby gets the same reactions from the same white people when he writes about this…they totally miss his point.

Let me say this clearly: “TO REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR WHITE PRIVILEGE WHILE PONTIFICATING ABOUT BLACK BEHAVIOR IS SMUG ARROGANCE”

In the original post, I said exactly this: “ To refuse to acknowledge your white privilege and to refuse to try see past it, is really smug arrogance and apathy.​:

I DID NOT SAY: “calling such actions wrong regardless of any possible racial context is either smug or arrogant.”

So, once you get past your own pho outrage, you can start understanding what I really said.