The premise of the
Seeing White
podcast is that the American conversation about race, and the stories we tell ourselves about race and ethnicity, are deeply incomplete and often misleading. We need new stories and new understandings, about our history and our current racial and ethnic reality. Host and producer John Biewen set out to take a different kind of look at race and ethnicity, by looking directly at the elephant in the room: white people, and whiteness.
|
|
John Biewen: I saw this quote by Angela Davis the other day and it resonated for me, that it's not enough to be, to be not a racist. And I think that for much of my life I probably felt that it was, that well “I'm not a racist, I'm just going about my life here.” And yeah, I guess I sort of do feel, in light of this whole thing, you know, and what we're doing here, to feel somewhat more of a sense of well, what does it mean, what does it mean to be a more active anti-racist.
Chenjerai Kumanyika: Right. And I think this is where it's about elevating our thinking on this beyond the level of the individual, and thinking about it at a societal level, at a structural level, you know? I mean, another way to think about it is, you can't face the history we're talking about, and see the continuity in, like, Jefferson's priorities and the problems with race and ethnicity that we face now, and then say “We're just going to leave all these structures intact but I'm just going to be like an individual anti-racist and sort of like just invite black people to dinner.” Right? It's like “I'm just going to make sure my kids can play with black kids,” which is how a lot of people think about anti-racist work.
|
|
|
And the episode ends with:
|
|
John Biewen: There’s a lot more that could be said about all that, what becomes of a European American’s identity in the face of the real history of whiteness in this country. None of us chose the color of our skin, or this racial caste system we were born into. But we do have choices now that we’re here. I agree with Chenjerai: those of us deemed white can’t just shed that identity in some easy way. We don’t get to be generic individuals, standing outside the race drama—we’re in it. We need to own our whiteness, including the ways it benefits us every day. The little ways, the life-and-death ways, the ways in which the very structures of society were set up to our advantage. And we need a conversation we’re not having now, about how deep we need to go to remake this thing. Seems to me there’s a way to acknowledge we’re wrapped up in the whiteness project that our forebears created without believing it’s really real or having allegiance to it.
|
|
|
What is your emotional response to this excerpt?
How is God inviting you to respond?
Prayer
Loving God, we have all sinned. We come to You to name and repent of the sin of racism. God, raise the consciousness of those whites in power who benefit from racism in the world. Transform all of us in this struggle without being defensive. Once minds are opened to sin and forgiveness, may we be reconciled one to another. Amen.
|
|
We provide these daily
Interruptions
to you for each day of Lent, as we journey together in the Spiritual Work of Resisting Racism. Believing that God is active through a variety of voices and media, we trust the Holy Spirit to aid our reflection and transformation. If you’d like to share these reflections and experiences with others, please do so on our private
Facebook group
. If you’d like to reflect further with a pastor, please email us at
[email protected]
or
[email protected]
.
|
|
First United Methodist Church
1201 Lavaca St.
Austin, TX 78731
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
