If black lives are to matter to white people, privilege must go

The Black Lives Matter movement is a scary prospect to the privileged, for they stand to lose power.  It is reprehensible that a black man is strangled to death by a policeman in full sight of many onlookers who catch the vision on their phones.  Yet how many more have been murdered, brutalised, assaulted that never saw the light of day?  There is a global culture of silence and acceptance, ignorance and ambivalence.  The rich get richer, and that kind of thing.  Until now.

When we think of closing the gaps in mortality, where indigenous and black peoples die 10 to 15 years earlier on average than white people, where generational trauma is the outworking of generations of institutional, systemic and systematic abuse, where a section of the community is overpoliced, and where so much covert racism of the subtlest kinds occurs, we barely scratch the surface of the common struggles that are inescapable for the majority of non-whites.  I know there are so many of us who count privilege a great stain on the perceptions of our lives — even though we carry that privilege, we feel it only appropriate that everyone  have that privilege.

So, what’s so bad about white privilege?

§     It’s the subtle acceptance that receiving more favour than others (for no reason other than skin colour) is okay

§     It’s pretending that we all have life equally hard, whilst completely negating the fact that many people live life unimaginably harder just because their skin colour is different.  All have life hard, but life’s harder for some than it is for others

§     It can be about believing that black lives matter, but with complete ambivalence; where we’re not prepared to do anything to support it, or we support action that actually maintains the status quo

§     It’s turning a blind eye to racial and other injustices to stay safe and comfortable

§     It’s almost impossible to see, as white people, that we are born to privilege – this is why some people will never be convinced even though the privilege is very apparent in them

§     It’s the assumption that having greater/better access to power and resources for some is okay

§     It’s seeing that everyone is equal, but with the subtle nuance that people of race are people of race – they’re somehow different

§     It’s missing the point that white privilege is ‘in us’ and needs to be acknowledged first before anything can be done about it

§     It’s failing to acknowledge we are the way we are – privileged – for systemic and generational reasons; (it’s neither our fault nor is it something we can deny, which leaves us with the positive burden to change it)

§     It’s failing to understand that violence doesn’t happen in a vacuum, where privilege sets some apart as being inherently reprobate because of skin colour – I mean, how on earth-as-it-is-in-heaven can that be?!

§     It’s a resounding evidence that silence in the face of injustice is violence

§     It’s ‘tolerance’ of those of colour by white people when it is convenient, to look good, but when tolerance turns into truth, the privilege is seen in the full light of day – this is called covert racism

§     It can be a complete denial of the disparity between black and white, confusing the belief that because all are created equal that all are treated equal – thinking they are one and the same when they aren’t

Rejecting our white privilege will mean sacrifice for us white people.  It will mean entreating discomfort, augmenting change that will touch on the disconcerting.  If we’re not ruffled, there’s not enough happening.  Only when it costs us something will be see change.  We ought not to lament this.  Only now whilst we’re alive can we be part of something akin to what William Wilberforce achieved — and perhaps more.  If we’re going to achieve this, we must be prepared for it to take a generation and more of sustained effort.  The movement must continue to gain momentum.

We’ve all seen injustice in myriad forms, and so many of us have tasted it.  This has served to open our eyes to the plight of our black brothers and sisters.  But open eyes must become ready hands, willing to do what must be done.  Opinions must generate resolve and resolve must generate action.

My point is that black lives must matter if any and all life is to matter.  Unless we get this concept, we don’t get the rest of the concept.  Unless we’re interested in eradicating the worst injustice, we’re truly not bothered by any injustice.  When black lives matter, when we see it, our eyes are then also opened to the fullest gamut of the broad and global cast of injustices that occur in this life — only when we can see a paucity of heaven on earth will we demand we need more heaven on earth.  For a time, we are overwhelmed with grief, but then something happens.  When we see these injustices, our heart feels compelled to help in some way to relieve the pain, to provide acceptance, sanctuary, a safe space.  It is a journey to achieve the right balance of care and concern that doesn’t rip our hearts to shreds because of the grief we bear, with the will to action that change necessitates.  If we who are white have grief to bear in these ways, how much more grief do black people bear?

Black lives matter.  Period.  It must begin there.  We must do better.  We must get the work of racial equality done.  We must overbalance to get equilibrium.  While we’re there, it mustn’t stop there; neither at our words nor on this particular issue.  It mustn’t stop until there is no more injustice.  And it mustn’t stop at our words.  This means we all have plenty of work and prayer to do.  Some thoughts to this end include:

§     MARCHES: Vast numbers all over the world are gathering in marches of protest.  What about Covid?  If not now though, when?  If we go to a march, we go there as a first step, a first commitment.  We show up in numbers to unify with our black brothers and sisters, to focus on unity and not the division.  If we seek elevation for all, we must provide the right to peace for all, acknowledging nobody’s children ought to see their mother or father, aunt or uncle or cousin injured.

§     ACCOUNTABILITY: We must, as individuals, call out every occasion of racism, whether it is obvious or implied.  If we stand for justice we cannot attack the person, but we can attack their policy.  All we need to do is calmly and quickly point out, speaking the truth in love, that their words and behaviour are inconsistent with a shared humanity.  This is a basic level personal commitment.

§     GOODWILL GESTURES: I think we also need to come up with a goodwill Black Lives Matter gesture we can show black people we don’t know to overwhelm them with our solidarity toward them.  We need highly visible ways of showing them that 1) we’re safe and, 2) we support them. Is it some kind of safe upraised forward-facing fist — with a smile?  Whatever it is it needs to be made famous.  It needs to be known over the whole world.

§     PUNISHMENT FOR RACISTS: We also need to deal somehow with the recalcitrant element in society.  This is partly about exercising our personal responsibility, but this is where the law must come to our aid.  It’s up to governments to come on board and come up with policy to support Black Lives Matter.  There needs to coverage of this issue at the highest level at all times.

Acknowledgement: I’d like to acknowledge Alex McKellar without whose help I could not have written this and certainly would have missed the mark.

Photo by Kevin Mueller on Unsplash