My response to "On Being White"

Recently my mother-in-law forwarded an email to me and asked what I thought of it. Before I get to my reply, here are few snippets.

This is attributed to Michael Richards, who played Kramer on the TV show "Seinfeld". You might remember that he made some allegedly racial comments and experienced a great deal of criticism for it. I have no idea what really happened or if the criticism is just or not. However, the following statements excerpted from the email I received. (note that I bulleted them, they were not so in the original)

• If we had a White Pride Day, you would  call us racists. If we had White History Month, we'd be racists. 
• If we had any organization for only whites to 'advance' OUR, lives we'd be racists. 
  
• If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships, you know we'd be racists. 
• There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US . Yet if there were 'White colleges' that would be a racist college
  

and so it went. The email concluded with the comment that he was proud to be white, which may be a crime soon.

Here is my response:

Hi Pat,

Since you asked, this is my viewpoint.

On the surface, I see it as an issue of being the majority vs. not. Those in the majority, or really those with the power, always have to pay attention to the way they exercise that power, to do their best to make sure they are just.

Needless to say, it rarely works out that way. In actual practice people focus on their "rights" to the point of self indulgence, and not on what is just or reasonable; only what they can afford or not. That is not limited to the financial sphere but many other areas as well.

Consequently, those not in power, usually the minority, typically don't work well with those in power. At a minimum the typical climate is friction if not outright protest, rebellion, etc. All par for the course.

The deeper issue I think is people trying to get justice for themselves. Justice is a great thing; really, it is a thing of tremendous value. But according to the Word, it is an obligation to those with an opportunity to do so to try their best to get justice for those who are innocent, who can't help themselves, and who are needing it. There are tons of examples of that. Even mentioning that should bring it to mind.

Getting justice for yourself individually, or for your own people group, is a much more complicated endeavor. I would offer these two points:

1. To expect justice is to live in futility

2. To actually get justice is a long term project, and will probably require divine intervention and significantly rearranging your life style

Think of Gideon as an example of that. When you read the story of Gideon, you see the fleece, the Midianites, the shrinking army, etc. People generally don't read to the end of the story. When Gideon finally caught up with the kings of Midian, just before he killed them, he said, the guys you killed earlier, do they remind you of anyone? Their answer: they looked a whole lot like you.

Gideon's brothers had gone up against the Midianites. Something wasn't right in the way they carried it out; we don't know what. But, God was NOT with them, and they all died. And THAT explains why Gideon was hiding in the wine press, why he was terribly unimpressed by the angel who said he was a mighty man of valor, etc. That's why God was willing to put up with a lot from him to prove that indeed he was supposed to go up against Midian, and God would really be with him. It was extraordinary the lengths the Lord was willing to go, to have Gideon carry out this job at all, and do it in the way God wanted.

I think a modern example of this is Martin Luther King. I'm not into all the hysterics that surround him but I do think his method of nonviolent confrontation was a key to making racial progress. As long as the people of his day were willing to engage in violent confrontation with the whites, God was not interested in furthering their cause. Or so it seems, looking back. It's interesting that violence was effectively countered by non-violence, but I think it was the spirit in which it was done, and not the act itself.

Anyway ... thanks for bringing it up! 

Love you, 

Dave

PS: you're a really good mother-in-law!