Instead of White Guilt, We Need Racial Resilience
It’s the dead-end of Christian discussions on race
Imagine you’re walking through a park in your neighborhood and you come upon a stranger who has been beaten nearly to death. You’re a Good Samaritan, so of course you want to help. But as you call 911, you realize you left your cell at home. You don’t know CPR, and no one else is around. What is your next step?
Perhaps you would run to the nearest store or house and ask to use their phone. Maybe you would check to make sure the person is still breathing. Maybe you would check his/her pockets for a phone.
How much time would you spend pacing beside the person as they lay dying, berating yourself for not having your phone and never taking a CPR certification?
Probably none, right? Because this is a life or death situation; it’s not about you, and your guilt is worthless in this scenario.
I am one of 877 persons of color (POCs) in my Presbytery of over 6,000, and I have a message for my white siblings in Christ: Your guilt isn’t helping me.
For POC in the United States and across the diaspora, racism and the power to enforce a system of skin tone-based prejudice negatively impacts our health, life expectancy, mental and emotional well-being, financial…
