Red and Yellow, Black and White Privilege, The Teapot's Shady Friends

God has brought many people my way. Sometimes it seems that if I sit and wait, willing to minister and serve, that people come to me unbidden, but all in God's timing.

One of these people became an "adopted" son. He is extroverted, loud, sometimes obnoxious, Dominican (hispanic and black), political, outspoken, and amazing. Oh, and the absolute worst? He's from NYC. 

But all that aside, he loves God, and he empathizes with other people of color and of non-European descent and the struggles they face.

To the irritation of some, he often speaks of "white privilege" and the lack of issues that privilege affords them. Honestly when I first saw this term in his posts, I rolled my eyes. No, I thought. The race issue is dead or at least dying. Let it be. You're just stirring up trouble.

As I read on, and in subsequent conversations with him, I learned more about what he meant by "white privilege" and what it really means to a Christian of color. It pops up in movies as jokes. Remember in Men in Black II? Wil Smith's character, J clicks a remote and a realistic robot driver pops up behind the wheel. K, his partner asks "Did that come standard?" J answers, "No, it came with a black guy, but he kept getting pulled over."

The fact is that racial profiling still occurs. It's something light-skinned people don't really have to concern themselves about on a day to day basis. And while you and I might not be racist, we can't even begin to think that everyone feels the same.

I'm not saying that there are not hate-mongers of all colors. Oddly enough, racism crosses all ethnic, social, and cultural boundaries. No matter our skin color, we all bleed red, and we were all born sinners.

And I'm not saying that we can make up for the years of slavery that the ancestors of my friends suffered through by any means. But I can realize the impact that the mindset from that time has on today's treatment of people of color. 

So what am I saying? Don't assume that because a black/hispanic/dark-skinned/non-caucasian talks about white privilege that they are racist or angry at all white people. Realize that they must deal with a part of our culture, that light skinned people have not faced, at least not in this country, in this generation.

I am thankful for my friends of all shades. Being raised in the deep South, and very, very white, and just barely old enough to remember what a big deal integration was, I have become, in God's timing, pretty much color blind. Ignorance and hate come packaged in all shades of skin. But so does love and graciousness. Notice a friend's skin color for one reason: to help you realize one of the struggles they may face each day.

Glow in the dark white, with a lot of "shady" friends,
Teapotjan