Before I begin let me preface by saying that I am a 29 year old white male. White privilege is a real thing and I have won the lottery of genetics. That is not to say that I am particularly good looking, athletic, or smart. In truth I am average on all of those things (except athleticism where I may fall just below average). What I mean by white privilege, then, is that I am not subject to racial profiling when traveling in an airport, I rarely feel as though I am beings judged before someone meets me or that I must prove myself in any aspect of life.
#1 Beware of your hidden paradigms
I first became aware of this white privilege about 5 years ago in a class at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City. There a fellow student named Tina who was a middle aged black female, formerly a KC police officer, once told me that growing up in her predominately black neighborhood that she thought anytime a while person, particularly male, walked into a gas station or store in her neighborhood, they had the mindset that they could own the store and determine what happened while they were there. In short, she assumed that all white people had the notion that they were in control, even if they were the minority within their immediate environment.
She was shocked, when I informed her that, I think, most white people do not have this assumption. She was in her mid-thirties when she learned this. So white privilege is not only about the easier path a white person might have towards a successful life, but about a subconscious understanding about particularly people based upon their race. A recent NPR article by Frederica Boswell describes this unconscious understanding here. I won't regurgitate everything she writes here, but suffice it to say it is easier to assign anamilistic imagery to blacks than it is to whites. If you don't think you do this, then you probably do. That is why so many tweets and statuses about the Ferguson Riots immediately became about "those people" or "them" acting like "apes" or "animals" or "thugs" (not technically an animal, but certainly sub-human).
So be aware of your own hidden paradigms. For it is these hidden paradigms that operate in the background of our thinking that is actually the most dangerous. At Timothy Keller rightly points out, we are all a little racist to some degree. We are naturally fearful of things and people with which we are not familiar. Therefore, those from different races, naturally bring a little bit of fear, and thus a slight slant of racism--we must own it and not hide it--for hidden paradigms operate all the time.
#2 Look below the surface
When the Grand Jury Decision was made, the facts as presented to the grand jury were laid out. A deciding factor was certainly the inconsistencies in certain testimonies that would have led to an indictment against Officer Wilson. To date, the Grand Jury had the fullness of the evidence. I wasn't there, you probably weren't either. So it is beyond my scope to place any sort of judgment if the Grand Jury was right or wrong--I trust they made the best decision they could with what they had.
However, the anger, the riots, the protests, the media storm, and all else was not really about this one incident was it? It is a lot easier to del with if it were. Instead, this is the catalyst that has awaken a plethora of emotions and social issues that have been brewing in our country for a long time. The fact that more black persons get stopped by police officers than white person may not be an alarming fact if you are white. It won't keep you up at night unless it is your black son or daughter who is getting ready to drive on the road by themselves for the first time.
You may be saying, "Well more black teenagers get into more trouble than white teenagers." If this is true, I have no stats or evidence for this, but if it is true, then why is that? Is it possible that after the Emmancipation Proclomation in 1863 that we as a society did very little to enable a largely uneducated people (Thanks to the American exploitation of people in the form of slavery) to operate in our capitalistic culture successfully. Over time this shifted into Jim Crow Laws which really became "Slavery by Another Name" Over generations we still have an injustice in which blacks are subject to less paying jobs, become part of lesser schools, and still held up as the less valuable members of society in the general mind of the American people!
#3 Don't Group all People Together
This is perhaps the most important. Immediately following the first wave of riots after the Grand Jury announcement, I read many posts about how the rioters confirmed the stereotypes of black people in Ferguson. Because a couple hundred people broke into stores, looted, and set things on fire than all people in Ferguson who protest the decision are violent people? No this can't be true.
In 2011, Boston beat Vancouver in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Riots took place following the game where 140 people were injured including nine police officers. The crowd--almost entirely white people. Does this mean that every hockey loving fan is one goal away from losing it and committing arson? No surely not.
The world famous Westboro Baptist Church protesters do not represent the whole of Christians anymore than the Ferguson rioters represent every person who reocgnizes the racial injustices that plague our country. Do not assign the actions of the one to all.
Finally, as a white person, I can never know the full extent racial discrimination, because I have experienced white privilege. Therefore, I know rioting is wrong, I know looting stores is wrong, and I know pretending to know how another person feels is also wrong. This only leads to more pain and more hurt.
As we move on from the Ferguson riots, I pray that they never happen again, and I pray that more Americans became aware of such racial divide that is toxic to both our society as a whole, and to the kingdom of God in particular.
