I choose not to combat racism by becoming a racist

Who are the racists and are you one of them? The answer depends on who you ask.

Today’s neo-Marxist social-justice warrior (SJW) represents one distinct group who defines a racist as anyone who is white. All white people are racists because all white people have power. All white people are racists because all white people have privilege. Mannish Krishman asserts without qualification that, “It’s literally impossible to be racist to a white person:”

“When you’re so deeply invested in your privilege, and in this case white privilege, racial equality feels like oppression,” said Anthony Morgan, a Toronto-based civil and human rights lawyer.

Simply put, Morgan said reverse racism doesn’t exist and a person who claims otherwise is “outing themselves as someone who has little to no experience or knowledge of what racism is.”

Racism is based on a couple of things—historical, systemic oppression and power, Morgan explained. And as far as history goes, white people have never been persecuted for the colour of their skin—so there’s no point comparing their experiences to those of black, brown, and Indigenous folks. — @ManishaKrishnan

Racism is always seen through the lens of group identity, power imbalance, and victim status. Therefore, reasons the neo-Marxist, it is permissible for a person of color to hate a white person, they are justified in refusing to hire the individual white person, and a minority can even physically attack a white person if it equalizes power. The Marxist-theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics even justifies the act of killing if it results in social-justice:

If a season of violence can establish a just social system and can create the possibilities of its preservation, there is no purely ethical ground upon which violence and revolution can be ruled out…. The uncompromising equalitarian always has a moral advantage over those who propose slower methods of social change, by pointing out that these methods invariably beguile society to be satisfied with something less than the ideal and to retain many forms of ancient and traditional injustice. If a revolution can destroy social injustice and preserve equal justice, much might be forgiven it in the methods which it employs (Kindle Locations 2492-2651).

Do you see the gravity of defining racism by class? The racial injustice enshrined as “good” for the SJW is illustrated in the tragic story of the precious nine-year-old McKenzie Nicole Adams who was savagely bullied into hanging herself for the social crime of friendship with a white boy. The Sun reports out of the UK:

The girl’s devastated gran found her dead after she hanged herself at their home in Linden on December 3, according to reports.

McKenzie’s family said she had been teased over her friendship with a white boy by bullies at her school, who told her to kill herself.

Her aunt Eddwina Harris told the Tuscaloosa News: “She was being bullied the entire school year, with words such as ‘Kill yourself…you think you’re white because you ride with that white boy…you ugly.. black (expletive)…just die’.”

For this group of bullies raised to believe the neo-Marxist worldview, their black skin made them immune to racism, validated their hatred toward a white boy, and justified abuse of another black girl. Do you see how dehumanizing it is when worth is not given to the individual person, but only to one’s racial group? Daryush Valizadeh summarizes it this way:

Using a “privilege” hierarchy, SJW’s calculate the worth of a human being based on perceived injustices or wrongs that group has suffered since the time of ancestral man, using selective and narrow interpretations of history. SJW’s elevate groups that they believe have received the least amount of “privilege” in the past, and then use internet activism in the form of mobs and community purges to target those who are determined to have greater amounts of privilege. The idea of privilege is so essential to SJW ideology that a common debate tactic they use is to say “check your privilege,” which roughly translates to, “you must immediately halt or change your speech because your ancestors may or may not have done bad things to women or minority races.” — @rooshv

For the neo-Marxist, a person has no individual worth outside their race. Therefore, the person of color is a perpetual victim who cannot be a racist—no matter how they act or how much they hate—because only white people can be racist. Here again, Valizdeh offers a helpful analysis of why the search for “justice” is really about power and not “equality”:

SJW’s make a big show of wanting “equality,” but as the Animal Farm quote goes: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others….”
Since they have no objective measure or guide of equality, it is only achieved when they feel it has been achieved, but then that would destroy the very reason for their existence, meaning that their war on inequality is similar to the war on drugs or terrorism. It’s a perpetual war that will never be won in their minds because there will always be the creation of a new group needing privilege and equality. If you substitute the word “power” whenever they use “equality,” you’ll come to a more accurate descriptor of what motivates their activism. — @rooshv

In contrast to the neo-Marxist definition, a second group defines a racist as anyone who believes race determines capabilities which makes some races as superior to another. Racism for this second group is not limited to one group of people, but it is a decision to hate based on skin color and the ensuing choice to act in a way that violates the rights of another human being. Unlike the neo-Marxist, this second group believes anyone who hates based on skin color—white, black, Asian, etc…—can be a racist. This kind of racism shaped Darwinian science in the 20th century which interpret the fossil record as proof that blacks were lower on the evolutionary scale, justified human zoos in search for missing links, inspired Margret Sanger to start Planned Parenthood, and ultimately laid the groundwork for the eugenics movement in the US, Germany, and across the globe. Ryan Scott Bomberger bravely speaks out about the systemic racism enshrined in the practices of Planned Parenthood in his article, Some Black Lives Matter: Racism, Abortion, and Reproductive Injustice:

For over 100 years, it has worked hard to make black people history. It failed to do so with its original Negro Project, promoting the lie that birth control would eliminate poverty. Many leaders in the black community knew racism when they saw it. Fannie Lou Hamer knew it. The voting rights and anti-poverty activist was no fan of Planned Parenthood. #Sheresisted their propaganda. Hamer was a prolife adoptive mother who had been forcibly sterilized in 1961 in Mississippi. She understood freedom was not in a birth control pill or in the forceps of an abortionist. From her speech “America is a Sick Place and Man is on the Critical List”, she summed up her feelings about eugenics: “So we got all kinds of children, and I’ll tell you the next thing that I don’t buy, I don’t buy distributing [the] birth control pill and legalizing abortion, because they’re talking about us! If you want to abortionize somebody, do it to yourself because I’m going to try to keep the children.”
Efforts to severely reduce or eliminate births in poorer black communities was the goal of the American Eugenics movement, led by the most prominent eugenicist—Margaret Sanger. In a day and age when liberals are triggered by historical statues and what those figures represented, they’re conveniently selective in their outrage. Sanger advocated forced sterilizations, said birth control was the “process of weeding out the unfit, of preventing the birth of defectives or of those who will become defective”, and launched the world’s most powerful population control business that practices an even more violent form of eugenics, today, than in her time. — @LifeHasPurpose

As a Christian, I believe racism is not defined by the imbalance of power or by ones minority status in society, but by the corruption of the heart which leads to individual acts of bigotry and systems of oppression based on skin color. This definition is rooted in the revelation-truth of Genesis 1–2 that all humans were created by God with immutable worth. Human dignity (the pursuit of justice and protection of individual rights), then, is grounded in the value given by God to each individual, not the value society grants to a particular group of people. Racists deny human-sacredness and are incapable of seeing people outside of their skin color. Racists are the people who choose to marginalize others and reject the validity of their opinions simple because they fit into the Marxist category of ‘privilege.” Ironically, the neo-Marxist fits the very definition of a racist because they choose to see people as nothing—literally nothing—outside of their race. 

In my experience, I have been called a racist and marginalized simply because I fit the category of “white Christian male,’ In light of this superficial and dehumanizing system of categorization, I feel it necessary to share some information that might help you realize I am more than just the sum of my biological parts and cannot be defined by a social-construct. My Father-in-law is of Mexican descent. My Mother-in-Law is very proud of her Native-American heritage. Despite the stereotype that conjures up in your mind, they are both strong Trump supporters (a man I did not endorse). My wife has Hispanic roots and that makes my kids of mixed race. On my Dad’s side, I am a 3rd generation American—a descendant of immigrants to this great nation. The point is, we all have a unique history that isn’t perceived by skin color and can never be known if we refuse to look beyond the labels. Sadly, I have had far too many encounters with people who discriminate based on race:

• In my freshman year of college, I lost 2 of my close friends when they pledged a black fraternity and were told, “all whites are evil, so you can’t be friends with any of them.”
• Over the years I have had many conversations with minorities who told me, “all whites are the devil.”
• Years ago, I worked as a youth pastor at a Chinese church, yet some parents didn’t want me there because of my skin color. I had a few parents tell me that if their child ever married a white person, they would disown them.
• I’ve been told on more than one occasion that because I am a man, my opinion does not count.
• I know that when a job posting asks for “diversity” (even at a supposedly Christian university) that is code for ‘white males need not apply.’ I also know that some folks reading this post will say that is a good thing because the only way to correct past injustice is to allow for more injustice.

Now before you tell me to “check my privilege,” my experience is not a claim to victim status. I am not comparing my story to your story. I share my experience in the hope that you will see I am not alone among those who are called racist because of their skin color, sexist because of their sex, and homophobic because of their Christian faith. Recognizing this kind of racism in the name of ending racism has helped transform activists like Keri Smith who shares some of her own journey in this article titled, On Leaving the SJW Cult and Finding Myself:

I see increasing numbers of so-called liberals cheering censorship and defending violence as a response to speech. I see seemingly reasonable people wishing death on others and laughing at escalating suicide and addiction rates of the white working class. I see liberal think pieces written in opposition to expressing empathy or civility in interactions with those with whom we disagree. I see 63 million Trump voters written off as “nazis” who are okay to target with physical violence. I see concepts like equality and justice being used as a mask for resentful, murderous rage.

The most pernicious aspect of this evolution of the left, is how it seems to be changing people, and how rapidly since the election. I have been dwelling on this Nietzsche quote for almost six months now, “He who fights with monsters, should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” How easy is it for ordinary humans to commit atrocious acts? History teaches us it’s pretty damn easy when you are blinded to your own hypocrisy. When you believe you are morally superior, when you have dehumanized those you disagree with, you can justify almost anything. In a particularly vocal part of the left, justification for dehumanizing and committing violence against those on the right has already begun. — @ksemamajama

The most relevant part of Smith’s post is her recognition that terms like “racist” are used as neo-Marxist attacks that dehumanize whole groups of people rather then as a genuine descriptions of hatred or bigotry:

I don’t yet know what to call this part of the left. Maajid Nawaz calls them the “Regressive Left.” Others call them SJWs (Social Justice Warriors) or the Alt-Left. The ideology is post-modernist cultural marxism, and it operates as a secular religion. Most are indoctrinated in liberal elite colleges, though many are being indoctrinated online these days. It has its own dogma and jargon, meant to make you feel like a good person, and used to lecture others on their ‘sin.’ “Check your privilege”- much like “mansplaining” and “gaslighting”- all at one time useful terms- have over time lost a lot of their meaning. These days I see them most frequently being abused as weaponized ad hominem attacks on a person’s immutable identity markers….a way to avoid making an argument, while simultaneously claiming an unearned moral high ground in a discussion. — @ksemamajama

None of this, of course is a denial of racism or the systemic abuse enshrined in some institutions, but it is a denial of neo-Marxism which tries to combat inequality by creating racists (SJWs who judge others based on skin color). Still, to combat racism (the hate-filled kind) I refuse to become a racist by reducing people to a category of race. I reject the use of inherently racist-Marxist tropes like “white privilege” and “whiteness” because deny human-sacredness and they foster hatred toward people based on arbitrary social constructs. Terms like “white privilege” deny each person’s unique story in favor of a Marxist-narrative of power. If I am the beneficiary of white privilege, I missed the memo. In the past decade I have lost my home to foreclosure and—since I could not afford insurance—I ended up declaring bankruptcy due to an unexpected hospitalization. But in comparison to my ‘privileged’ white immigrant ancestors who worked in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, who didn’t have indoor plumbing, and who had to hunt wild game just to survive the winters… I recognize my life in the United States is still very privileged… but that does not diminish, or enhance, my worth given by God.

Now, just because I reject the validity of terms like “white privilege,” does not mean I deny that my race has influenced my experiences and my worldview. Has my skin color given me some advantages in life? Maybe. But sometimes (just like the proverbial fish surrounded by water who doesn’t understand wetness), I can be blind to how race has influenced my perceptions and experiences. Isaac Adams, a pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, does a good job framing this discussion:

My white brother, how are you showing your congregation that Christ is superior to your skin color?

I’m asking you because ethnic minorities regularly do this when we attend churches where we’re not in the ethnic majority. I’m asking you because I regularly hear black brothers talking about how Christ is superior to our skin color. Consider what the brothers below have said:

Your Christianity must define your racial identity without denying it.
—Tony Evans @drtonyevans

Your life ain’t wrapped up in what you drive
The clothes you wear, the job you work
The color your skin, naw you’re a Christian first
—Lecrae @lecrae

As much as I am an African-American, I am even more so a follower of Jesus Christ…In other words, my Jesus-ness must trump my blackness.
—Bryan Loritts @bcloritts

And yet, I rarely hear white brothers and sisters talking about what it would look like if they submitted their whiteness to Christ. Ethnic minorities have grappled with race in ways that white people in predominantly white congregations, communities, and networks haven’t had to. The cultural preferences of white people are often free from interrogation because they’re seen, and sometimes enforced, as what’s normal and neutral. My white brothers, have you taken time to consider whether or not you’ve let, even unwittingly, your cultural preferences become theological imperatives? — @isickadams

Recognizing that my identity in Christ—and my humanity—is greater than skin color, economic class, nationality or sex does not mean these realities should be overlooked or dismissed: each of these qualities (and countless more) help make my story unique from yours. Each of these characteristics shape how each of us will choose to treat people and how the institutions we create will treat people. The balance between these truths (my Jesus-Identity and my cultural identity) is not easy to find. Here again, Adams offers some good advice:

Phrases like “I’m more Christian than black or white” are gloriously true, but they’re often wielded in white culture to enable and encourage colorblindness—the theory that if we ignore race, then racial problems will eventually cease. Anyone who continues to talk about race is then labeled as someone who is un-Christ-like, divisive, and/or enamored with a social gospel.

Given how long African-Americans have been silenced and marginalized in American history, many have often felt as if they’re constantly fighting to be seen as equals. Statements like “I’m more Christian than black or white,” while true, sound patronizing when they aren’t nuanced. In other words, because generally speaking race is a more pressing reality to blacks than whites, please recognize that it’s harder to say “I’m more Christian than black” than “I’m more Christian than white.” If you’re going to tell ethnic minorities that “Jesus comes first,” please remember that unrepentant slaveholders and segregationists said the same. — @isickadams

Taking to heart my own experience and Adam’s insights, I hope to find a balance between my identity in Jesus and my cultural identity by choosing to see the world through the love of Christ rather then allow my experience with racist people define me or destroy my love. I choose to see people—first and foremost—as individuals made in the image of God and only secondarily as a member of a racial group:

• Because of Jesus’ love, I strive to not let skin color determine my friends or define how I view those who hate me
• Because of Jesus’ love, I am willing to engage in uncomfortable conversations so I can become a better man.
• Because of Jesus’ love, I don’t make people prove they are NOT racist before I love them. And if I discover they are racist, I still work hard to love them.
• Because of Jesus’ love, I try to assume the best of everyone, even when they don’t vote the way I vote.
• Because of Jesus’ love, I still value the human-sacredness of my long-time friends who have a different worldview. I still value the humanity of friends who long-ago disowned me because I am a white-male-Christian.
• Because of Jesus’ love, I don’t turn the actions of a few people into blame or hatred toward whole racial groups.

Ultimately, I choose to see people as more than skin color… more than poor or rich… more than nationality…. more than education… more than male or female… more than sexuality: not free from these realities, but human beings who are more than the sum of their parts. I am hopeful that we can find a way forward together if we can all take to heart  the love and wisdom of Martin Luther King who, in 1958, said:

“Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love…Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding.” — MLK

Without denying the characteristics that shape each one of us and also shape society, I choose to see people as created by God—reflections of His Divine-image and immutably-sacred. I choose to see people as loved by Jesus Christ, so much so, that He died for them on the cross. Jesus rose from the dead to offer each and every human being a new identity that frees us from our past, but does not deny our unique life-story. Jesus rose from the dead to give me a new identity superior to my race, but demands I fight against racism. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus I have an identity that will last beyond the social conventions used by racists to divide. No race is beyond racism! We cannot combat racism by denying our own brokenness and our own need for salvation from sin by Jesus Christ.