UNPACKING PRIVILEGE
Understanding privilege is far more difficult for those for whom it is a daily experience. This causes systems, (church, economic, justice, social, educational) to remain systemically unjust. Thus when those without privilege step up and ask for justice, the privileged feel threatened or displaced.
It is not enough to just understand privilege but to also be those who “seek justice” for all. That is not only a deeply Christian value but a human one. As Free Methodists our commitment is stated in our Ordination Vow when we say we are “insistent for justice”: Rooted in a deep love for Christ and sharing His compassion for people, Free Methodist elders help create congregations that are fervent in prayer, enthusiastic in worship, holy in lifestyle, insistent for justice, caring for the poor, and reaching out locally and globally to bring all people into relationship with Jesus Christ.
To help everyone have a common language here is an article post on the conversation-empowering website National Seed Project. This was written in 1989 as we were just beginning to understand the dynamics. Much progress has been made since then.
It says in part:
As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.
I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege,