Preface: We don't even like to think about it. People were kidnapped from their homes....shipped like lobsters across the ocean....and forced into slavery....so that a part of our society could become rich....and the nation as a whole could prosper. OK....we put an end to that....but paid little attention to the same people....now 'freed'....with few skills and fewer educational opportunities. We can't understand it. Why didn't they develop like us....they don't even seem to enjoy walking around at a good car cruise? The answers are not easy folks....and there are a plethora of bad answers and fake answers out there....only Christ can heal....but we freed ourselves from His diagnosis and treatment long ago.
There is a white privilege of sorts in America....I am testimony to it. My mother and I moved to Pittsburgh in 1963. She looked around for a place for us to live....and found a modest apartment on a middle class street....maybe the only apartment on that street....with a number of young boys that would become friends for life. Three of those young friends went on to be PHDs....all were successful. I went on to the attend a distinguished parochial high school....probably because they dragged me along with them. Had my mother found an apartment a mile in either direction....I would not have had anyone to drag me along. Had I been an exceptionally bright and determined young man....this would not have been the case....but I wasn't. I needed help. I needed to be lifted up by the community that I lived in.
A young black man today is most likely not going to be dragged along by future PHDs all around him. Yes some will have an advantage possibly in getting into a good college....but they still need that determination....and as few societal and cultural obstacles as possible. If there are shots fired in your neighborhood often....it would be hard to remain focused on goals. If putting food on the table and keeping the house warm are the chief time consuming goals....it would be hard to concentrate on studying. I know this from experience. Without the G. I. Bill I would not have attended college.
The answers to these cultural problems are not easy to find....and white privilege is often taken to a grossly distorted extreme....for political purposes only....and not compassion....but the Christian should not be deterred by this....for God is very sensitive in how the 'haves' treat the 'have-nots.' We should keep in mind that Peter told the household of the centurion Cornelius....a household of the 'have-nots'....in that they were not Jews...
"In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." Acts 10:34,35
And we should not forget that we ourselves were once....'have-nots'...."enemies of God"....Romans 5:10....until mercy and grace were extended towards us!
