Last night I sat at the kitchen table and told my husband, “I am racist.” He looked at me in shock. “I don’t see you as racist,” he told me. But he didn’t change my mind.
The truth is that I have been racist…and I want to do better.
In the last days, our country has been reeling in pain after the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, a black man who was arrested and murdered by the white police officers taking him into custody. There have been protests, both peaceful and violent. There has been looting and destruction.
While I don’t in any way condone violence or property damage, what I see is a country shaken to the core and that’s not a bad thing because the oppression, racism, classism, and discrimination has to stop.
And it has to start with me.
In the last few days on social media, I’ve seen people talking about how they won’t allow racism among their friends, family, and community anymore.
That’s a step, but my hope is that this post will encourage you to take it further.
What about you?
Will you humble yourself enough to acknowledge the ways you have been racist and contributed to the problem? Will you own your stuff? Will you pledge to do better? Are you willing to work toward correcting the deeper problems and systems, even if it’s painful and uncomfortable?
The Problem with “I’m Not Racist Because…”
Over these last days, it’s been super-tempting to start off my internal conversations with, “I’m not racist because…”
Have you said any of these things to yourself?
- I’m not racist because I have black friends.
- I’m not racist because I treat all people equally.
- I’m not racist because our family has people of different cultures in it.
You can still be racist, though.
People who know me personally might be shocked to hear me say I’ve been racist. Two of my sons are adopted from foster care and have skin a different color from mine. During our years as foster parents we welcomed babies who were black, brown, and a variety of colors in between.
My first teaching job was to a small, inner-city St. Louis school where my face was one of the only white ones in a sea of black ones. I worked as a social worker for years at an agency with a strong stance of inclusion.
But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been racist.
Growing Up with Racism
I was raised by a dad who did many things right, but he was deeply racist. I was told not to ever date a boy with long hair or an earring and whatever you do, don’t bring home someone who is black.
I would love to say that I’ve moved beyond this type of thinking, but it would be a lie. Prejudice becomes deeply ingrained in a person’s thinking in ways you don’t even recognize.
That’s been true for me.
I Have Been Racist…
I hate sharing what I’m about to tell you.
I’ve resisted publishing this blog post even though I felt God calling me to write it.
But I’m calling for truth and that means starting with me.
These are some ways that I’ve been racist.
I’ve made assumptions about people I’ve met based on the color of their skin or their culture. I’ve assumed that Asian people are good at math, Black people are good at basketball, and that Irish people drink a lot.
I’ve spent most of my life in churches, schools, and neighborhoods that were mostly white and I wasn’t troubled by it. I didn’t try to change it or even question it.
In college, I took a required class about inclusion (a relatively new concept at the time) as part of my training to become a teacher. We argued down and ridiculed the professor mercilessly. We, a group of white, upper-class students told her that her ideas were ridiculous and the class was a waste of time. I’m embarrassed now to think of our behavior.
I’ve rolled my eyes at inclusion training at work.
I’ve complained about affirmative action and called it reverse discrimination.
I’ve lamented the fact that my white son might be overlooked for opportunities.
Once, driving through a run-down neighborhood I saw a black man crossing the street and I reached across to quickly lock my door. He caught my eye and shook his head when he saw what I did. At the time, I felt completely justified and couldn’t understand his problem.
I’ve referred to someone in conversation as “that big black guy” as if that was a respectful way to refer to a person.
I’ve failed to immerse my children who are adopted more deeply in their cultures because it was awkward and I used the excuse that I didn’t know how.
I’ve assumed negative things about people of different skin colors, like that they are violent or poor or expecting a handout.
I’ve allowed the assumption that I deserve what I have because I worked hard for it and have ignored any role that white privilege played in my success.
What God Says about Race
The Bible is clear that all people are equal in God’s eyes. Romans 10:12 says, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.”
Justice matters to God and if you are a Christian it must matter to you. You are not allowed to ignore, justify, or trivialize those are oppressed.
This starts with confession of the racism inside of you.
God is calling you to repent from your sinful behavior. Rather than blaming the other person or spouting rhetoric, you need to repent, and so do I.
Repentance means acknowledging the ways you have sinfully contributed to the problem, apologizing to God and when possibly, apologizing to the people you have hurt.
Repentance means changing your behavior. How will you turn your thoughts, words and actions around so that you do better in the future?
I Want to Do Better
I have been racist and I am sorry.
I was wrong.
I apologize.
I vow to spend time in the next days looking at my thoughts, my words, and my behavior. I will re-examine my business, my church, and the ways I spend my time and money.
I will do what I can to right this wrong.
I will listen.
I will strive to understand.
This issue isn’t about me. I share in the hope of allowing others to see that even those of us who appear inclusive on the outside might be harboring plenty of racism on the inside.
I invite black women and other people of color to share your opinions and experiences in the comments, on social media, and via email (sara@theholymess.com). I encourage continued conversation. I want to hear you and I want learn from you.
If you have been racist, are you willing to become part of the solution? Share in the comments below.
Sara, as a Black woman, I appreciate your transparency regarding racism. Honest discourse is a start. So let’s be honest. Two things I find offensive are White people who minimize our painful struggle with the statements: 1) All Lives Matter and 2) I Don’t See Color. Why? “All Lives Matter” is used to belittle discussion of racial injustice, especially after high-profile acts of police brutality, in response to “Black Lives Matter.” The point of “All Lives Matter” has always been to diminish the message that Black Lives Matter. An empathetic, normal individual would not go to St. Judes and scream at sick children “There are other diseases besides cancer! Other kids are sick too!” Nor would they crash a funeral and yell, “You’re not the only ones who have lost a loved one!” The purpose of Black Lives Matter is not to deny the significance of the sanctity of ALL life. Rather, it’s purpose is to emphasize that we must continually reaffirm our worth in a society that considers us so worthless that a White policeman literally murdered a Black man while the world watched — horrified and helpless. We are now witnessing the aftermath of Blacks and our anti-racist allies who are exhausted with our struggle to breathe.
The expression “I don’t see color” should only be used by the colorblind seeking a medical diagnosis. If you don’t see my color, you don’t see me. You cannot deny my ethnicity and “see me” simultaneously. If you don’t see color, you shouldn’t drive because traffic lights change colors. I accept me. I love me. I embrace me —I in spite of those who do not. Therefore, I don’t need any well-intentioned declarations of “I know you’re Black but I accept you anyway because I don’t see your color” affirmations. More importantly, I SEE me in bold, beautiful, vivid color and not as some bland entity who fades into an ambiguous background of neutrality.
So if it really starts with you, you cannot simply declare and own racist behavior. You must engage in anti-racist behavior in every aspect. Use your privilege and your platform to effect positive change. Acknowledge injustice. It does exist. Annihilate hatred. It does destroy. Activate love. It does heal. It begins with honest discourse. It ends with anti-racist action. Peace, love, and blessings.
Doris, thank you for sharing!
I want to thank everyone for adding their comments to t his posting. This blog post hass been a real eye-opener. I too am a racist and wasn’t aware of it. So many of the things you mentioned I have done too. Right now I’m afraid to say too much because it might not sound like the right thing to say. I still have much to learn and much to pray about, Only with God’s help can we all take a step to start a change in ourself and and maybe even start a change in our community. I wish there was a simple “fix” for this, but it will many people getting together to make changes. Sara you have done a great job in posting this.
I clicked on your email, because I had been feeling the same way. Though I do feel like I have been racist I had been making up ways where I could have been racist. Yes, everyone has racisism in some form in their life but I was listening to Satan’s voice more than God’s voice. I’m glad my church has more people of colour than white. Me, being white, enjoys being the minority. One thing I do know is that people being “different” than us can teach us so many things. By different I mean come from another city, country or family background regardless of the colour of skin. I do see places where I can change, but in light of my self-condemnation I do see places for joy as well. Change is needed in all of us and in the world let’s find a bond in Christ and not in violence. Thank you for your voice to others.
Sarah,
Thank you for posting this. In all honesty, I am right there with you. I have a black so. That I got through foster care and is now my forever son. I have had to confront my racism head on.
One book the I have read that really challenged me was “The Third Option” by Miles McPherson. You might want to check it out as it has action point to help you face how you might be showing racism in subtle ways. He also has prayers that we can be praying for ourselves as we ask God to help us change. It is a book that I will be reading again and again!
Very nicely said. I grew up in a mostly black population. I was the minority in my neighborhood. I have many upon many black friends and even one I call my sister. I have dated black men, and lived in subjugated neighborhoods where skin color mattered more than character or disposition. I was blasted on fb a few days ago. I would love to consider myself a non racist Italian, but it seems like division causes people to side with similar features, qualities, beliefs, actions, and even skin color. I would like to take the opportunity to point out, at least in what I understand of the Bible, God’s chosen were slaves in Egypt. He called them out of it when He heard their suffering. Slavery ended in America about 200 years ago, but Sara is right. Although I realize all of this and know it to be true, I don’t know if I can say I am racist. Rather, I can say I have experienced white privilege. By the white color of my skin, I admit I have had better opportunities than people with different than me skin colors. It’s melanin, a natural occuring substance in all mammals. However, we as American citizens see division even in things meant to protect our rights, liberties, and the pursuit of happiness. Well, I can guarantee I do not enjoy seeing darker melanin than me wanting to tear my city upside down. I have prayed about it for days. For peace, and also if a circumstance like suffering is meant for me that I can still glorify God in all I say, think, and do. Sara, it took a lot of courage to make your post. I praise you for that and I pray for God to save His confused, lost, hurting, and ignored.
Thank you for sharing Sara I can echo your thoughts and I’m also seeking ways to start with me but not stop with me. I want to use my voice and be seen by friends and family as one who stands with the black community. I don’t agree with the violent and destructive among the protests, but something has to change.
Awesome 😎
Thank you Sara for your moving message to all of us.
Thank you Sara for listening to God and taking the first step. When I saw “I have been racist” as the subject of your recent email I immediately clicked on it because I was shocked. My first thought was OMG I have been following someone who hates me because of the color of my skin. As a Black woman I appreciate your honesty and your willingness to take the necessary steps to change your way of thinking. I think we are all racists in some shape, form or fashion. Our implicit racism is a part of who we are unfortunately. It’s something that comes easy to us because we have always done it.
I’m a racist too with my thoughts regarding stereotypes. I thought all Asians were smart until I met a child with an IEP. I lock my doors when I see Black men dressed a certain way even though I am Black. I have always said White kids are bad because their parents don’t beat them and the list goes on.
I am more cognizant of those thoughts now and I am working hard to try to not automatically think them. It’s hard and I slip up but I think that as long as we are aware and make an effort to change those thoughts and behaviors we will be an example for others to follow.
Sara…thank you so much!
As I read your post my eyes begin to swell with tears. Not because of your genuine admission. But because as a black woman I have also been a racist…against my own race. I bought into the white man’s lie and I have a black son. Yet I am embarrassed to admit my behavior and actions. Yes…I crossed over to the other side of the street at the sight of a young black male approaching my direction. I have been that person who while waiting at a traffic light at the sight of a young black male would move my pocketbook out of eyes view. Lord, please have mercy on me. I have done some wrongs, I am ready to make right.
What you posted, Sara, was extremely brave, and I commend you for being an example for all of us. We all need to repent and ask God to help us change. Thank you for helping me realize that I have been racist and as ugly as that feels to admit that God can help me change.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8-9
I appreciate the post. It is a complex issue for certain. Several years ago, I battled with how I had been racist when I saw a black man with his adopted white daughter. I surprised myself by thinking a black couple wouldn’t adopt a white child. Why not? I realized. White people adopt black kids all the time. But, I realized I was caught up in that savior complex where I felt like white people should swoop in and take care of black kids but black couples would be too busy with their own stuff to adopt a white kid.
I definitely agree that there is a problem with racism in our country and it needs to change. Especially when it comes to home ownership.
That being said, I do wish people would come to these realizations without supporting Black Lives Matter as an organization. I don’t think people realize what they are actually endorsing when they innocently use the hash tag.
Black Lives Matter wants to defund the police. Some of their most prominent organizers make claims that “All police lie” and “The only good cop is a dead cop.” I cannot replace racism in my heart with evil towards another group.
I have friends who are a part of the black community whose businesses are ruined due to the riots. Some will never reopen. There are young, white kids being encouraged to go into black communities and set fire to things to show “support” for the black community. This isn’t ok. Racism is evil AND so is what is happening in these cities. (Please note I am NOT saying these are all black people doing these things. In fact, from what I’ve seen, it’s mostly young white kids.)
I feel that so often, people go to the extreme in condemning one wrong and go about committing more wrongs. The Bible tells us “Be angry, yet do not sin.”
In the city I creently live in, multiple people died in these riots. Every one of them were black. Every single one. How does this help the black community?
Is God a God of chaos or is He a God of order?
I am sure most people have considered these things, too, but it’s overwhelming and frustrating.
I really agree with what Tony Evans has said. Protests are good. Protest are Biblical, IF they are righteous protests. They must be righteous, though. We will never get rid of racism until we have a nation of people who get right with God and the church takes the lead on racial inequities.
What I would LOVE to see is our nation coming together with black and white pastors, leading us in a national day of repentance for how far we are from God.
As people having pointed out, we may have founded this country with the hope of a nation under God, but it failed to truly be so from the beginning. In some ways, we have had small improvements but in other ways, we have fallen even farther from God.
We need mass repentance. We need every Christian in America “from all tribes and nations” to search their hearts and see if God is in the first place. I am not saying that to detract from the repentance that MUST happen from racism, but simply that this nation seems to be on the brink of collapse. I truly believe that if the church put God first and really followed his commandments about loving our neighbor, we would see so much healing.
I hope what I wrote expresses my heart and doesn’t come off as condescending or dismissive. I don’t mean it to be, truly. I just want people to turn to Christ.
Thank you for this.
Thank you for sharing your experience and your words.
But I have to challenge you with the statement you wrote: “that being said, I do wish people would come to these realizations without supporting Black Lives Matter as an organization.”
This statement is problematic on so many levels. Racism is not just flesh and bone (Ephesians 6:12) but it lies in the systems and institutions of this country. One of them being the police system. Reading Sara’s post asks us to reflect on the lies we’ve come to believe and the lies we have told ourselves. Please don’t let this be another one. Do your research, and know the pains that have plagued people of color concerning the police. A system that was born from policing runaway slaves. If you do you will understand why some call for less money towards policing and more towards the communities that are policed. Repentance is to change direction as well as to ask for forgiveness. Change the way you might have chosen to understand/respond to things before all this happened.
Hi Rose, thanks so much for your comment. I didn’t write the statement you quoted about Black Lives Matter as an organization. I think you must have confused me with someone else amidst all the discussion.
IT STARTS WITH ME, TOO! Sara thank you for your honesty and transparency. I would venture to say we have all had a hand in racism one way or the other- Externally or internally. When I was a young woman I dated a young man of color. It never occurred to me for a second that I was doing anything wrong until I received much opposition. I quickly learned my father’s position and he forbade me to see him again. Familiar mind set. My parents feared like many what they did not know. I know this is about racism though prejudice manifest itself in many ways.
Poisonous “PEDAGOGY” passed down from generation to generation is ingrained in each of us. We may say we are not racist but it dwells in us and It is strong and goes deep. IT STARTS WITH ME! Let’s break the cycle of hate. All Lives Matter!
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Thank you for sharing God is faithful He will guide you to dealing with this. Will be praying for you. God loves us all the same. Let us love all the same
Wow, Sara. This is spot on. I don’t even know what to say. I am so guilty of this. I am truly ashamed by the very thoughts you have shared. I used the same excuses and rationale. I hear it within my own house and it’s wrong.
Thank you for putting words to my own heart. I know how scary this is to acknowledge and confess. I want to be a part of the solution too. I’m tired of being a part of the problem.
Thank you for your eye opening truths of what you believe are your racist actions/thoughts. I needed a push today. We live in a predominantly white community and I have been thinking how un-racist I am and yet reading your blog, I realized that I can relate to many of your “confessions”. I, unfortunately, don’t have any black friends and know of only 3 families in town (population around 16,000) that are black. My oldest son is friends with two of the kids from those families and one is a teacher to my youngest son. I have never felt differently towards these families and I know my sons think nothing of the skin colour – these friends/teachers are just people. I shake my head and my heart hurts when I hear of my son’s friend being searched at the entrance to a soccer game because he is black and my son is left alone… But then I realize that there are things that I think of of people we don’t know that would make other people’s hearts hurt and I am ashamed. I appreciate your candor and your call to have it start with me. I hope more people read your words are are inspired to start with themselves and hopefully that can be a start to real change. I can’t think of anything concrete to do to help but I’m hoping as I pray and work on myself, that things may be clearer.
Thank you, Sara. All we are asking is for all people realize that there is ingrained racism and look to change.
I prayed and asked forgiveness for this just yesterday. My heart is broken for the way I have acted or failed to act. My unconcerned attitude about not being prejudice when in fact I was being prejudice….by simply ignoring the very fact that prejudice truly exists. I’ve asked God to help me recognize when I’m being racist, to help me change. Oh how my heart is breaking right now for my brothers and sisters of color, I finally realize the oppression they have been under for so long. The anger they feel, the hurt they have felt for so long…I’m starting to get it…and it hurts. I am so ashamed of myself for not getting it sooner….for not understanding, for not trying to understand. All I can do now is cry, “God help me to change.”
Sarah, this post hit me exactly where God intended. I have been racist but proclaiming I am not. It does start with me and I can no longer be the believer God wants me to be unless I address this sin and turn from it.
I saw my every thought in your post and I know the Lord was speaking to me. It starts with me and I want to do better! Thank you for your boldness. May God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven! In Jesus name!!!
Thank you Sara for speaking your truth. It means a lot to me.
I’m not sure how I got on your email list but I’m so glad I did. Your subject line jumped out to me and I had to open it. The Lord has been working in a similar way in my heart.
Before a few years ago, I would have given a similar answer to yours- I’m not racist because my husband is a dark-skinned Latino man and our children are not 100% white.
But then a few years ago, the day after Independence Day, my husband came home bruised and badly shaken. He is a truck driver and he and his work partner, who is black, were pulled over at gun point by a group of cops in six cars. They physically removed my husband from the truck, skinning his face on the pavement, handcuffed him while he was still down, then demanding he get up. The reason? A business owner at one of their stops called the police because he saw “two black guys robbing me” on his security feed.
They weren’t robbing him.
They were doing their job.
After no stolen property was found, they let my husband and his partner go, but the incident shook him deeply.
When he told me about it, my first response was outrage. I wanted to yell on the rooftops about the injustice done to my family.
But immediately, I heard another voice in my head.
The White Voice.
The voice that said they probably looked suspicious. The voice that said the police were just doing their job.
It was like I was standing outside of myself HEARING myself for the first time.
I felt completely othered.
I felt completely alone.
And I felt completely ashamed.
In the years that have followed, I have actively pursued authors, stories, and media that magnified silenced voices. The reality of how deep racist thinking goes and how intrinsic it has been in our culture has hit me hard.
I have wept in repentance over the lies that I have believed for my own convenience and benefit.
Thank you so much for your post.
Your honesty makes it clear you’re not just “jumping on the bandwagon,” but are willing to do the real work of reconciliation that starts with confession and repentance.
Thank you.
Stephanie thank you for sharing. It really hit me with “looked suspicious” and “just doing their job.” I too have been guilty and no longer want to think in that manner. Also, “the lies that I have believed for my own convenience and benefit.” Wow, just wow and so true for my own self. Thanks again for sharing.
I am black and I have been racist towards blacks, whites, browns, and others. You are right it is ingrained in us. Our families teach it and we, out of ignorance use it. I know oppression and I know privilege. I know life as well. Everyone wants to be a winner! We just have to allow other to win along side us. Help a person instead of holding them down. Be fair. I don’t want to make less salary for a job that would pay another person more. Give everyone a turn! Assumptions are dangerous. We all are guilty of being unfair, unrighteousness, unhelpful, unkind, unloving, and un-inclusive.
I vow to love more, judge less, be fair, be kind, and do better. Sara, you are human. I love you and I forgive you. Be kind to yourself. Blessings and my God be with you.
Carlos, I really appreciate that you acknowledge that even people of color can be racist towards others.
I had a situation at work where a Hispanic employee (Multi generational American raised in an upper middle class household) had made comments about another Hispanic employee because his family were fruit pickers. I have been with black friends who have made comments about another person, strictly based off the persons race. Yet when saying something, I was basically chastised that people of color can’t be racist.
Because my son is blacK and I am a Christian who believes God loves everyone, I too have fallen into the trap that I can’t be a racist. But that is not true. While I may not have treated black people differently, I know I have had thoughts, made comments, and even behaved differently around colored people of other races. I had moved to an area that had a large Sikh population. Initially, I was uncomfortable with community members that wore traditional Sikh clothes and I couldn’t understand why they came to America if they weren’t willing to assimilate. That was racist of me. I had a Sikh coworker who explained that for many Sikhs their clothing, hair, and beards are also engrained in their religious beliefs. I realized that my ignorance about Sikhs allowed me to be racist. However, this same coworker had very derogatory feelings towards Hispanics and black people. When I told him my son was black, he apologized, but I could tell that he didn’t really feel his comments were racist.
Sara, I agree with your sentiment that any time someone makes an assumption about another person based on the color of their skin or culture it is racist. The thought as you pointed out doesn’t even have to be ‘negative’ (all Asians are good at math, all black people excel at sports, all white people are privileged, etc….). I appreciate you putting this out there and allowing us all to fess up to our sins.
Sorry, I meant Carlor not Carlos ( (auto spell gets me every time).
I, too, have been racist and when I see a suspicious-looking person I unconsciously make sure my doors are locked. We all need a heart check in order to repent.
Sara – I appreciate you for writing this. I am sure it was not easy. I am an African American woman and I am floored and astounded by the actions and acknowledgements that are occuring. I believe racism is a sin issue and I believe God is the answer. To Paula who commented above, I believe if you read your Bible and pray, God will help you understand your white privilege is wrong and he will heal your heart. I think that the they/us mentality is evidence that your heart is not right. Black people are frustrated, tired, and grieving. We have endured this for centuries. Sara – Thank you for acknowledging your truth and I am sure you will pray and do the work to overcome.
Hi…thank you for posting this. My heart breaks that we are hurting each other…we are all made the same by the Lord..a few beautiful differences on our outer shell. We have sinned against our precious Maker. May we all repent together 🙏💕
I too I am guilty. It starts with me. I want to understand, learn, and do better!
Thank you for sharing your heart, Sara. You have opened my eyes to ways that my thoughts have been racist. I need God’s help to take every thought captive.
Thank you for your honesty and courage. I really enjoy your blog, and I appreciate your integrity in challenging all of your readers to be better people in so many ways. I grew up during segregated times and have certainly been a privileged middle class white person. I am working hard to be a better human being and to put my action, my words and my money to work for love and justice and mercy for all of God’s children!
Sara, I appreciate you taking the difficult task in admitting you are/were/ racist. That takes courage but there is still work to do besides admitting such behavior. There needs to be ACTION to the words you want to be better and do better! This is a trying time for everyone and NO I don’t condone the looting and destroying communities, and destroying businesses, it’s wrong. I felt the need to comment on your blog and tell you I appreciate your being open and challenging others to do so to be and do BETTER!
Sara, I as a Black Woman, Thank You, and Everyone that has acknowledged that Overt/Covert Racism is wrong, and that admitting those Learned Behaviors is the First Step of Many to understanding “ The Doesn’t Affect Me” Mentality due to the color of one’s skin. I, truly, appreciate your candor.
Amen Tawana!!! My EXACT thoughts!
Tracie, you are welcome. I’m in Georgia as well!!!
I’m in McDonough…in Henry County! Where are you? This post is 1 of the BEST posts I’ve read in a LONG time!!!
I’m in Columbia County
Sara… I’m weeping so hard right now! I’m a 50 black Christian woman from Georgia and I needed to hear this TODAY! I’ve been so hurt and frustrated by the hatred of Black people. Thank you soooo much for your admission and your willingness to change! I’m praying for you! I’ve never heard any white person admit what you have today. Anyone who can sit down and REALLY examined their life and responses to life to see where they’ve been wrong is truly willing to learn and grow. For you to analyze and determine you NEEDED and HAD to change is phenomenal! My love and respect for you is tremendous! Thank you again for your candor! Must respect for you!
Sara, Yes I have had some of those same thoughts and feelings. I didn’t think of it as racist but I guess it is. However, It is something I work on….seeing others of color and not thinking differently about them. That being said…..I don’t feel its right for people of any color to use a situation to get their point across in such ways as is happening nowadays. Or using slave issue to say that they are still being oppressed. That doesn’t help any situation at all. As a Christian we are taught to love and forgive and give truth. It doesn’t mean jumping on board with entitled mentalities. Racism is wrong in all directions and I know you feel the same. I appreciate your candor. Christians who are posting …..’black lives matter’ I feel are just adding to the division. Of COURSE they matter!!! We need more signs that say….’we are praying for you!!’ ‘We want to help you!!’ We love you as God loves you!!’ etc……. May we all gain insight, wisdom, discernment, and most of all a love for our brothers and sisters!!
First of all, I want address Paula about her comments regarding Sara’s blog. I am a black woman and have lived, worked, shopped, and been targeted for no reason by the Caucasian influence because someone thought I was doing wrong or didn’t belong! Paula, I still think you have more “self examination “ to do because I read your comment and you still have the “US and “THEM” mentality, for instance your comment, “THEY are still using the “slave”issue to say “THEY” are still being oppressed or your other comment, “WE are praying for YOU, want to help YOU” and the classic one, “WE love YOU as God loves YOU!” I really can’t articulate in words right now how to get you to step back and READ your comments because if you did, YOU would see and know you still sound racist! You have NEVER BEEN OPPRESSED, so don’t think you can make that statement! I have been oppressed in ways you will NEVER encounter and you may NEVER know what it feels like to live in my black skin, so, please think about your comments before you write them because you will get scrutinized heavily for those comments!
God bless you for your honesty. To know to do and not do is a sin. So now you know what you need to do to, go do it.
I love you my sister❤
Paula,
Thank you for having the courage to speak truth in the midst of this craziness.
I am a black woman. I think your response has been misinterpreted, and you are brave for expressing it.
I have been discriminated against. But, I do not believe all white people are racist. I have had some of the same reactions and thoughts Sara expressed about the same groups of people.
Racism is wrong no matter what color you are. There is nothing wrong with enjoying what you have because you worked for it. We all have privilege. No one should apologize for being born white, black or any other color. We all need to practice grace and forgiveness. We need to work hard at not being easily offended.
The looting and rioting is wrong. Black Lives Matter and so do the rest. People who support them are adding to division.
Keep speaking truth.
Sheila; you know we do not all have privilege and as a black woman YOU of all people should realize that! I did not take Paula’s words out of “context”, she continually used the words that divides/separates people, “US and THEM!” Please don’t excuse what she said as it was “misinterpreted”, I too believe there are white people that are not racist but don’t say we ALL have privilege, because we DON’t! If Paula was misinterpreted, then she would have defended herself rather than you defending her, she’s the one that expressed her need to change her racist thinking.
I did not say you took her words out of context. In fact, I did not reference you at all, Tawana., or mean to offend you.
I am not defending Paula; I am encouraging her.
I believe we all have privilege and we all need to change our thinking.
I started a Facebook post on this topic earlier today but couldn’t find the words. I am also guilty of being a racist. And I am 100% committed to do better.
Hi…thank you for posting this. My heart breaks that we are hurting each other…we are all made the same by the Lord..a few beautiful differences on our outer shell. We have sinned against our precious Maker. May we all repent together 🙏💕
You are a good person Sara and I appreciate your heart and honesty on this hard topic.
Thank you, Jamie.
Reading this blog made me realize that I too am guilty of racism. I never thought about it like this, thank you for writing this and helping all of us realize what we have been denying (or ignoring) for a long time. I pray that God will help me do better. Thank you Sara for starting this conversation.
I am guilty too, I wrote about it on my blog.
Carrie, thank you for your honesty.