“We’re right to push for diversity, we have to, but it is only step one of a long journey. Lack of racial diversity is a symptom. The underlying illness is institutional racism.” (“Diversity Is Not Enough: Race, Power, Publishing”)
In many ways it comes down to white privilege (that phrase can be difficult to digest—this is the best explanation of white privilege I’ve found). The white establishment (i.e., people like me) doesn’t understand what people of color face.
People like me are blind to all the small things that are stacked up against people of color. Each one on its own seems small, but together it creates institutional racism. The result is things like the Noah movie using an all white cast as “stand-ins for all people” because “race doesn’t matter.”
If you don’t see anything wrong with that, that’s white privilege.
If you watched the Noah movie and didn’t think it odd that everyone was white, that’s white privilege.
Or any movie.
As G. Willow Wilson commented, “Where are all the black people in Middle Earth? The answer is ‘In Laketown,’ apparently.” Extras in the Laketown scenes in the second Hobbit movie were the first non-white human characters in the Lord of the Rings movies.
If you think it’s political correct garbage to want racial diversity in a fantasy movie, that’s white privilege.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
It reminds me of the book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas where the 9-year-old Bruno is oblivious to the German Holocaust, even though he lives outside the gates of Auschwitz. He befriends a Jewish boy, Shmuel, but is completely unaware of the ostracism and hatred his friend endures.
Bruno is not antisemitic. He’s not even aware of the German propaganda about Jews, and when he hears it he doesn’t believe it. But he’s blind to all the barriers Shmuel faces as a Jew in 1940s Germany.
It’s not an ideal comparison. But it feels familiar. When people don’t understand the need for diversity or insist that we’re beyond racism, it reminds me of Bruno.
That’s why it’s not enough to be “diverse”, you have to live with them, get to know them, be their friend and be able to have open conversations about the struggles.
I pastor at one of the most diverse churches in America. Many ask me how we make that happen. They want to know the formula. Do we add a black guy to our worship team? Is there a ministry we need to add? Where do we find good photographs of multicultural people for our website?
The answer starts with being friends with a diverse group of people. It starts with loving people of a different race. If you’re not living it, don’t expect it to happen in your church.
It’s not something you do, it’s something that you are.
Oh, and be prepared. Because if you’re successful bringing in other cultures, many of your white people will leave. It’s a sad, heartbreaking thing, but like Kevin pointed out we really love our “white privilege”.