{"id":9371,"date":"2020-06-10T10:33:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-10T14:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=9371"},"modified":"2020-06-10T10:50:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-10T14:50:38","slug":"a-black-sister-kindly-schools-this-old-white-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=9371","title":{"rendered":"A Black Sister Kindly Schools This Old White Guy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"null\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-4515\" src=\"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Missions-Catalyst-no-tagline_large.png\" alt=\"Missions-Catalyst-no-tagline_large\" width=\"620\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Missions-Catalyst-no-tagline_large.png 620w, https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Missions-Catalyst-no-tagline_large-300x100.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-9372\" src=\"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/black-sister-old-white-guy.jpg\" alt=\"black sister old white guy\" width=\"380\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/black-sister-old-white-guy.jpg 380w, https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/black-sister-old-white-guy-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/black-sister-old-white-guy-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\" \/>A Black Sister Kindly Schools This Old White Guy<\/h1>\n<div>By Shane Bennett<br \/>\nwith Felicia Follum<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>How are you dealing with things? These are unusual days, aren\u2019t they? My oldest daughter recently said, \u201cWhen I complained a week ago about only talking about corona, I had no idea we\u2019d only be talking about racism now!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I suppose if you or someone close to you has COVID-19, that\u2019s still a pretty relevant topic of conversation. Much grace and renewed health to you.\u00a0And maybe you\u2019re already weary of race talk. Can you bear with me for a few more words?<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m wondering what God may be saying to you and me, to people like us:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We are people who love Jesus.<\/li>\n<li>We are people who believe God created the races, colors, and cultures of the world for his glory.<\/li>\n<li>We are overwhelmingly White.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you are not White and read Missions Catalyst, thank you so much. I value your experience and would welcome whatever input you have time and inclination to give on this meager offering.<\/p>\n<p>As for me, I grew up in about as bucolic a Midwest American setting as you could imagine. If my dad had shaved only his mustache, our family could have modeled for the covers of soon-to-come Amish Christian fiction. It was homogeneous, parochial, and safe, if a little boring.<\/p>\n<p>I cut my cross-cultural teeth under the influence of Steve Hawthorne\u2019s missiology which emphasized asking questions and taking the time to listen well. I\u2019ve often challenged others to cultivate curiosity about peoples and cultures and to delay judgement, that is, don\u2019t assume you\u2019ve got things all figured out too early.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe, like me, you feel you haven\u2019t got this whole racial injustice thing figured out. I\u2019d like to share with you some insights from a friend of mine.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"null\">Meet Felicia<\/h3>\n<p>Meet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/feliciafollum\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/feliciafollum\/\">Felicia Follum<\/a>. She\u2019s an accomplished artist, helps lead her church\u2019s mission efforts, holds two masters degrees, and was crushed on by more than one African migrant guy when we were on a short-term mission trip to care for Muslim refugees in Sicily a few years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Felicia says, \u201cBlackness isn\u2019t my first identity, but it is an identity.\u201d It deeply shapes who she is.<\/p>\n<p>Leaving his restaurant one night, her biological father was murdered by the KKK. Just to be clear, she\u2019s not 80 years old, recalling events from days long gone. Felicia is in her early thirties.<\/p>\n<p>Sharing some of her personal experience, Felicia recounted a doctor\u2019s visit for a sore tummy. The physician told her, \u201cGiven your demographic, statistically, you probably have STDs.\u201d When Felicia insisted she hadn\u2019t been sleeping around, the doctor replied, \u201cIt\u2019s probably your husband then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Widening the circle, Felicia said, \u201cI can\u2019t think of one person of color who hasn\u2019t been mistreated by police at least once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked her what White people might miss or not understand about their own situation. She said White privilege doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you get more stuff or that your life is trouble free. \u201cYou still have trouble and deal with hard things. What White privilege does mean is that you don\u2019t have blackness to deal with as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"null\">What Can We Do?<\/h3>\n<p>Knowing how asinine it sounded, I asked, \u201cSo what is the solution to all this, Felicia?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst off, we\u2019ve got to find a way to address problems starting young. 50% of Black babies are aborted. 70-80% of Black babies who are born begin life in single parent households. 90% of Black kids have more ACEs (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/violenceprevention\/childabuseandneglect\/aces\/fastfact.html\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/violenceprevention\/childabuseandneglect\/aces\/fastfact.html\">Adverse Childhood Experiences<\/a>) than my White husband, Jim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are also actions White people can take now. And these would really work, if they\u2019d do them.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"null\">1. Learn<\/h4>\n<p>Felicia asks, \u201cCan you name ten African Americans from US history and say one or two things about what they did? They\u2019re there!\u201d (For starters, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Maggie_L._Walker\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Maggie_L._Walker\">Maggie Walker<\/a> and the first missionary sent out from the US, former African slave <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/George_Liele\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/George_Liele\">George Liele<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Why is it that the average American can only name three to seven? I don\u2019t know about you, but I have a lot to learn.<\/p>\n<p>Toward that end, I\u2019ve started reading a couple of books. You can find many lists of books curated by smarter people than me, but here are mine. If you have read these or have already, I\u2019d welcome a chat about them.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brainlairbooks.handseller.com\/home\/bookdetailsin\/0830843930\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/brainlairbooks.handseller.com\/home\/bookdetailsin\/0830843930\">White Awake, An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White<\/a>, by Daniel Hill (IVP Books, 2017).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brainlairbooks.handseller.com\/home\/bookdetailsin\/1524760854\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/brainlairbooks.handseller.com\/home\/bookdetailsin\/1524760854\">I\u2019m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness<\/a>, by Austin Channing Brown (Convergent Books, 2018; a memoir).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I think it\u2019s also good to ask questions of your Black friends, if you have any. I have one. Of course, this is dicey and will not always work. Some Black people understandably don\u2019t relish the newfound role of enlightening the light-skinned masses. Some, like my friend Felicia, are kind beyond words.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"null\">2. Listen<\/h4>\n<p>At lunch recently a couple of colleagues were discussing the protests, the riots and looting, the \u201cabolish the police\u201d ideas, and the assumed spike in crime that would follow. I kept mostly quiet, not sure what to say and accurately assessing that I lack the intellectual resources to poke a stick in that hornet\u2019s nest.<\/p>\n<p>While on the one hand I agree that people shouldn\u2019t burn someone\u2019s business or trash the car of someone who\u2019s just trying to get home to her family. On the other hand, I can\u2019t help wondering, \u201cWhat motivates people to do things like that?\u201d What is the \u201cwhy\u201d behind the action? Or maybe the \u201cwhy\u201d two or three layers deep behind the behavior?<\/p>\n<p>Is it possible that I\u2019ve only listened to people like me for so long I\u2019ve concluded there is no reasonable motivation? There\u2019s no valid claim for injustice. This is America, after all. Anyone and everyone can make good choices, if they just will.<\/p>\n<p>Or maybe not.<\/p>\n<p>Felicia says she currently has 40 text conversations underway with White people whose minds are being changed, who are seeing sin they hadn\u2019t been aware of, people who feel like they haven\u2019t listened to others. Yay for them and yay for Felicia. (No, I won\u2019t give you her mobile number, because I\u2019m selfishly angling for number 41!)<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"null\">3. Engage<\/h4>\n<p>Felicia encouraged me and you, \u201cGo to protests. You might not feel comfortable carrying some of the common signs nor espousing some of the sentiments. But most Christians would be okay with a sign that says, \u2018do justice, love mercy, walk humbly.\u2019 (A brilliant mantra for these days. Thank you, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=micah+6.8&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=micah+6.8&amp;version=NIV\">Micah<\/a>!)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo beyond the sign and connect with some people. Ask good questions. For instance, \u2018What are your beliefs?\u2019 \u2018What caused you to choose that sign?\u2019 Say, \u2019I\u2019m making a list of people to pray for. How can I pray for you?\u2019 Then do it. Build the habit of asking lots of people how you can pray for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"null\">Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>What\u2019s God saying to you about this? I feel mostly like I need to listen and maybe somehow validate other people\u2019s experiences in a new way, perhaps only in my mind.<\/p>\n<p>As far as action goes, I don\u2019t know yet. Jesus set the bar pretty high when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke+4.21&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke+4.21&amp;version=NIV\">he told the synagogue<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Isaiah+61&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Isaiah+61&amp;version=NIV\">Isaiah 61:1<\/a> had been fulfilled in their midst and proceeded to confirm it by putting his very life on the line.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts on all this, particularly what you\u2019re reading, who you\u2019re listening to and what God seems to be saying to you and us. Please respond on our website or social media, or just reply to this email.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Black Sister Kindly Schools This Old White Guy By Shane Bennett with Felicia Follum How are you dealing with things? These are unusual days, aren\u2019t they? My oldest daughter recently said, \u201cWhen I complained a week ago about only talking about corona, I had no idea we\u2019d only be talking about racism now!\u201d I &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=9371\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A Black Sister Kindly Schools This Old White Guy<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practical-mobilization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9371"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9374,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9371\/revisions\/9374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}