White Supremacy

By Jonathan Ho

What is “White Supremacy”?

If you’re like me, you may have grown up thinking white supremacy meant the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) and other extremist racist groups that took extreme action including acts of physical violence (e.g. lynchings) to ensure white people maintained power. While this is a subsection of white supremacy, it is an incomplete view of it. White supremacy is the idea that white people are superior to other people and that because they are superior, they should “hold the reins”, hold power over others in the world. This plays out not only in the more obvious acts of violence, but also in the more insidious ways we internally think and ways unconscious assumptions then affect how we live and observe the world. These assumptions and beliefs then also inform the systems we create. For example, you may see many white people leading successful companies or groups and start to believe that they are inherently better at leading. [1] In the same way, you may start to think that people of color are not as capable to lead. This then in turn could lead to you choosing to place a white person in leadership over a person of color.

Another way white supremacy can play out is in what some people call “whiteness," [2] or the way in which white people, their customs, culture, and beliefs operate as the standard or norm.

My friend once shared about how his professor in a writing class pulled him aside to ask him why in all the stories he wrote the main character was a white male. My friend who is Taiwanese American had always framed the main character as a white man but had never questioned this or found it odd. [3]

Is “white supremacy” different from any other kinds of supremacy where one group elevates itself over another?

While throughout world history we can see groups dominating over other groups, “white supremacy” may be considered differently in how pervasive it is across the entire planet. In many ways, we give greater honor all over the world (both implicitly and explicitly) to people who are white.

In the United States, a lot of early wealth came from the work of Black slaves. As some put it, this (slavery) is the dark underbelly to the success and often perpetuation of white supremacy. It is important to realize this when thinking about the foundations of the country (if you’re in the U.S.) and how this impacts many today.

So while there are different forms of “supremacy”, “white supremacy” deserves a specific place in how we view the world.

Is white supremacy limited to the secular world?

Dr. Rev. James Cone and others have described four ways in which “white supremacy” and “whiteness” affected theology among early Black populations in the U.S.[4]:

1. Missions: Christianity came to many Black people through white people

2. Social Environment: White people controlled the social environment where Blacks practiced Christianity

3. Education/Formation: White teachers assumed a universal understanding of the gospel and created the language and tools for teaching Christianity

4. Foundational Works/Understanding: Earliest printed confessions, theological writings, etc. were written by white people

When I read the above, I am reminded of any group immigrating to the United States. In many countries, it is white missionaries who first shared the gospel and God used these missionaries to build up His Church. It is not wrong for someone to be white, and this doesn’t mean God didn’t and doesn’t work through white people. However, it’s important to reflect: is it possible that our theology and mindsets favor the culture from which it first came to us and in doing so, may detract from a fuller understanding of the gospel and God’s Kingdom? At the same time, is there not a beautiful possibility that exists that we may yet see the gospel flourish more than it already has through the diversity of the Church today? What ways might God be calling you to this work?

We are reminded by Paul in Ephesians 6:12, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of the world’s darkness and the spiritual forces of evil. When there is a system putting one race above others, there will be inherent injustice, and that is something contrary to the kingdom of God.

Why not use the term sin instead of “white supremacy”?

If you have a struggle, it is much more helpful to give it a specific terminology than to generalize it. Think of the list of works of the flesh written by Paul in Galatians 5; it is helpful to have more specific terms. Some might argue that we don’t see the term in the Bible, but we also don’t see terms in the Bible such as pornography which goes against holiness. White supremacy might not be a term used in the Bible, but it goes against justice which is described through the Scriptures.

Isn’t using the term “white supremacy” unjustly targeting one group of people?

It’s important to answer a few questions: first, are our existing structures biased against people who are not white and/or do they favor those who are white? If so, does this reflect or does it go against the Kingdom of God? Using the term white supremacy should not be used to put down people who are white, but it is a term that helps us see a bit more fully what potentially could be a huge issue in our society. Can we agree that this bias is not just? And if so, what does Christ call us to do and how?

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References

[1] This doesn’t mean white people cannot be good at leading. Reading Brandon Morgan’s parable article in this same edition, think of someone who has had all the advantages leading up until now, not only in available resources but in the existing systems of authority/power. Are they inherently better players or is it something else? And regardless of ability to play the game, what does it mean to live as Kingdom citizens who see injustice?

[2] See https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/whiteness for a helpful article for further understanding.

[3] Disclaimer: once you realize this focus on white characters, it’s hard to “unsee” it. Look at movies, books, etc. and see if you can see this to be true or not, that certain races often are typecast as the heroes, villains, comic relief, or sacrificial lamb, etc. This doesn’t mean someone who’s white can’t be the main character, but it points to the way our minds might shift a certain group ahead of others or as the standard of what is “normal”.

[4] William Brackney, “James Cone, White Supremacy, and the Baptist Narrative,” (SAGE Journals, March 19, 2020) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0034637319898771.

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