Thoughts on Systemic Racism and DEI

 Over the course of the last few years, but specifically in the last month I’ve done some reading and, maybe more importantly, had a number of conversations regarding DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and the topic of systemic racism. These conversations were with a somewhat diverse group of people falling into many different categories when it comes to; age, race, culture, and gender. During these conversations it became clear to me that there is often a misconception of what the topic and term “systemic racism” seems to embody as well as what the policies, broken or not, around DEI attempt to do.

As a Pastor in a local church, and more importantly as a Christ follower, I believe firmly that each of us is created with inherent worth. As we read in the creation account in Genesis, each one of us is created as an image bearer of God. Because I hold this view, having these conversations and being able to share my experience is incredibly important to me.

With that being said, my hope with this post is to sum up some of the reading and conversations I’ve had with the intention of education, equipping, and also with the hope that everyone will seek out and engage in real meaningful conversation with someone who has a vastly different background and worldview than them.

I think the biggest step we have to take to even begin to unpack any of this is to look at systemic privilege holistically. We have made privilege so much about race, and maybe rightly so, but race is not the only contributing factor when it comes to systemic privilege. In order to talk through this well, let’s first define the idea of systemic privilege. 

Systemic privilege, to my understanding, embodies the idea that there are social and cultural systems and norms that provide privilege (benefits) to specific groups based on a number of varying demographic factors that include but are not limited to; race, culture, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, religion, economic status, social status, and geographic location.

With that being said and understood, we then can begin to look at systemic privilege holistically by understanding that it is possible, even expected, that each one of us both benefits from systems of privileges and also, AT THE SAME TIME, can be disadvantaged by different sets of systemic privileges.

For example, I am a middle aged (that stings), male, who is adopted from South Korea, grew up in a rural portion of Michigan, who now lives in rural New Mexico, is married to a white woman, and has two multiracial children. With that being said, that’s not even the entire picture of all the things that define me demographically, but it’s enough to start.

By unpacking that, we can infer a few things regarding the way systemic privilege plays out in my own life.

• First, I benefit from a system of privilege because I am a male.
  
  
• Second, I have benefited from a system of privilege, specifically academically, as someone of Asian ethnicity.

  
  
• Third, there have been systemic disadvantages because I am a person of color.

  
  
• Fourth, there have been systemic disadvantages because I grew up in a very rural community.

Again, this is not a whole picture view of me as a person, or of my experience with systemic privileges and disadvantages, but is an example of how this is a multifaceted issue that must be looked at holistically. I debated sharing specific experiences relating to each of the statements listed above but opted not to in an effort to keep this whole thing a manageable length. If you are curious about some of the ways that these privileges and disadvantages have played out personally in my life, I would be happy to have a conversation about that with you.

If you’re feeling up to it, you can take an inventory of yourself demographically and probably begin to paint a picture in your mind of some of the systems you have benefited from as well as some of the systems that you have been disadvantaged by.

Now that we’ve looked at that, let’s turn the corner and talk a bit about the idea of systemic racism, specifically the pushback and unwillingness to talk about it.

Again, let me reiterate here, the concept of Systemic Racism addresses a system that has provided privilege to certain groups based on race, but is not a holistic term or idea because it does not take into account other systems of privilege. That being said, systemic racism has and does often play out as one of the systems of privilege that has a bigger impact culturally and socially.

First, it’s important to address that I think for a number of my friends, family, and acquaintances who are white, the term “systemic racism” is uncomfortable to hear and often feels like an attack. While it is true that term has been used as a weapon in the past, from my viewpoint, this weaponization is not representative of the issue at hand and is certainly not the end goal of the concept of Systemic Racism. Rather, the term systemic racism exists to address the idea of unconscious bias that has, perhaps unknowingly for a number of people, perpetuated a system of privilege. 

The term systemic racism also asks us to take a look at the history of our country and our people in a way that celebrates the good and the great accomplishments while also being willing to address the bad and the areas where we have failed. A number of people decry this as “unpatriotic”. My pushback is that to love your country is also to hold it accountable when it fails and champion its growth and move it towards being better.

The foundation of systemic racism specifically, can be seen back through the history of our country. From the way that First Nation and Indigenous People were treated, from slavery, to segregation, all of these things point towards a system culturally and socially, that made 
“whiteness” the standard. Even the long-used term “non-white” has derogatory implications because it implies whiteness as the norm and the standard.

Interestingly, when you look at the term “white” it’s based almost completely on “color” and not even culture and ethnicity. I have many friends who would identify as white who can trace their ancestry, ethnicity, and culture to many different countries each of which have their own specific cultures. But, even with that being the case, most of them don’t identify as “Italian” or “French” or anything else, but demographically as white.  

Having said that, it is worth noting that in America, we have developed our own specific cultures, one of which could be summed up as “white”. In many ways, generationally here in America, many of us are so far removed from our ethnic and cultural roots, that claiming them as the whole of our cultural identity is probably not accurate. I was adopted from South Korea and grew up in a Dutch American family, but to say that I’m Dutch, would not ring true. More accurately I would probably say, Dutch American, with the overarching influence being American rather than Dutch. 

So, while I understand that there are cultural pieces that could be associated with the term “white” it is most often used as a term to describe someone racially. I bring this up because some of the reason that people may not identify ethnically or culturally outside of this blanket term, may have to do with the benefits of being identified solely as “white”.

This history of culture which has led us to a place where the definition of the standard is “white,” has created a system that provides certain advantages for those who are white. If this is true, then conversely, we have to understand that this system creates disadvantages for those who aren’t.

The policies around DEI, attempt in a number of ways to affect change to this system by placing expectations; socially and culturally, that a certain number of people in different areas; education, workforces, etc., would represent these underrepresented, marginalized, and disadvantaged groups. Let me reiterate, I’m not here to defend or debate the effectiveness of any of the specific policies around DEI, that’s a whole other thing, but I would suggest that throwing the entire idea of DEI out because the policies aren’t perfect would be shortsighted.

Now let me address some of the biggest pushbacks I have heard in the face of the idea of systemic racism and DEI specifically.

First, the idea that “the most qualified” candidate or applicant should get the job or position, often referred to as Meritocracy. This would be, at its heart, the ideal system. In a perfect world, an applicant for a job, position, or entry into an academic institution would be judged solely on their qualifications and merit. Unfortunately though, in a world that has systems that provide advantages to certain groups and disadvantages to other groups, it is hard, sometimes impossible, for the disadvantaged groups to be as qualified as members of other groups because of the hurdles they have to jump through to reach the same qualifications and merits. Simply put, in many instances, for an individual from a disadvantaged group to be considered for a position they have to be exceptional, whereas for an individual from the advantaged group to be considered, they simply have to be.

The second thing I often hear when talking about systemic racism is the idea that “I had it hard growing up too”. Addressing systemic racism does not discount this. Again, if we look at systemic privilege holistically, it can be understood that each of us had systemic disadvantages because of our background, ethnicity, etc. However, these systemic disadvantages cannot be used to write off the advantages that come specifically with race.

For example, it is possible to have had a very hard life and experience as a white person who grew up poor in a very rural community. Because of this person’s financial status and geographic location, they were probably not afforded a number of opportunities that someone with a different socio-economic situation had. BUT, at the same time it’s important to acknowledge that they have had a number of privileges socially and culturally because they were white. To acknowledge that is not to dismiss the disadvantages, but rather to be aware that the issue of race was not one of the disadvantages, but rather played out in their favor.

The third thing I sometimes hear revolves around the idea that “we’ve come so far” or that we live in a post-racism society where racism isn’t an issue anymore. While I will say that we have taken strides in a number of areas pertaining to equality movements, specifically revolving around race, to say that it’s not an issue anymore would be categorically untrue. Any amount of research and reading will key us into the fact that discrimination, and even violence, as a result of racism still occurs regularly across the country. If you live in a place or space where you don’t perceive racism to be a problem, I would suggest that one of two things are happening.

First, you may truly live in a space and community where racial discrimination and tensions are very low. This would result in you not seeing or being aware of issues of racism in your day-to-day life. This for me would be representative, I hope, of the fact that we have indeed taken great strides in the push for justice and equality when it comes to race and ethnicity. The second option is that there is in fact racial discrimination and tension happening in the space and community you live and you are simply unaware of it. This could happen when the primary circles and spheres of influence we engage with may not be very diverse or, if they are diverse, that we haven’t had any conversations regarding racial tension with those who are, demographically, different than us. Regardless of the situation you find yourself in, I would encourage you again to reach out to someone with a different culture, ethnicity, or background from you and engage them in a conversation about how they may perceive the issue of racism and how it has impacted their day to day lives.

The final thing I often hear revolves around the idea and concept that “I’m not racist”. Let me first say, good, thank you for not being intentionally and actively racist. However, each one of us has to address and acknowledge the fact that we have unconscious bias regarding a number of specific demographic groups. Secondly, we have to acknowledge that even if we aren’t actively discriminating or devaluing people because of these demographics, we are benefitting from systems of privilege that elevate us over others. 

One other way that this all may play out is that in many cases, privileged groups of people, often specifically white males, may feel that DEI or awareness around systemic racism either disadvantages them or makes them out to be the enemy. This is, to be honest, a very challenging and hard part of the overall topic to address. 

First, I think it is probably somewhat natural for people in any privileged group to feel tension that may play out as feeling disadvantaged when strides are taken forward in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The best way for me to classify these are as growing pains as the system or systems are being reformed to be more inclusive. To dig a little further, it is also probably very likely that what is being felt as a “disadvantage” is actually either the removal or privilege and advantage that should not have been given initially OR the granting of privilege to a marginalized group in an attempt to even the playing field that limits the opportunity for the advantaged group.

The second piece of this encompasses the feeling that because of DEI someone in a privileged group has been made the enemy or that there’s no space for them to occupy in this conversation. Again, let me say that the goal of conversations around DEI and Systemic Racism is not to vilify anyone in the privileged or advantaged groups. You do not, in most cases, have control over the demographic groups that you are born into. For example, the discussion around white privilege should not vilify people for being white, but rather ask them to be more aware of the privileges they may have had because they belong to this group and to be aware of the system that perpetuates those advantages. In the same way, acknowledging systemic privilege of any sort should not attack anyone or ask them to feel guilty about belonging to any sort of demographic. What it should do though is to ask each person to look at the tables they are at, identify those who haven’t had the same opportunities as them, and invite them to the table.

In Revelation we see a picture of heaven and the Church comprised of “every nation, tribe, people, and language.” This paints a beautiful picture of the world that God intended; a diverse, multicultural, group of people all standing equally together. As a Christian, I believe firmly in this beautiful vision and yearn for the day it comes into fruition. However, it is clear that this is not the state of the world we live in. The reason I write this entire piece, and the reason I am passionate about these issues comes not only from personal experience but from the Lord’s prayer. In it Jesus says to God “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” I believe that when you couple this prayer, from Jesus Himself, with the picture of the Church, diverse and beautifully united, that the call for each of us is to champion this diversity and unity here on earth until we one day experience the fullness of heaven.