The Virus of Privilege

The initial audience for this posting will be pretty close to “all white” in composition, obviously including me. We share what can be termed a virus. It’s called privilege, white privilege. The majority are probably male. We share a variant of that virus. It’s called white male privilege. Most of the initial readers are also queer. That diminishes the aspects of privilege to some degree, but only when someone knows our sexual orientation. Those among us who are female, whether cisgender or transgender, enjoy a degree of privilege ... if white, of course. More on that later.

As a nation and perhaps somewhat less as a church, we are suffering from the infection by this virus of privilege. The symptoms include the great divisions we are experiencing. Other symptoms include the use of language and terminology that demeans and denigrates those who do not happen to be white. Our immigration policies reflect this virus. We would not have nearly the hand wringing and angst (or nasty language) if those seeking refuge among us had lighter skin tones. We, of course, do not talk much about these issues, but it doesn’t take much to discern that from the words that get used.

Privilege makes us think we are entitled to more than we are based on our skin color and our gender. We have been conditioned (brainwashed?) into thinking that there is some inherent superiority in being white and male. It makes me wonder how much of that type of thinking went into the pictorial depictions of Jesus as having blond hair and blue eyes. Did some folks have a problem relating to a Savior who had the olive skin, brown eyes and black hair of an ethnic Jew from the Middle East? I suspect so. Why else would be create such fantasies?

Is our notion of white privilege what prompts so many to say with some bitterness “ALL lives matter” when brought face to face with the necessity of someone else simply stating that “Black Lives Matter?” Why would we jump to such an impulsive and poorly thought out response if we didn’t somehow believe in such privilege? When a Black woman comes to tears when considering bringing a child into this world, we should open our eyes and take notice. I do not think I have ever heard a white parent speak about having to warn a son about what to wear, how to drive, how to speak, how to carry themselves for fear of being arrested, shot at or even killed because they came across as some racist stereotype of people of color. Dirt poor white parents do not feel a need to have those conversations. Very wealthy Black parents know how necessary such conversations are to survival.

I am painfully aware of how the color of my skin has benefited me in my life. I know that God has indeed blessed my life. At the same time I am keenly aware that some of what I might mistakenly call a blessing are more evidence of the ingrained nature of white (male) privilege.

I am trying to learn how to respond in a Christ like manner when a straight white male tells me how I should or should not feel or react or handle something. The stark reality is that however well intentioned such “advice” might be, it comes from those who have absolutely no clue what being queer is all about AND who have absolutely no authority to tell a queer person anything at all about responding to prejudice, bias, homophobia or the like. At times the best response is to just walk away. Then I have to remind myself that walking away does nothing to correct the ignorance that warranted such “advice” in the first place.

Even though most of my comments have been about males, females are not immune to the virus of white privilege or straight white privilege. My suspicion is that the observations I have made about women is that they are more prone to think before creating a situation where they might find their foot in their mouth up to the knee. However, I’ve also had more than ample evidence to the contrary as well. I have been sorely disappointed when straight white women exhibit the same or similar infection with the virus of white privilege.

We are called to responsibilities in helping insure the creation of the beloved community. We are also called to try and bring some bridges to place across the divides among us. That is the Gospel message. The unfortunate, dare I say tragic, circumstances in our nation make this a more difficult task than it has been in many decades in our nation. Bubbling below the surface has always been the spectre of slavery, Jim Crow, the KKK and all sorts of incarnations of hatred and racism. We find ourselves facing a daunting task, a task for which we are equipped by our faith if we will only speak out. In my part of the country the standard response to these issues has often been: “We don’t talk about such things.” Well it is now time to talk about “such things.” How much further must our moral compass drift before we do engage in such discussions?

What has our privilege done for us today? Hopefully we used it to benefit someone else.

---

Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

Indignity and Injustice: How much will we allow to be imposed?

Question:  Will you respect the dignity of every human being?
Response:  I will with God’s help.

I was looking for a way to talk about the despicable way our government has been treating refugee/immigrant families at our southern border. I felt that I needed to couch any comments I might make in faith-based terms since the Attorney General of The United States had used Scripture to justify what I consider immoral and reprehensible actions that I am convinced are also repugnant to our Creator. So I found myself once again relying on the vows of our Baptismal Covenant.

The pictures of cages made from chain link fencing, uprights and doors/gates horrified me. And please do not tell me those were not cages. Two images came to mind for such structures: One is a dog kennel run. The other is the cage where the “big box” membership clubs lock up tobacco products. Neither image is suitable for any human being, much less children and babies! I KNOW what a cage looks like, so please don’t even try to spin that any other way.

Then I saw more pictures that showed these children sleeping on pallets on concrete floors using emergency “blankets” for cover, the kind made from shiny reflective materials intended to help hold in body heat. I was further repulsed. This is not how the wealthiest nation on the face of this planet should be treating children (or adults). Pallets no less. Not even mattresses.

This situation seems to have touched a nerve across a very broad spectrum of the faith communities of our nation. Condemnation has come in from the political right and the political left. That nerve is so raw that some 600 members of the United Methodist Church have filed ecclesiastical charges against the Attorney General. This link tells that story, but be warned it also contains some of the pictures I have referenced. https://tinyurl.com/Methodists-Charge-Sessions

I have no idea what will come of this but it does give me a degree of hope that we really have not reached the point of having no shame in what we do as a nation.

The POTUS has issued an Executive Order rescinding the policy of separating families at our southern border. Note that I said policy. There was never a law that required such actions.

Personally, I must take a “wait and see” approach because, to be bluntly honest, I do not trust either the author of the executive order or the contents of it to deal with this issue in a way that I think will be in accord with our baptismal covenant vow to respect the dignity of every human being. I just do not believe that such an intent will be found much less enforced.

Would we be having this discussion at all if those refugees fleeing persecution and gang violence had blond hair and blue eyes? Would our concerns be nearly as great if they did not have brown or black skin? Is our systemic racism rearing its ugly head for all the world to see? I fear it so. Again.

Perhaps I remember too much history. When I first learned of this process of separating children from families, my mind immediately went back to Nazi Germany. The gut wrenching stories of parents being separated from children and the journeys each would take - gas chambers and ovens or work camps - still have not left my thoughts. I would like to think that we would never descend to such depths of depravity, but I am not willing to rule that out... sadly so. Too often we forget that we had our own version of concentration camps in this country. We just used the word “internment” camps to make it sound a little nicer and more civilized. Really!?

The haunting words of Pastor Martin Niemoller come to mind: “They came for the _______ and I was not a ________, so I did not speak up. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak up.” We are called by the faith we profess to speak up for those who are marginalized and oppressed for any reason. How could we claim to be respecting the dignity of every human being if we did not speak up?

The General Convention is almost upon us. Will we have the moral courage to speak up and speak out on behalf of all who are marginalized and oppressed for whatever reason? Will we have the strength of conviction to take actions to change our ways? Will we make an effort to respect the dignity of every human being regardless of how that human being should be respected?

We do not know the outcome of any resolution until we are actually in committee with it and vote on the floors of the houses of General Convention. But we can still contact our deputies to General Convention. We can contact our bishop(s). We can remind them of our common vow to respect the dignity of every human being whether it is about marriage equality or refugee treatment or any of the myriad of ways we can think of to mistreat each other. Let them hear your stories about how not having your dignity respected looks like in this our household of faith.

Please continue to pray daily for the General Convention of our church and all who make
decisions that affect us.

Some other perspectives:

• From the Bishop of Atlanta - https://tinyurl.com/It-s-Not-Political
• From Perspectives Journal - I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag

Elections for the new leadership of Integrity USA are now taking place. Pray and cast your vote if you are a member. If you are not, join us in bearing good fruit.

Bruce Garner, President Integrity USA ... The Episcopal Rainbow

WWJD for Queers Fleeing Terror, and Why Should Integrity Care?

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

-Matthew 25: 34-40

One day my friend and I were stopped by the police in a remote area.  I was tortured and raped by the policeman [because I was gay].  I can still hear the other policemen who were watching laughing and jeering. The pain was like none other I had ever experienced.   I went to the hospital.  I didn’t report to work for days.  When I did go back to work, I quit my job. I was too terrified to step out of my house.  I tried to report this attack, but the police officer who took the report laughed in my face.   The very next day, the policeman who had tortured me came to my house and shouted, “Open up!  We already know who you are and we are going to kill you.”  So I left my beautiful country.  I left my job, my home, my belongings, my studies.  Two friends helped me get out.  I came to California and stayed with some relatives, but soon, after realizing that I was gay, they kicked me out and I was homeless.

-“Juan,” a gay man from El Salvador

More of Juan’s story is available here

It is illegal to be openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in approximately 80 countries throughout the world, including five that impose the death penalty.  Unchecked violence against LGBT people is rampant in many additional countries as well: violence like murder, torture, mutilation, and gang rape.

At least 4,000 people flee to the United States fleeing that terror every year, but until they are granted asylum by the U.S. Government many of them face months of friendlessness, fear, and desperation.  They are not allowed to hold jobs, or use most medical or social service programs. Often they find themselves without any money, living on the street or in detention facilities, doing whatever they need to do in order to survive from one day to the next, unable to communicate well in English, confronted with more anti-LGBT bias, facing culture shock, excluded by their ethnic communities, and struggling for their health after so many traumatic experiences. They are tremendously resilient people, but these challenges can be crushing.

But – yes – there is hope!

“Juan,” whose story appears above, is being helped by Hadwen Park Congregational Church and the LGBT Asylum Support Task Force in Worcester, Massachusetts.  A growing number of churches and LGBT community centers are taking asylum-seekers like him under their wing: Providing them with a sense of community, food, shelter, and a helping hand until their asylum applications are approved by the government and they are able to find work.

The Task Force is part of a national network called the LGBT Faith and Asylum Network (LGBT-FAN) that aims to encourage and help more churches and community centers reach out to people who have fled to America seeking safety.  We have established a website with stories and information about how groups are providing help, who “asylum-seekers” are, and how people can get involved.  Within the next year we plan to set up a charitable fund that will provide grants to churches and other groups that are supporting asylum-seekers’ living expenses. Integrity USA is part of this effort, as are the Episcopal Public Policy Network and leaders from dozens of other faith-based, policy, and human rights organizations.

While I served as Executive Director of Integrity USA, and now as a member of the New Orleans chapter, I have often heard the question raised: Now that we can have our relationships blessed by priests, there are a lot of friendly Episcopal churches, and openly LGBT people can even serve as bishops, what is Integrity for?  Is it time to declare victory and move on?

One answer to that question is that Integrity must continue to exist in order to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit those in prison.  One of Integrity’s special missions might be to follow these Christian commandments, with a special focus on people who have landed on our doorsteps after fleeing for their lives because of anti-LGBT bigotry and terror.

If you feel moved to consider that possibility, please visit LGBT-FAN’s website and send us a note through the contact page.  You can check out www.lgbt-fan.org and www.lgbtasylum.org for more information.

-Max Niedzwiecki, Ph.D.

Coordinator, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Faith & Asylum Network (LGBT-FAN)

Principal, Daylight Consulting Group

Former Executive Director, Integrity USA

(Photo Credit Jessica Rinaldi - Reuters)

CALL for ACTION: Equal Immigration Rights

by The Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall

When I immigrated, a little over twenty years ago, I was well-educated, white and had a British accent. Even with those advantages it was hard for me to get a green card. I lined up early one morning at the Arlington INS office in order to be one of the few people who would even get an interview. There was a couple ahead of me – they were there so that a non-American wife could get to live here with her husband. I was there alone. Even if we had been legally married, the INS would not have accepted our lesbian marriage as valid for immigration purposes.

We all know there’s an immigration bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee right now. We also know that it’s not fully comprehensive – it leaves out a very specific segment of the population – gay or lesbian families. Family reunification has always been an important plank of this country’s immigration policy, but once again we are being told that our families are less important, our families are not “real” – we don’t count.

It is estimated that there are 32,300 bi-national, same-sex couples residing in the United States today, more than 45% of whom are raising children. We believe that these families share the same right to dignity and fair treatment as other families, and therefore deserve to have their status as a family recognized and protected by our nation’s immigration laws. That is why Integrity worked hard at last year’s General Convention to help pass D011 “Reform Unequal Immigration Law” through which the Church pledged to support legislation that would expand our nation’s definition of family under immigration law to include the same-sex permanent partners and spouses of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
 
This resolution also committed our dioceses and congregations to renewed advocacy on behalf of families and individuals of all sexual orientations who are facing unwanted moves, deportation or separation due to our nation’s immigration laws. We know from experience that getting a resolution passed by General Convention is only the first step – in order for it to have teeth, we have to do the hard work in our dioceses and congregations to make it valid on the ground.

The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations is working on our behalf to support two amendments proposed by Senator Leahy. The first would allow Americans in same-sex relationships to sponsor green cards for their foreign-born partners. The second would provide the same protection to legally married bi-national same-sex couples that is afforded to others under existing immigration law. We can do our bit by asking our Senators (or members of the Senate Judiciary Committee) to “support the inclusion of same-sex partners and spouses in comprehensive immigration reform by supporting Leahy amendments 6 and 7.”

Please make the call or send an email today.

You can get more information about the Immigration Bill at

• The Immigration Equality Action Fund
• Human Rights Campaign

Caroline Hall is President of Integrity USA and serves as priest-in-charge at St. Benedict's Episcopal Church in Los Osos, CA.