navigating power and privilege

Table of Contents

power and privilege

It’s hard navigating real life and online spaces sometimes. I wish it was easier. I wish everyone would respect and celebrate people and diversity. I wish when people made mistakes they’d say ”sorry” and follow it up with some sort of move toward repair. I wish the only thing not tolerated would be the dismissive intolerance that refuses to hold space because of where someone was born or who they love or similar. This just doesn’t seem to be real life though.

Power and privilege is always a struggle. I wish it wasn’t but it is. No matter who we are or what we do it’s something we’ll have to reckon with internally to some degree. I say to some degree because I do think the struggle will vary person to person and dynamic to dynamic. Intersectional forces make any attempt to fully understand power and privilege quite situational.

Privilege itself is an interesting beast and subset of power. Privilege is something we forget we even hold onto. With it though comes a lot of quiet power - the power to center conversations, to control narratives, to shape community and apparently proclaim victimhood. I call it quiet because of how easily we forget we have it; in reality to those without it our privilege is as loud as a train barreling through the countryside. It all gets quite ugly in the long runs, building up silos that people thought were salons.

reckoning with my privilege

As I said, power and privilege is something we all have to reckon with even me. I wish that wasn’t true - life would be a lot easier if it wasn’t - but it is. For me, faith has been a guiding light which I realize might be something of a surprise. You don’t have to look far to see the way that the evangelical church and Christian nationalists abuse power and privilege on a daily basis. The news is fully of stories of it. It shouldn’t be that way though. Unfortunately their are different lenses through which one can interpret the Christian faith. Much of evangelicalism and all of Christian Nationalist circles interpret through the lens of empire and oppression - as in the Church is at the center of creating a new empire and power center that forces its will onto the world. This interpretation only holds if you are willing to basically throw out the life and teachings of Jesus. Personally, a better interpretation of faith would be seeing the ways that Jesus comes near to the oppressed, identifies with them against the forces of empire and centers liberation through love rather than domination. I want to give passage and example that continues to form me after decades: kenosis.

kenosis in scripture

One of my favorite passages from scripture is found in Philippians chapter 2. Philippians is a letter to the early emerging church and is general attributed to Paul. In this particular chapter the recipient of the letter is met with a tough challenge - the humility of Christ. Read these words in English:

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a human, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name, 10 so that at the name given to Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The core doctrine expressed here is not simply humility but kenosis - the self-emptying of Jesus. Speaking theologically here¹, Jesus empties himself of everything that separated himself from humanity. He laid aside the “God” part of his nature (according to this passage) and fully embraced his humanity even though it lead to his execution at the hands of empire. Further, it’s in this emptying that his purpose is actually realized and God exalts him. There’s a lot that could be said but I think this is sufficient for now.

kenosis in my life

I’m not fully God and fully man, as Jesus describes himself. I don’t have “godhood” on the list of things to empty myself of. What I do have is some measure of power and privilege. I’ve been bestowed this privilege as a man. I’ve been bestowed this privilege identifying as white. I’ve been bestowed this privilege being married and having kids. As a Christian. As an American. Having a steady job. Being a part of the middle class. There are probably many other sources of privilege I’m missing here but hopefully the root point is clear: who I am means some measure of power and privilege in the different spaces and places of life. How I choose to navigate and use it matters.

Kenosis in my life means recognizing that this power and privilege exists and being ready and willing to lay it completely aside for the sake of others (particularly those without it). It’s intentionally de-centering myself and my own experiences as much as possible to elevate others. It’s listening when someone speaks up about my privilege and being willing to make a change. It’s looking out for those without it and making sure their voices aren’t lost in the sea of “good intentions” (that’s really just white guys trying to protect their sanitized genteel spaces).

navigating my privilege

So what now?

You might be wondering this if you are taking a serious look at your power and privilege. I think it looks different in different circumstances and different spaces but I want to touch on a few active and passive things you can do.

passive privilege management

Listen. This is the most important thing you can do. Listen to the experiences of others. Give them space to talk. Don’t immediately discount what they have to say because it’s not your experience.

Accountability is growth. Don’t shirk it. If someone points out an abuse, misuse or otherwise bad use of your power and privilege don’t play the victim. Let their accountability lead to your own personal growth.

Don’t just assume because someone is “nice” that they don’t have an issue with power and privilege. You don’t have to run to the defense everyone held accountable for the same power and privilege you might hold in a given space. Listen and learn from the attempt at accountability.

active privilege management

Elevate others intentionally. When I say this, I don’t mean others that hold the same power and privilege that you do but those specifically that do not. This takes a lot of shapes and forms. Here are a few of the things I’ve done:

• When I noticed 99% of the theological books on my bookshelf and in the stores were written by old white dudes I intentionally hunted down books by women and people of color to talk about and share.
• I created a training program in the non-profit I worked for that de-centered Western training methodology and models and gave emerging African leaders full control to share and develop what actually worked for them in their work (rather than relying on Western trainers).
• I’ve encouraged those without power and privilege to take positions of leadership instead of myself or those like me.

I share those not to toot my own horn but give you examples of things you can do. In an online space it might be as simple as saying to yourself ”I’m going to try and reshare just posts from those with a different degree of power and privilege to the norm in this space.”

Call out bad behavior. If you see someone misusing their power and privilege in a space it’s ok to say something. The status quo of power and privilege maintains its place by keeping everyone quiet. It keeps outsiders from encroaching by acting and refusing to let accountability happen. But it’s always ok to say something. This is actually a good use of privilege. Marginalized folks will often think they can’t say something so it’s important that there are people not afraid to do it.

Practice repentance and repair. I’ll end with this one. We aren’t ever going to be perfect. There is always more growing and learning to do. Be quick to model what responding to real accountability looks like. I say “real” because I’m not talking about a DARVO based accountability where privilege tries to make itself a victim. When actual accountability is needed though practice repentance - sincerely making a change - and repair - trying to make genuine amends for the harm caused. Repentance - a sincere desire to change - is what you bring to the table. Repair is what will best be defined by those harmed. Model this in community settings.