4 Reasons for Christians Not to Repost or Share the Work of Candace Owens, Shelby Steele and John McWhorter
Is it okay for White people to criticize Black people, if the criticisms originally came from a Black person?
Candace Owens, John McWhorter, and other African American conservatives have become widely popular for their criticisms of the Black Lives Matter movement and what they would consider to be the unnecessary racialization of police killings of unarmed Black men. Their criticisms typically hinge on the issue of responsibility within the African American community: are Black people shirking responsibility by blaming police and White people? Are Black people failing to own their own problems of laziness and cultural aggression?
It’s common for left-leaning people to respond with statistics or anecdotes, trying to prove Owens, McWhorter and others wrong. Many of these responses are valid, but I want to add a spiritual dimension, particularly as it relates to the White Christians who share the quotes and videos and podcasts that these Black conservatives put out. I want to point out some biblical reasons why it’s a problem to share such critiques of Black people, even when the criticisms originate with Black people.
Paul’s example in the book of Romans is really helpful with this issue. Paul, a Jew, hadn’t met the Gentile Christians in Rome, and he had some strong words of critique for them. On the surface, it appears that he is criticizing a people group that is not his own, much like White conservatives criticizing Black people. But Paul’s writing actually upends and opposes such critiques; his approach is very different from that of White people who critique African Americans in four important ways. For each point, I’ll explain what Paul does differently and then ask application questions for anyone who is considering reposting or sharing something from Owens, McWhorter, Steele and others.
1. Encouragement
Right away in Paul’s letter, he encourages the Christians in Rome, telling them of how he thanks God for them, that he’s excited about their faith and that he prays for them all the time.
Have you ever commended the African American community for their faith, or for their perseverance in suffering or for their ingenuity or for any number of other good things? Have you thanked God for the Black church and prayed for it? If not, what might such omissions say about your heart towards Black people? Is it not unloving, unhelpful and disrespectful to only share criticisms and never encouragement?
2. Antiracist Critique
Paul’s criticism of the Gentiles was not a sneaky critique that not-so-subtly reimagined Gentiles as inferior to Jews. We know this because Paul immediately followed his critique of the Gentiles by telling the Jews that they did the same things that the Gentiles did (Rom. 2:1). And he hammered home this same point again (Rom. 3:9) and again (Rom. 3:23) and again (Rom. 3:28–31).
If you see something wrong in the African American community, do you not also see the same things wrong in the White community? If you believe both groups are equally sinful before God, then why do you not speak to the sins you see among your own White friends and communities before even thinking about the problems you see among Black communities?
3. Knowledge
Even though Paul hadn’t met the Gentile Christians in Rome, he knew Gentiles and Gentile communities and institutions very well. He lived and worked among them for years, he spoke Greek, and there were absolutely no questions about his knowledge of Gentiles.
If you as a White person are posting criticisms of Black people, are you really sure you know Black communities and institutions well enough to make any criticism helpful? Even if you’re reposting something a Black person said, are you really sure you know the African American community well enough to say that this critic is correct?
4. Sacrifice
Paul was beaten, stoned and arrested (which led to his execution) because of his care for Gentiles. He literally sacrificed his own body, along with his reputation for the sake of the Gentiles. There could be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Paul very much loved Gentile people.
If you are thinking about posting a criticism of African American communities, don’t you think it would actually be more helpful to sacrifice something for them instead? If Paul can sacrifice his reputation and body, surely you can give some of your time, talents and/or finances for the good of others, and surely that will do more good in the world than retweeting Candace.
In light of all of this, I can’t see any good reason for a White Christian to repost and share such criticisms of Black communities, and that’s on top of the statistical, philosophical and anecdotal reasons that Owens’, Steele’s and other critiques of African Americans are wrong. And all of this, of course, applies to White criticisms of Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous peoples and other groups.
This is not to say that INDIVIDUALS who are Black can’t be critiqued. There is plenty to criticize about Bill Cosby and OJ Simpson, for instance. Various Black individuals have varying levels of issues, just like White individuals do. The problem is the criticisms of groups: communities, institutions, neighborhoods, African Americans all over America etc.
Christians are called to a high standard in our love for others, and that includes demonstrating our love for others through how we speak of other people groups and of the various expressions and iterations of those other people groups. Paul demonstrates how to do this, so let’s follow his lead.
