Excuse Me, Your Racial Inequality Is Messing Up My White Privilege

"I'm so tired of hearing about Ferguson."

"Why is it always a race issue?"

"Don't ruin it for the rest of us."

These are all sentiments, phrases, or direct quotes from what I've heard around me and on social media the past couple weeks. That last one, "don't ruin it for the rest of us," just keeps repeating in my mind.

I thought I wasn't going to weigh in on this online. I thought I would reach out to friends affected, listen, and learn about something that I haven't experienced and may never fully understand. Well, I have been listening. But most of my feeds are either ignorant to this huge issue or full of statements already quoted.

I think I'm done listening.

You're sick of hearing about Ferguson? I don't think you've heard enough.

Why is it always a racial issue? Millions of black Americans keep asking the same thing. Why is their race always an issue?

Don't ruin it for the rest of us. Don't pop the bubble I live in. Don't die in my neighborhood. Don't protest near my job. Don't hold leadership accountable. Just shut up and let me continue to live the life I want. I don't care about your life.

If you aren't directly affected by racial injustice and inequality, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We have to listen to those who have experienced it. We have to realize that our beloved America is not full of freedom and equality for all. We have to be willing to let go of our white picket fence American dream long enough to peer into another reality. Stop covering your eyes. Stop plugging your ears. You know that once you see it you can't ignore it. You know that once you are exposed to inequality you can't keep silent. Don't hide from it. Stop deflecting, stop arguing, stop being so self-centered.

Open your eyes. Open your hearts. Allow the brokenness of your neighbor to be your brokenness. Bend down to pick up the burden of your friend. Sit and mourn next to the mother who lost her son.

Isn't this what Jesus did? Didn't he stop to drink with a woman who not only experienced injustice for her race but also for her occupation? Didn't he look at her and see the hurt in her heart and speak directly to it? Didn't he speak life to her and mend her broken spirit?

How can we not do the same? I know you're scared. I know it's uncomfortable. I know it's awkward, especially if you are just realizing you don't know anyone who is black or has experienced racial injustice. But we can't live protected. We can't allow circumstances to mold us, we have to be intentional. This is what white privilege is: living a life completely separate from the suffering of others. Maybe you actively choose that life, maybe you are just now aware of it. Either way, break free.

It's our turn. Not to pay for the sins of our forefathers, but to take responsibility for the future we create today. A future that will continue to be divided unless we take a stand now.