Saint Xavier Catholic Church in NYC - "Do you affirm that white privilege is unfair"--"Woke" Catholic Church

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Yes. There’s a full video of the Mass on Youtube, clearly showing that he says the prayer after Communion and before the final blessing.

Link shows beginning of prayer.

 
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Tis_Bearself said:
Yes. There’s a full video of the Mass on Youtube, clearly showing that he says the prayer after Communion and before the final blessing.
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gotcha…still problematic. (Don’t they clear the altar at their parish? Why announcements from the altar?)
 
I don’t want to hear overtly political messages at mass- either slanted to the left or right.
 
StudentMI said:
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Feanor2:
I don’t want to hear overtly political messages at mass- either slanted to the left or right.
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Exactly. It’s a Mass. Number 1, it’s about God not about politics. And number 2, it can alienate people who are there.
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How could it alienate people to condemn racial discrimination in Mass? How is that different to condemning abortion?
 
Motherwit said:
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StudentMI:
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Feanor2:
I don’t want to hear overtly political messages at mass- either slanted to the left or right.
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Exactly. It’s a Mass. Number 1, it’s about God not about politics. And number 2, it can alienate people who are there.
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How could it alienate people to condemn racial discrimination in Mass? How is that different to condemning abortion?
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I would argue it would be appropriate for the homily…this seems to be a regular affirmation at the end of mass.
 
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Motherwit said:
How could it alienate people to condemn racial discrimination in Mass? How is that different to condemning abortion?
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It’s not that the priest “condemned racial discrimination”, it’s that he’s pushing the position that the police killings are all due to race discrimination (debatable) and that we all have to affirm “white privilege” exists, personally benefits us if we are white, and is a problem (all those points especially the last two are debatable).
 
My problem with white privilege as a concept is that it does a distinct disservice to the white underclass which is not in a position of power. Racism is ugly, yes, but classism is a feature of American Life as well that often goes unremarked. It reminds me of the Bob Dylan song A Pawn in Their Game.

The true solutions to this country’s problems are not just racial equity and justice but also justice for the white poor.
 
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That’s a reasonable argument. I tend to think there is some white privilege, but not the amount many claim there is, nor do I see it as causing all the race problems in society. In any event, I don’t want to be pressured to make a statement about it during my Sunday Mass.
 
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It’s a shame people don’t each have their own area of the world where they can live among their own and not have to suffer prejudice. Black people should be able to rule and govern themselves free from the interference of white racism. But alas, it’s not the case.
 
StudentMI said:
My problem with white privilege as a concept is that it does a distinct disservice to the white underclass which is not in a position of power.
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You bring up a valid point. This is why a lot of scholars now make a distinction between “white supremacy” and “racism.”

White supremacy is the belief that the white race is in some way superior to one, or more, other races. This belief can, and often is, subconscious (examples would be clutching your purse when an African American walks by, or when a white person describes a neighborhood as dangerous because of the large number of African Americans who live there, or when a white person describes a Hispanic part of town as dirty).

Racism is when someone has the power in society to enforce their white supremacist beliefs. This can also be subconscious (an example could be when an landlord decides not to rent to student who attend a Historically Black College).

I’m not totally certain I agree with these distinctions - I think it might unnecessarily complicate the issue. But this is where scholars on race in America are these days, which kind of dovetails with what you mentioned in your post.
 
billsherman said:
Racism is when someone has the power in society to enforce their white supremacist beliefs.
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That is one definition of racism. The more simple form is simply dislike of other races. People have been pushing the racism is power line, however the dictionary states racism can also be simply hatred of other races. In that sense blacks can be as racist as whites. Every race can be racist, and in my opinion, racism exists everywhere on earth. To focus it solely on the issue of the racism of white people does a disservice to the other victims of racism from the plethora of ethnicities.
 
Since when is speaking out against racism “politics?” Is there a political party that favors racism?

In the midst of all of the self-righteous tsk-tsking in this thread, I’m going to tip my hat to this priest for having the courage and integrity to uphold Church teaching.
 
blackforest said:
In the midst of all of the self-righteous tsk-tsking in this thread, I’m going to tip my hat to this priest for having the courage and integrity to uphold Church teaching.
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It’s Church teaching that all whites in this country are privileged? Can you cite a magisterial teaching to that effect?
 
I have a problem with the way the message was delivered @blackforest. I sounded like a reprimand, not a let’s all work together kind of thing.
 
StudentMI said:
Every race can be racist, and in my opinion, racism exists everywhere on earth. To focus it solely on the issue of the racism of white people does a disservice to the other victims of racism from the plethora of ethnicities.
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Yeah, that’s why they make the distinction. The idea is that only the dominant race has societal power to enforce their supremacist beliefs. Members of every race in a society can hold beliefs in their own supremacy, but they can’t enforce those beliefs.

Think of America. There have always been African Americans who believe in the supremacy of their race (think the Nation of Islam), but they have never had the power to enforce this via legislation like whites were able to create legal segregation.

I tend to side with your belief because I kind of like the simplicity, and I’m not sure bifurcating racism into two different forms is helpful. But I also recognize that dominant groups in society do hold more power to enforce their beliefs.
 
billsherman said:
But I also recognize that dominant groups in society do hold more power to enforce their beliefs.
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Of course but I think that is better described as institutional or systemic racism than racism. I am not hopeful that even a multiracial government would provide a solution to this problem, however.
 
White privilege is an anti-white concept used as a substitute for rational argument. I would have walked out immediately and withdrawn my parish membership if that was my church.
 
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