White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White

by Daniel Hill

“Daniel, you may be white, but don’t let that lull you into thinking you have no culture. White culture is very real. In fact, when white culture comes in contact with other cultures, it almost always wins. So it would be a really good idea for you to learn about your culture.”

Colorblindness minimizes the racial-cultural heritage of a person and promotes a culturally neutral approach that sees people independent of their heritage.

“Where common memory is lacking, where people do not share in the same past, there can be no real community. Where community is to be formed, common memory must be created.”

Self-righteousness undermines healthy identity development, making the fifth stage particularly important in the cultural identity journey. Self-righteousness undermines our ability to dismantle the system of racism, making this a particularly important stage for those who want to be active participants in Jesus’ redemptive work. The cure for self-righteousness is found in repentance, making repentance a particularly important spiritual discipline for the cultural identity journey.

The enemy is not each other; this is not white people versus people of color. No, the enemy is white supremacy, and the evil one leverages that system for destructive purposes. It’s a dark and dangerous system, and it must be opposed and dismantled at all costs.

Marker 5: Changing the Evaluation of Growth from “What Am I Supposed to Do?” to “How Well Do I See?”