Roasting the Social Justice Inquisitors at the #MLK50 Conference ERLC (Part 3)

Well, all right, we're gonna continue this. Roast of this panel discussion from the ERLC gospel coalition MLK 50 conference I'm skipping ahead a little bit some of the stuff that was right after the last section We did was a little too serious probably couldn't couldn't meme on it too much.

So we skipped ahead a little bit and we're gonna get to some of the good stuff I've listened to about 30 seconds of this. So the first 30 seconds won't be live reactions, but the next After that it will be.

So anyway while we're here if you are enjoying these videos I hope to kind of transition a little bit. We're gonna continue to do some of this funny stuff, but also maybe some serious stuff. There's been a couple of requests that I'm gonna do.

So if you if you like this stuff definitely subscribe and let me know if you have anything in particular you'd like to hear. Anyway, um, let's jump right in.

Assumptions, Grief, and Interpreting Silence

All group take us into Into the living room of Your house.

Okay, so the the dean of women in the school the person in the middle. She just talked a lot about Trayvon Martin and and Michael Brown and how she's suffered through those two situations. And so this guy's asking her to take us into like her living room and what that was like, and so we'll we'll start here.

Having people over and these conversations are happening like what what thing can you give us to just take away to help guide us in these moments. Because I Think many people of color are very frustrated in those moments because how can you not feel this with me?

And then and then the people who don't feel it They're just like we just don't feel it like. And why do you feel like the way you feel it? So is there anything else? I know that I'm sort of digging in a little bit.

But there is is there anything that you can give us as we're in the midst of those Moments where we're just staring at each other one weeping and one like what are we gonna eat dinner? What look. When we gonna eat dinner.

Look, this is this is really weird. You know, I don't you know. When when when Trayvon Martin was shot and when like Michael Brown was shot like look nobody's happy that that that men are dead. Right, but I did not you know have a tremendously, you know negative reaction to either one.

First of all, I wasn't there. I don't know what happened and Especially with the Michael Brown situation a lot of the evidence seemed to to be that, you know, it was potentially a justified Shooting nobody's happy that it happened, but I'm not gonna necessarily weep if it was a justified killing.

But again, I don't know what happened. So and I don't know the people I don't know the family. So it didn't really affect me. I didn't really have I wasn't weeping in my in my room about that but Why does this guy paint it like, you know, you we've got this.

We've got this poor woman weeping over this and she obviously really affected her and that's that's fine. And then but like her friends are just standing there like oh, yeah get over it. Let's go get something for dinner.

Gracious I Mean I I don't think that that actually ever happened. I think that's made up presenting the opposition as if they're like Soulless Evil just oh, oh. Let's see what she says. You don't because that's a made-up moment nobody's ever seen a weeping woman and said hey, let's go get some dinner.

I think if you love someone What hurts them has to do something to you? And I think the reality of staring at a blank wall when you're in grief. The message.

Look I'm not gonna say she's lying. Maybe maybe she was weeping and maybe one of her like evil white friends were just like Yeah, let's go get something to eat. No, I don't think that actually happened actually.

I'm not gonna say she's lying. I think she probably interpreted something that happened like that. But I highly doubt that it was just like that a blank wall. No emotion. Don't care at all and you're sitting here weeping.

That's that doesn't seem very likely to me.

Love me, that's the message that was said. I also Courtney and I are in the same group growth group, and I remember when I brought up I'm grieving and there was silence and Baldwin said long after the words my enemies are gone the silence of my friends will linger and Just saying that your silence hurts more than the violence.

Well, of course it does because the violence wasn't done to you, but here's the thing like again like I don't want to get too serious here, but but. You know, your friends are probably silent because they don't actually understand why you're grieving.

And so, you know, maybe you could explain it to them. Maybe you don't have to interpret them as being evil because if somebody was weeping to me over Michael Brown I would be like, you know, I you know, that's that's very sad that this has affected you so much.

But I wouldn't weep about it. I mean, I wouldn't change my opinion because I don't have really in that informed of an opinion. They've got we've got two sides of the story. We've got the side that says that that that these cops were just racist and they they targeted Michael Brown because he was a black Man, they just wanted to shoot a black man.

And then we've got another side that says well he reached for my gun. And to be perfectly honest that side seems pretty believable to me in that instance. And I don't believe the police officers in every instance.

I'm one of these wackos that takes each situation Individually and doesn't really consider the race of each side when I'm making my decision of what happened I just kind of look at the facts and I say oh well Michael Brown certainly seems to be a bit of an aggravated young man.

He had just done a robbery and here's the cop. The cop said they reached for my gun. I mean, I don't know if that happened, but it seems kind of believable. He just seems certainly seems like a thug. You know, that's yeah I'm one of these weirdos that kind of takes him each on a case-by-case basis.

Not everyone situation is certainly is like that. But anyway, um. Maybe they're quiet because they don't know what to say. They don't agree with you, but they don't want to necessarily make you mad by you that you're obviously upset.

You're you're weeping here in this story. So what are they supposed to say? Well, I'm sure they said like I'm sorry, you know gave you a hug or something. I don't know. What do you want them to say?

Your silence and knowing that I will process this or be in this space alone Hurts more than what has actually happened because I will go to a funeral and I will grieve and I will process but I will Grieve with people who understand but when I have to come back here and I feel alone in my grief.

There's something.

Especially hurtful about that. You're choosing to take the hurt there though. That's the thing. They're not intending to hurt you. They're probably not say anything for the specific reason that they do not want to hurt you.

So you're choosing to interpret that a certain way as if they don't care about my feelings. They just hate me and they're evil and they're just soulless and blank and. That's how you're choosing to interpret it.

So much of this movement so much of this even this conversation is just about everyone else is responsible for what I feel. That's not true, by the way.

Race, Responsibility, and Educating White Brothers and Sisters

In terms of carrying that burden and then the additional burden of Like educating folks in the majority educating white folks I want to quote the great sci-fi writer to non-arrivedu who I heard say this about a month ago.

You see how he just kind of slips that that recommendation in there with you.

That is I'm talking mostly to my white brothers and sisters, but a Google is for free every day. Right, it is not the responsibility of black folks to Educate us where they might choose choose to do that.

And that's if they choose to do that, that's totally their.

Nobody thinks it's anyone's responsibility to educate anybody. But if you're going to make a big deal of this and you want us to feel what you feel and you want everyone who Disagrees with you on social justice to become a social justice warrior then yes, it is actually your responsibility to make that happen.

I'm not going to go to Google and search everything that I'm not interested in. If I'm not interested in I'm not gonna I'm not gonna search for it. I am interested in this and so I do use Google. I do I do research this on my own right?

But just because I'm interested in it doesn't mean everyone is interested in it. So if you actually want to make change then yes. You actually is your responsibility to make that change. Not everyone else is Responsible to make the changes that you want to see in the world.

Choice. Right, but that is not their responsibility. We have Infinite materials at our disposal to educate ourselves.

Why assume they haven't either. That's the other thing. Oh, I guess they're just stupid it or they're ignorant. They don't care. Lots of people have just have researched this stuff. They don't agree with you.

We cannot bear the.

Experiential burden. Of knowing what that would feel like I might be able to empathize to some degree, but it is not my reality.

It's not her reality either she's choosing to insert herself into this. She already said she was not related to Michael Brown. She already said she wasn't related to Trayvon Martin. She is choosing to feel the way she feels.

She is choosing to interpret that as an attack on her. It is not. At least there's no evidence that it was. So yeah, it's not your burden, but it's neither is it her? She's choosing to take that on when Trayvon Martin or when Michael Brown was shot and killed.

You have the choice you can either take that as an attack on all blacks or not. And I I don't think there's any evidence that it was an attack on all blacks. So if you choose to do that, that's up to you.

That's your own mental state.

Burden, I can only share in part this burden of education is a burden that we should be responsible for. Nope White brothers and sisters. So oftentimes in these discussions because of the history of our country.

Beyond Black and White: Hispanic, Asian, and Other Experiences

It's easy for conversations about race to end up talking about black and white. That binary is there. It's like the the big elephant in the room, but at the same time there are other cultures in that mix.

Yeah. Yes, southeastern. What about the Latinos? You don't even have a director of Latino leadership and development. What's that about? What a bunch of racists?

Can you help us understand some of the liabilities with just reducing the conversation about.

Unity strictly to being black. Well, this is gonna be good. I know it. Yeah, that's a great point.

Um, I think we forget sometimes that there are also Hispanics.

Who forgets. Yeah, we just forget. Oh man, oh man.

Asians Indians and other groups have struggled.

Dude, why do you hate Latinos so much? I just don't understand Hispanics Asians and Native Americans, but what about the Latinos? We're like 12 of the United States population, but we're like 0 of the MLK conference.

That proves oppression by the way. We're oppressed minority. We're completely marginalized. And to be perfectly honest with you. I think it proves that you're all racist with individual racism.

Systemic Racism. I can speak to the Hispanic experience. I'm cute.

You really can't you can only speak to your experience because I'm pretty sure whatever Nonsense, you're about to say right now don't apply to me. Then again, I'm Latino not Hispanic.

Then I was born this country. My first language is Spanish though. Oh.

So you're not Cuban. You're actually an American and as a Hispanic male.

There are things that we deal with that others have dealt with as well. Whether it be institutional racism individual face-to-face racism the idea of being in a place and whether an academic institution or a church where.

If I work hard and I Have gifts that God has given me that somehow I'm going to be promoted Over time where I'm gonna get those opportunities that others might get my white brothers and sisters.

That's not always the case, right. I think we know it's not always the case with white brothers and sisters either. I like.

Some of those promotions and those jobs often take place. You have to be in certain circles of friends and when an opportunity comes up, it's like hey so-and-so would be great. But so-and-so also happens to be a friend of mine or a friend of a friend of mine.

And we're not often in those circles where we can be promoted and get those opportunities.

Notice that none of that has anything to do with race. It's all about friendships. Unless you're saying that these guys are like well look. Here's what we're gonna do. We're only gonna promote our friends and we're only gonna have white friends and that's what's gonna happen.

Isn't he a director at a university? What is he talking about? He has the permission he the position he has the promotions.

That's some other brothers and sisters might get just like. Our black brothers sisters struggle with as well. Also when you talk about the Hispanic experience. There are lots of experiences, right? We can be white.

We can be black. We can be mulatto. We can be Mestizo. We can speak an indigenous language. We can speak Spanish. We don't all like the same foods. We don't all like to say that the truth. Sport. For example, I'm Cuban.

I like baseball. All right, I play baseball in college. I love soccer, but I like baseball more. And we miss out on what others struggle with that we ourselves Struggle with as well. So I'm in I'm in the Academy for example at Southeastern.

One thing I struggle with how'd you get that position if everyone's so racist and you can't have to be friends with the white people in order to get the permission. The promotions like What'd you do. Maybe just thought you were white.

I don't know. Just like my people think I'm white too. A lot of people will will comment on these videos and say that the only reason I Think this way it's because I'm white. And then I tell them that I'm not white and then they say well.

You know, you've got light enough skin. So it probably is infected your brain and you think like a white person.

I like brothers and sisters is I look and I see. Across the spectrum. I don't see many leaders of institutions. Who are minorities specifically Hispanic, I think. We're just starting to bring in faculty members into our spaces.

Who are of Hispanic and other minor that you never notice that social justice warriors love using the word spaces. It's like well, this is a white space and these are our spaces and those are your spaces and these are Latinos.

Well, no, they're not Latinos. We're not talking about Latinos. We're talking about Hispanics here Hispanic spaces. What does it come from? Where does that come from?

40 groups. I know where it comes from. It comes from critical theory. What I'd like to see over time is When we consider say a Hispanic for a position I think a person can be well qualified for an ethnic position at an institution.

But that person has the administrative and faculty goods. I think that person should also be considered for at a position in higher administration. Say a dean or a provost. At an academic institution.

This is just some of the examples that come to mind that others might struggle with in other groups as well.

Partiality, Scholarships, and Favoring Ethnic Identity

Yeah, that's true, you know, my brother made a really good point he he was at a Christian College a Presbyterian College in Pennsylvania and his grades slipped at one point during his his his schooling and He got an email from the diversity, you know, whatever the Dean of Diversity Studies, whatever and Basically was like hey, do you need extra help?

Do you need you know this and that for you know to get your grades up and you know he noticed around the same time a lot of his other friends also had bad grades actually worse than his and they they got no such email and He responded don't ever contact me again.

I'm not interested in your extra help. Thank you very much kind of thing and what he what he kind of was saying was like, you know, it's kind of like it's almost disrespectful to have like a special director of Latino development when you don't have one for white people because it's like Oh, well, you poor you poor Hispanics.

You really need some of my my help and and you know. We're gonna make a special little area for you where you get your extra help and you know. That's so demeaning man. That is that is such a microaggression.

And also, you know, there's like there's like scholarships for Latinos and Hispanics. I know that what that's one of the things that came out of this MLK Congress is like all these diversity scholarships now you know, but the thing is like Latinos and like Hispanics, they're not like exempted from the the regular scholarships the ones that aren't diversity focused.

So like Latinos and blacks they have all this opportunity to get the ethnic scholarships. But also the regular scholarships whereas whites are disadvantaged because they only have the ability to get those.

There's those regular scholarships, right? So jacked up man, that is so jacked up also. Here's something that I was thinking. Why wouldn't people like, you know, just start presenting themselves as Latino.

How would you ever know would you take their DNA or something? You don't have a Latino last name? Oh, yeah, my dad's my dad's white, but you know, my mom's a deal. This is so stupid. This is like the dumbest idea ever to like to make your skin color or your ethnic background like important for something.

Like that's the whole that's so counterproductive to what we're trying to do. That's the opposite of what we're trying to do where it's like, oh, well, I want to be partial to this ethnicity for this scholarship.

That's all it is. It's partiality. It's partiality written into code. Anyway, hope this is funny. God bless.