Rev. McKinley L. Sims, M.Div.

People don’t want you to be outraged because so much energy and power is invested in keeping things comfortable for the white folks for whom America has always been great. Anything that knocks that idea is so scary because it forces us to confront the reality that our society is not as blameless as we want to believe.

That’s why all the flak that comes is, “why weren’t you outraged before?”

“You’re making this a bigger deal than it should be.”

“Emotional hyperventilating. Faux anger. False emotionalism.”

People don’t want to admit that the make-believe world where race isn’t an issue and systemic issues don’t have real affects on individuals is the one we live in. We want to make believe that we are in complete control of our own lives.

We want to make believe that we are God. And that you shouldn’t be so mad about the world treating others poorly because it’s not treating you poorly. They should make better decisions. They should be more like us. More like God.

So instead of confronting the evil of the policies and actions of the government, they focus on the “faux outrage” and the “complaining.”

Don’t complaint because your life is just fine. That’s what privilege demands. Be comfortable at all costs. Anything that presses against the comfort of white folks in America is an attack on “America as we know it.”

Confronting the fact that your world is broken and you have a responsibility to do something about it and you can’t just skate by and be comfortable is SCARY AS HELL. It’s terrifying.

People are scared, and we will do anything to keep our bubble up and pretend that everything is just fine as long as it doesn’t affect us personally. Because we made good decisions, and powers and principalities are just fairy tales and systemic racism isn’t a thing and privilege isn’t a thing and liberals are just mad to be mad.

The reality that America was ever great for everyone and can be made great again for white folks is the fairy tale, but it’s so intoxicating that we can’t handle it any other way.

We’re drunk in comfort and fairy tales. Facts won’t change that. Anger by itself won’t change that.

They’re scared. People that look like me are scared. It’s so much easier to attack the feedings others as fake rather than confront our very real fear.

Because to feel scared is to admit we are way more powerless than the American myth taught us. And to admit that we aren’t God.

And we have always been treated as if we were God.

So I’ll go first. I’m McKinley. I’m a racist in recovery from West Texas. I’m white, and this country was built for people who look like me. I am not ready for a truly multicultural America, where I’m not privileged at every turn. That scares me, because my life now is comfortable. I’m not ready, but with God’s help, and the help of my neighbors, I hope to be. Because the world where everyone gets a fair shake is the America I want to live in. It’s my responsibility to help people who look like me get there, too.

May that be so.