Minority Voices Are Like Minor Prophets – They Get to the Point Quicker

Southern Baptists are a kerfuffle waiting to happen. Despite great volunteers who scatter the planet to aid in the aftermath of natural disasters, it only takes one comment to create an occasion to show off our penchant for conflict. Think Hank Williams Jr., ESPN, and music.

Recently the SBC rooted blog SBC Voices offered a reflection suggesting ESPN’s move to strike Hank’s “Are You Ready for Some Football” a good move. The comments quickly turned to the matter of race. For you readers unfamiliar with the SBC, we are rooted in issues of race, and on the wrong side at that. We apologized years ago. But the deep rootedness of our Southern heritage dies a slow death even as it does in our wider culture.

Dwight McKissic, a friend, joined the comments to challenge a euphemistic reference to minorities. Despite the semantic wrangling, the truth is, give the reference to 100 readers and you would find an overwhelming majority who found a reference to “those people in urban centers” a reference to minorities. Typically those representing the dominant culture in SBC life, white guys, bemoaned the “race card” being “played when McKissic entered the conversation. Talk about deflections.

Maybe what we need is a minority perspective. And, a minority voice who has roots in Southern Baptists Churches. Women. Everyone knows that dogmatically the dominant SBC view is that women hold a minority role when it comes to leadership. And, nearly everyone quietly knows that pragmatically there is an inconsistency. But, that would be another post.

Natalie offers some thoughts around some criticisms of the movie, The Help. The intersection of the white guy conversation at SBC Voices and Natalie’s post is that we white guys just to not see the world any other way. We frame reality from our perspective. Invite others and we run to negate the value of perspectivalism, contingency, and particularity. Instead, we want the world to be as we see it. It just isn’t so. And, if we will listen to minority voices, we may come away with a better response than pulling out the, “I hate it when the race card is played” mantra. If you have not already clicked over to read Natalie’s post, this may prompt you,

Many white North American Christians enjoy railing against Hollywood for its liberal, sex-crazed, violent films, but wouldn’t it be refreshing if the white Church took notice of another problem in the film industry and in life in general – relegating people of color to the margins?

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