Why I Won't Apologize For Being A White Male

I am a white, Christian, Conservative male who grew up in a middle class household in a safe neighborhood. Because of these facts, I am generalized, stereotyped and even disliked by a large demographic of people. According to many, I am supposed to be sorry for my privilege in life. To them, my voice means very little because I could not have possibly experienced any struggle worth talking about.

I’m not sorry about any of my privileges in life. This is not meant to be offensive to any degree, nor am I trying to demean the struggles endured by anyone else. I just want to be a voice to those who are similar to me, and to hopefully bring a new perspective to those are may have never heard our voice.

To be sorry about my socio-economic position that I was born into would actually be very selfish of me. Being sorry would devalue the hard work that my parents put in. I was born to two great and loving parents. They weren’t always middle class.

Before I was even alive, my dad was struggling to makes ends meets as he worked for his brother.

My dad made the decision that this was not good enough for him; he decided that he was going to be the best provider that he could be, and with prayer, vision and hard work, he learned a trade and started his own roof consulting business. My mom decided she wanted to make some extra money to help pay for college for my sisters and me. She took a risk, bought a franchise of a company and now diligently works to distribute her products to her locations. Through their combined, tireless efforts, they were able to provide modestly and comfortably for my sisters and I. Now, I’m able to go to a wonderful school and, Lord willing, seek an even better future for my future family.

I’m not sorry for this. How can I be? How can I be sorry for all the hard work my parents put in?

Instead, I’m proud and humbled by their grace, love and by the Lords grace and blessings He’s given to me. I strongly believe that if you think you’re underprivileged or not in the socio-economic area that you don't want to be, that should motivate you to work that much harder. Not necessarily for yourself, but for your future children. Work so hard to the point that they one day your children can brag about you the same way I get to brag about my parents.

Nobody said we’d all get dealt the same hand. Life isn't always fair, but as Bill Gates said,” if you’re born poor, it’s not your mistake, but if you die poor, it’s your mistake.” Enough with the envy and change your stars.

Race is a sensitive subject these days so I want to handle this topic delicately, but I'll be real, too.

I’m not sorry for my race.

I’m white and I cannot change that, nor are the sins of other white people in my control.

The term “racist” gets thrown around like it's nothing. But in actuality, labeling someone a racist is a big deal that can ruin people’s reputation and life and all for what's often a misunderstanding. Just because someone is white does not mean they hate anyone for their ethnicity, so nobody should expect them be sorry about the culture that went on during slavery and Jim Crow. Of course, individually, I am saddened by it! To say that such times were a devastating tragedy in American history would be an understatement. But it was not my actions that lead to those events. In addition, millions of white people died while fighting for the freedom, rights, acceptance, and assimilation of black people in America. However, I don’t take pride in that because again, it wasn’t my actions.

I wont take responsibility for the actions of my ancestors both good and bad. I think what’s best is that we can take people for who they are and understand that all people are beings, created in the image of God, in need of love, compassion, kindness, and acceptance. All people are broken, struggling, hurting, and in need of hope and a savior. The worst thing we can do is generalize someone off of the pigment of their skin, but racism goes both ways.

Don’t generalize me because I’m white. I promise that I’m not going to generalize you.

I’m not writing this to poke anyone in the eye and tell them that I’m not sorry, and I don’t care. I’m not sorry for the circumstances that life gave me. However, I do care for those around me who are less fortunate or who are simply walking different paths than me because of various circumstances that were out of their control. We, as a nation, need to create a genuine dialogue about the problems that are hurting us if we ever want to succeed in uniting this nation ever again. You cannot convince people to lean towards your end of the political spectrum by spewing hate towards them due to their so-called “intolerance”. You may think that many beliefs of the conservatives are hate fueled and if you do, I encourage you to sit down and talk to a politically engaged conservative sometime soon. Meet us in the middle so we can see your worldview and you can see ours. I'm not asking you to change your opinion, I'm encouraging you to change your perspective.The many times that I’ve sat down and talked with people who thought completely different than me have been the times that I’ve realized that love isn’t political. We can love people despite our disagreements. I encourage you to show some love to someone different than you this week.