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rp @christenacleveland: Indeed, conversations about racial inequality are often engineered to avoid making white people feel guilty.

 

Inequality exists because guilty people have produced societal systems that accommodate some people and alienate others. And inequality exists because guilty people continue to benefit from these unjust societal systems. All privileged people participate in our unequal societal structure – some perpetuate it knowingly, some perpetuate it unknowingly, and others resist it as revolutionaries. All who have ever perpetuated it knowingly or unknowingly are guilty. For them, experiencing guilt is a crucial part of the justice journey. The trick is to *use guilt* rather than be *used by shame.* This is difficult because we often confuse guilt and shame. Both are moral emotions that involve feeling bad. But guilt is constructive; it focuses on an act or action that is wrong. Guilt says, "I did something wrong." On the contrary, shame is destructive; rather than focusing on an isolated act, it spreads to the whole person. "Shame says, "I am wrong." Shame makes us want to walk away from our truest selves, the divine and community. Shame makes us want to avoid the truth. Guilt is underrated. Engaging it, meditating on it, confessing it, and repenting of it can be immensely helpful in conversations about inequality and reconciliation work. Guilt should be a centerpiece of the conversation, rather than something to be avoided. How do you use guilt in your practice of justice? Do you try not to use it?

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