Rapper Lecrae & Pastor Louie Giglio Apologize For ‘White Blessing’ Remarks

Rapper Lecrae & Pastor Louie Giglio Apologize For ‘White Blessing’ Remarks

Christian rapper Lecrae was the subject of overwhelming social media backlash after footage went viral of a discussion he had about racial tensions. Lecrae sat down with Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy and Pastor Louie Giglio. The controversial clip went viral due to what fans perceived as Lecrae agreeing with the following quote from Pastor Giglio:

“We understand the curse that was slavery, white people do. And we say that was bad. But we miss the blessing of slavery – that it actually built up the framework for the world that white people live in and lived in. And so a lot of people call this white privilege and when you say those two words it just is like a fuse goes off for a lot of white people because they don’t want somebody telling them to check their privilege…I know that you and I both have struggled in these days with ‘hey if the phrase is the trip up let’s get over the phrase and let’s get down to the heart. Let’s get down to what then do you want to call it’ and I think maybe a great thing for me is to call it white blessing. That I’m living in the blessing of the curse that happened generationally that allowed me to grow up in Atlanta.”

Pastor Louie Giglio, rapper Lecrae and Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy "had an honest conversation about race and the Church" on June 14.

Here's an example of why words and their meanings matter.

"White Privilege" vs. "White Blessings" pic.twitter.com/VkSP6RP0t1

— Nicola A. Menzie (@namenzie) June 16, 2020

Lecrae received backlash after he appeared to agree with the statements.

He recently addressed fans and followers on Instagram with this apology:

“First of all, let me say this: thank y’all…I know this is rough. We’re talking about 345-400 years of slavery and then 89 years of Jim Crow, and we’re battling still in 2020. So I appreciate y’all acknowledging the pain and frustration of what was said. It’s helped me process a lot, as well. First of all, I want you to know that I wasn’t okay with it. Even as I sat there, I was very uncomfortable and I was processing, ‘Oh man! What do I say in light of this?’ It’s been a lot of times where as I’ve navigated white supremacy or racial injustice where…I wanted to lash out in anger…”

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CBgSxtulluL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

He continued:

“I ended up having a conversation with him subsequently right after we talked, and then I talked to him again last night and let him know my views and my perspectives. Obviously, I wasn’t okay with it. And we can’t…just be doing this because it’s the in thing to do to talk about race on platforms. I didn’t have any ulterior motives other than to help and articulate some of what’s been going on in our world and in our culture…obviously, I’m not okay with changing white privilege to white blessing. That’s another privilege in itself…we talked about it, and we gon’ continue working through it.”

Lecrae even posted these tweets.

Pastor Louie Giglio also issued his own apology:

“I just wanted to come directly to you today and sincerely apologize for the use of the phrase on Sunday – ‘white blessing.’ And I extend that apology today to every single person who is listening to me right now, but most importantly I extend that apology to my Black brothers and sisters. I, like so many, am so hurt about what is happening in our nation right now. And I’m heartbroken about where we are as a nation. One of the things I’m most heartbroken about is trying to help myself continue to learn, to help my white brothers and sisters understand that white privilege is real. And in trying to get that sentiment across on Sunday, I sued the phrase, ‘white blessing,’ for which I’m deeply sorry. [It was a] horrible choice of words. It does not reflect my heart at all. I don’t – to be clear – believe there’s any blessing in slavery…”

Pastor Louie Giglio, who made headlines for using term “white blessings” instead of “white privilege”, while speaking w Lecrae, has apologized. pic.twitter.com/WFgZ1bv7m2

— theJasmineBRAND (@thejasminebrand) June 17, 2020

Are Lecrae’s and Pastor Giglio’s apologies enough? Let us know what you think in the comments.