While Chic-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy and Atlanta megachurch pastor Louie Giglio's remarks are controversial enough, people are more critical of the Christian rapper's submissive response during the conversation.
- Jun 17, 2020
AceShowbiz - Lecrae got some flak after he was seen having an on-camera conversation about slavery with Chic-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy and Atlanta megachurch pastor Louie Giglio. In viral video of the sit-down, Giglio appeared to try to downplay the concept of white privilege but the long-term effects of slavery, calling it a "white blessing."
"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," Giglio shared. "And so a lot of people call this 'white privilege' and when you say those two words it's like a fuse goes off for a lot of white people because they don't want somebody telling them to check their privilege."
Talking to Lecrae, Giglio added, "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."
While the remarks were controversial enough, people were more critical of Lecrae's submissive response. "I'm off Twitter today but I want to address folks in my mentions about my exchange last night with @Lecrae. Folks are asking if I watched the entire video. I did. Lecrae does not pushback on the notion of 'white blessing'. He actually begins to use it interchangeably afterwards," a Twitter user criticized the Christian rapper.
"Lecrae is just the latest example of the type of black 'leaders' that are put in spaces that they shouldn't be in that Malcolm X spoke on over 55 years ago. He was put there because 'they' knew he wouldn't be call them out for their 'White Blessing'," someone else added.
In response to the backlash, Lecrae took to his Instagram account to explain himself in a video. "First of all, I want you to know I wasn't OK with it. Even as I sat there, I was very uncomfortable and I was processing on, like, 'Oh man, how do I -- 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 been trying to figure out where I wanted to lash out, honestly, in anger," he said.
"I ended up having a conversation with him subsequently. You know, right after we talked and then I talked to again last night and let him know my views and my perspectives. Obviously, I wasn't OK with it. And we can't just be virtual signaling and just doing this because it's the 'in' thing to do to talk about race on platforms. And I didn't have any ulterior motives, other than to help and articulate some of what's going on in our world," he continued.
