They should. It’s the only decent thing to do.
Because Lecrae just made Paige Patterson his bitch.
In case you haven’t heard, there was a horrific racist incident a few days ago at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. It’s one of the big Southern Baptist Convention seminaries, and Paige Patterson, a former president of the SBC, now heads up the seminary. The other day, several professors at the seminary posed for the photo above this article. The text spells Notorious S.O.P (which stands for School of Preaching, a seminary department), which is a reference to a famous obscene rapper, the late Notorious B.I.G. The professors did it as a tribute to a fellow professor at the seminary, who, unfortunately, raps in his spare time and is now leaving the school to become a pastor. This pic was a going-away present for him.
Well, no sooner had one of the professors in the pic posted it on Twitter last Tuesday than blacks and white evangelical freaks started calling it “racist”, and talking about how outrageous it is that such a monstrously hate-filled thing could happen in the current year, and at an evangelical seminary of all places. Then one of the professors in the pic apologized, saying there was no excuse for their wicked behavior. The professor who tweeted the original pic took it down at the request of school officials.
By Thursday, Jemar Tisby, the big wig at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson who says black people aren’t safe in white churches, had cranked out an article denouncing the professors and gotten it published in the Washington Post-Op. Tisby claims to be a Reformed Christian minister, but is actually preaching another gospel, the Critical Race Gospel, and so when he denounced the professors, and explained why what they did was so wicked, he didn’t even attempt to base his arguments on the Word of God. He condemned the men based on Critical Race Theology, which essentially posits that anything that white people do is always a wicked sin. See for yourself:
What’s wrong with the photo?
Whatever their intentions, the photo is problematic for at least three main reasons. First, as a comparison, consider why blackface is so offensive. Starting in the early 19th century, white actors would apply black makeup to their faces and exaggerate their lips in a caricature of African American looks. Then they performed racist tropes on stage for laughs. Blackface denigrates people of African descent. It says that skin color can make someone intellectually and culturally inferior, so it’s not a problem to imitate their appearance for the sake of amusement.
In a similar way, putting on clothes typically associated with racial and ethnic minorities communicates that a person’s culture has value only as entertainment. That’s why you can’t dismiss this photo as “just a joke.” It harks back to a history of dehumanization.
Another problem with the picture includes how it appears the photo was carefully staged. Consider what probably happened before a camera even came out. These men took time to pick out certain clothes and put them on. They found a place with suitable background and lighting to take a picture. They chose poses. One of them even grabbed a gun. Then someone posted it on social media. This picture wasn’t randomly snapped in moment of poor judgment. These seminary professors had ample opportunity to consider potential offense. At no point in this elaborate set up did anyone veto the idea.
But the biggest problem doesn’t show up in the picture. The presence of any person of color would have reduced the chances of this photo ever happening. But a photo like this evolves in an environment that lacks meaningful interaction with people from other cultures, especially on the leadership level. The seminary’s website appears to picture all white men in an administration and an entire preaching faculty. Even if a school has diversity in the student body, if the decision-makers all come from a similar racial and cultural background, then they will remain oblivious to their own racial blind spots.
When a real Christian minister denounces an action, he does so by showing how the action is in violation of one of God’s commandments. But not Tisby – he just comes up with all these rules and says white Christians have to obey them. Why? Because he’s black, and we’re white. In Critical Race Theology, people aren’t divided into believers and unbelievers based on their faith in and obedience to Christ, or lack thereof. No, in Critical Race Theology, what matters isn’t loving Jesus Christ and obeying Him, but race. Faith isn’t critical; race is. So the unbelievers are the “oppressors” (whites) and believers are the “oppressed” (non-whites). And sin isn’t a violation of God’s commandments; sin is simply anything that any “oppressor” does that any “oppressed” person doesn’t like. So, because Jemar Tisby doesn’t like what those white professors did, they were wrong to do it.
Now, as a Christian, I defy anyone to explain to me how that picture is in any way wrong or sinful. The professors weren’t making fun of blacks, and even if they were, it’s not a sin to laugh at people of other races. They did seem to be making fun of gangster rappers, and guess what – not only is is not a sin to make fun of idiots who glamorize violence and murder and call women bitches and hos, Christians should be mocking such people. Maybe if more people pointed out how ridiculous those imbeciles look, they’d be ashamed of themselves and knock it off. But these days, white evangelicals thinks it’s hateful and racist to not show respect to gangbangers, whether real or wannabe.
In fact, that’s the real reason everyone is so upset about it. When white people do this sort of thing, they look ridiculous, and everyone knows it. Why? Because white people are civilized, and shouldn’t act like stupid thugs, and when they do, they look retarded. But nobody says a word when blacks do it, because hardly any one thinks it’s right to expect blacks to behave like civilized white people.
These men shouldn’t have apologized or taken the photo down. They should’ve told all the blacks and white evangelical SJW’ to go jump in a lake. But they probably would’ve been fired if they had, because the president of the seminary, Paige Patterson, wrote a disgustingly craven apology, sobbing about how “tragic” the photo was, and that, no matter how far we think we’ve come, we evil white folks are still filled with hatred for blacks and other non-whites and so we need to be constantly reminded of just how evil and hate-filled we are.
“But, as all members of the preaching faculty have acknowledged, this was a mistake, and one for which we deeply apologize,” Patterson said. “Sometimes, Anglo Americans do not recognize the degree that racism has crept into our lives. Such incidents are tragic but helpful to me in refocusing on the attempt to flush from my own system any remaining nuances of the racist past of our own country. Just as important, my own sensitivity to the corporate and individual hurts of a people group abused by generations of oppressors needs to be constantly challenged.”
Then one of the professors in the photo tweeted something apologetic. It’s not clear exactly what he tweeted, because he has since made his account private, but he must’ve said something to the effect that his stance on the wickedness of “racism” has always been clear. In response, “Reformed” rapper Lecrae replied:
"Stance as clear as mine." Said Stance thought the picture was worth creating and sharing? How do you all plan to grow from this?
— Lecrae (@lecrae) April 25, 2017
Then, under the official seminary Twitter account, and no doubt with Paige Patterson’s blessing, someone groveled to Lecrae, “would you be willing to lead a dialogue on growth for our community?”
would you be willing to lead a dialogue on growth for our community?
— Southwestern Seminary (@SWBTS) April 25, 2017
But Lecrae wasn’t about to come to the rescue of a bunch of old racists. He told them he wasn’t interested, but recommended a bunch of Critical Race Theology proponents who might be willing to humiliate and abuse them, including Jemar Tisby, and two of the women from the infamous Gender Apartheid Truth’s Table podcast, Michelle Higgins and Ekemini Uwan.
There are many more qualified and perhaps willing. @bj116 @sista_theology @redrev @RAANetwork @JemarTisby @Burns23 @pastoremase @AfroRising
— Lecrae (@lecrae) April 25, 2017
And, just in case Paige Patterson hadn’t been able to quite make out Lecrae’s two upraised middle fingers, the next day Lecrae tweeted:
If you can spend years & thousands of dollars on a colonized education, don't ask people of color for cliff notes on culture.
— Lecrae (@lecrae) April 27, 2017
Word.
Paige Patterson and his racist professors messed with the wrong black man.
Lecrae knows what time it is.
He woke.
He says, “God is dope.”
He’s a Reformed rapper, regularly praised by Christian leaders like John Piper and Doug Wilson. He expresses his deep Christian faith through his music, and is profoundly concerned with subjects like sin and holiness, which is why he was so righteously angry about that picture.
Or so we’re told.
But let’s take a closer look.
Here’s the tweet that Lecrae has “pinned”, so that it always appears at the very top of his page.
#Blessings video is out now ft. my bro @tydollasign… Love the song, the video, and what it means for the culture! https://t.co/zfhIbiWhdZ pic.twitter.com/FBloWLxUac
— Lecrae (@lecrae) March 22, 2017
It’s promoting his latest single and video. It’s called Blessings, and Lecrae invited someone with the stupid name of Ty Dolla $ign to rap with him in the song and appear on the video. Because Lecrae regards Ty Dolla $ign as his brother, or “bro.” And when you see the lyrics and videos of Ty Dolla $ign’s music, you can see why Lecrae calls him “bro.” Here are some of the lyrics to one of Ty Dolla $ign’s best-known songs, When I See Ya:
Dolla $ign, Dolla
Ohhh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ohhh ohhh
I got more money than your nigga do
Girl you ain’t worry bout it
We be still f**kin’ around and I got a bitch too
You ain’t worry ’bout it
Ohh ohh ohh, we ain’t worry bout it
Yeah, cause we gon’ f*ck when I see ya (girl we gone f*ck )
All we do is f*ck when I see ya
Girl we gon’ f*ck when I see ya (girl we gone f*ck )
All we do is f*ck when I see ya
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Isn’t that spiritual? Not a trace of racism in those lyrics. You can see why Lecrae calls him bro, and wanted Dolla right beside him on a song called Blessings.
Here are some more lyrics, from Blase:
Blasé, blasé, blasé, all I drink is Bombay
When I’m with my niggas, I might drink that Henny
Smoking kush in public, motherf*ck the police
I ain’t scared to die, on them dead homies
Hit them licks, wh-whipping the bricks
Still with the sh*t, I’m young and I’m rich, young and I’m rich
I got hoes, nigga, I got hoes in different area codes
I think I’m Nate Dogg
I started from the ground, I’m that nigga now
I stay with the loud, can you hear me now?
And my bitch cold, she a centerfold
Put her on a stand, and she never told
Talk about spiritual – I can see John Piper, Russell Moore, and Al Mohler singing right along with “motherf*ck the police.” Because Black Lives Matter. And “God is dope.”
And here are some more Ty Dolla $ign lyrics, where he’s not the main vocalist, but “featured”, on a Jason Derulo song called Swalla. I’ll give you three guesses what Swalla is about. Here’s a hint – the whores in the video are doing a lot of stuff like licking suckers and ice cream bars. And Ty Dolla $ign is listed as one of the co-authors of the lyrics:
Shimmy shimmy shimmy yay, shimmy yah
Bad girls gon’ swalla-la-la
Bust down on my wrist in this bitch
My pinky-ring bigger than his
Met her out in Beverly Hills, ay
Dolla got too many girls, ay
Met her out in Beverly Hills
All she wear is red bottom heels
When she back it up, put it on the Snap
When she droppin’ low, put it on the ‘Gram
DJ poppin’, she gon’ swallow that
Champagne poppin’, she gon’ swallow thatAll you girls in here, if you’re feeling thirsty
Come on take a sip ’cause you know what I’m servin’, ooh
Here’s the video of this performance by Lecrae’s “bro” (Ty Dolla $ign’s part starts around 1:18).
That’s the man Lecrae calls his brother.
While he treats Christian professors at Southwestern Seminary like pariahs.
If you’re a white man who loves Jesus, but put on a gold necklace and wear your hat sideways one time, Lecrae will denounce you and demand to know how you plan to “grow from this.” And then refuse to talk to you.
But if you’re black, and you make lots of money by poisoning the culture and degrading women by writing, singing, and appearing in numerous songs and videos that are virtually pornographic, and are nothing but celebrations of animalistic urges and hatred of police, Lecrae will call you “bro”, and invite you to appear in his video.
You know, because Lecrae loves Jesus.
And this is the man to whom Paige Patterson groveled and apologized, and whom the seminary begged to “lead a dialogue on growth for our community.”
How utterly disgusting. There was nothing at all offensive about the photo, let alone “tragic”, and Patterson should’ve said so plainly and unequivocally. To order the photo taken down, apologize for it, and then compound his cowardice by groveling to a man who regards the vile Ty Dolla $ign as his brother was reprehensible.
Paige Patterson has disgraced himself, and disgraced Southwestern Baptist Seminary. He should be fired for his utter betrayal of Christ and the church this past week.
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