E48 - Black Privilege Part 1 of 2 - Guest Pastor Roy Niedfeldt

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praise God for the black grandparents

and their parents and the generations

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of black people who've passed down

very specifically their faith in God.

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I can't tell you how many kids

I talked to and they're like,

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Oh, my grandma's a minister.

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My grandpa's in the church.

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my uncle's a deacon.

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And so, there's just this godly heritage.

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Almost every African American

grandma I know is usually a

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sweet old lady who loves Jesus.

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Now I'm not saying all of

them, but the majority.

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And in white society,

that's just not true.

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So there's this great heritage

that Black people have

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preserved and have passed down.

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If white people have passed down

economics, Black people have passed down

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spirituality, and that's something to

be proud of, something to celebrate,

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and really gives them an advantage.

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If white people have passed down

economics, Black people have passed down

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spirituality, and that's an advantage.

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Hello, everyone, and welcome

to a prisoner's pardon podcast

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with me, your host Michi J.

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Today, we're going to be talking

about an interesting subject.

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And it's called black privilege.

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I know it almost sounds like

an oxymoron, but my guest

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today doesn't seem to think so.

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My guest is Roy Neafelt.

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He is a pastor, a white pastor,

actually, who lives in a predominantly.

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Black area.

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And he has some interesting ideas

about black privilege that I had the

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pleasure of talking to him about briefly.

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I wanted you to hear it.

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So I invited him on the show.

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Welcome Pastor Niefeld.

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How you doing today?

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I'm doing good.

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Thank you so much for having me.

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Okay, great.

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Great.

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Thank you for coming.

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Like I just told our audience,

we want to talk about, I believe

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it was the article you did.

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It was called black privilege.

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And, , first off introduce

yourself a little bit more.

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I know it's a lot more to you and I

want my audience to know who you are.

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Okay.

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So my name is Pastor Roy and,

um, I, I live here in Milwaukee.

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I was born and raised on the South side

of Milwaukee on a little suburb that

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most people will know called Cudahy.

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And, um, Didn't have a lot of

familiarity with the black community.

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, but you know, definitely had friends

and stuff of different colors and

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different races and all kinds of stuff.

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But we moved to me and my wife moved to

the meadows as it's known for most people.

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And, uh, currently actually called

the woodlands, which is 91st and Brown

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deer, roughly about 10 years ago.

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And, um, it really, you know, has been

an experience to, um, Live in the all

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black culture as a white pastor and

get to know my neighbors and, uh, get

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to love people and know people and

serve the people of the neighborhood.

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, we started a church out there.

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That church is currently not going.

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We actually currently

attend Evolve Church.

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Shout out to Evolve.

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Woo woo!

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Awesome church in

Milwaukee on 76th and Mill.

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And we're in between being active pastors.

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We've actually been pastoring on Tetonia

as well, at another great church, and had

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recently resigned there, and are looking

at possibly doing a church plant, or

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getting involved maybe with Evolve More.

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We'll have to see what God has.

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So, we've had some very

unique experiences.

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I've ran a charity for ex

felons for several years.

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And, um, I'm just a super involved

individual, so I like to get involved

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and help wherever I can, which has

sometimes put me in some crazy good and

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sometimes some crazy bad situations,

but it's been a learning experience

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and I'm open to learning more.

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Wow.

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Okay.

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Wow.

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I applaud you for that, for

your, you and your wife moving.

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, a very, , area that can be, you know, kind

of really struggling challenging area.

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I know last year we had, I think the most

homicides of any block in Milwaukee or

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probably Chicago per capita, I believe.

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Uh, technically, I think a few of

them were off the block by just a

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couple feet, 50 feet or 100 feet,

depending on how you measure.

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Um, but last, last year, I know we had

like eight homicides on our city block.

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It was a, it was a rough year, but this

year so far zero that I know of at least.

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Oh, okay.

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It's a, it's a, it's a crazy area.

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Oh yeah.

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I know.

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I've heard of it.

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So tell us about why, why did, why did you

write this article and tell us about that?

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Yeah, so this article, um, this happened

right after the killing of George

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Floyd, and, um, I wanted to be part of a

solution, and I, and you know, everybody,

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um, everybody was trying to do something.

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I don't want to say everybody, but a

vast majority of people wanted to do

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something, and there were a lot of, uh,

thoughts, a lot of ideas on reform, on

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what exactly went wrong, what exactly,

you know, should change, and how it

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should change, and, I didn't want to say

something stupid, for lack of a better

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word, so I, I just prayed for a while,

like a few days, and listened to different

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neighbors and different friends of mine,

saying, you know, what do you think about

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this, you know, what do you, what do you

think should change, you know, what do

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you think caused this exactly, and, and

led up to these circumstances, and so

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on and so forth, and I will say it was

fascinating to me that I heard opinions

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in the black community from one end of

the spectrum all the way to the other.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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And as I was praying about it, I

really felt like God, God spoke to

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me, uh, a few days into that and said

some things very, very clearly to me.

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The first thing he said was I needed

to be extraordinarily sensitive.

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And, uh, there was just, he said, you,

you, you have to know that there's

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an, uh, like basically my people that

this group of people, um, with it,

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you know, God loves everyone the same.

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Let me just.

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say that first.

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I don't believe God

distinguishes us by color.

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But to say that humans haven't and

don't, um, often do it, it would just

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be a pure factual lie on its face.

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And so I just felt like God spoke

to me and said, you need to be

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incredibly sensitive towards

the African American community.

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They've been through a lot of pain.

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You know, and and I just really

felt it as he told it to me, like

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the sense of like God's compassion.

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And so I felt like I would, I

shouldn't be quick to speak.

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I shouldn't be quick to, um, you

know, quick to just say, well,

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maybe this or maybe that would help.

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Um, and then he told me

something that I just.

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Never would have thought of and I

thought, Lord, are you sure, are you

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sure you want me to say these words

because there were definitely some

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slogans, you know, that came out and

just kind of like some statements.

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Obviously, Black Lives Matter came out as

a group, but it also came out as a slogan

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and there were other slogans that came out

of it and one of them was white privilege.

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And I mean, that had been around for

a while, but people were using that

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that term a lot more just to refer

to the fact that white people had

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had privilege in this country and.

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In reference, obviously, they

were implying that black people

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did not have that same privilege.

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And so I felt like the

Lord just spoke to me.

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He said, I want you to write an

article called black privilege.

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And I thought, Oh man, my

wife is going to be so mad.

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This is going to make people mad at me.

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I thought, Oh Jesus, are you sure?

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And I prayed about it

again and I really felt it.

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And Uh, it definitely made a few mad,

but I would, I would say that probably

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95 to 98 percent of African American

people responded very positively to

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it, and, um, I am, I'm very glad that

I wrote the article, um, and I'd be

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glad to, to tell you all about it.

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Okay, great.

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I want to copy if you

still have it as well.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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It's on my Facebook page and I will,

I'll go back, copy it and send it to you.

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If you want, I can break down the

whole contents now, or if you want to.

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Oh, yeah.

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Oh, for sure.

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Go ahead.

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So black privilege is a very just

simple idea, but it's not an idea.

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I really felt this came from the Lord.

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This isn't something that I thought of.

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This isn't something that I got

from interviewing people or asking

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questions or, you know, gathering

data or anything like that.

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Um, It's, I really feel God always wants

to point out the good in people and in

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society, and God is not bypassing or not

acknowledging the pain and the difficulty

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that there is in many black communities,

and that historically that black

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people have gone through in many ways.

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Um, but he was pointing out to me instead

of saying, Hey, let's, he wanted society

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instead of saying, Hey, you know, white

people have better economics here.

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Which is true overall, you

know, and again, it differs

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from individual to individual.

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Of course, nobody's going to say an NBA

player has, you know, bad economics,

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but overall, there's a lot of African

American people who don't have as

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good economics as white people and.

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A lot of people just look at that and they

just get angry and they get frustrated.

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And, and a lot of times people talk

to me about that and they're just, you

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know, you white people, are you this,

are you that, or, or white people.

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Sometimes they don't include me

'cause I'm their friend and they

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just kind of, you know, white

people have it easier and better.

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Mm-hmm.

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and in many ways economically

that's true and has been true.

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And, and hopefully that will improve, but

there's a much more important aspect of

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one's life that people are missing out

on when, when they look at it that way.

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And that is spirituality.

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In the end, all that's really going to

matter is, is where we go when we die.

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You know, every, everyone's going to die.

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So people who believe in religion,

people who specifically believe

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in Christianity, um, you know, we

believe we're either going to go to

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heaven or we're going to go to hell.

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And so in the end, nobody's going

to care if you're a billionaire on

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earth, or if you lived in a tin shack.

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It's going to matter what reward do you

have in heaven and where did you go?

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And what God told me is that Black people

have a great privilege that they're not

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Realizing now that doesn't again mean

all of them aren't realizing it, but the

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majority and in America, black people

have this great spiritual heritage.

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I am not going to pretend to know

exactly how it all came about, but my.

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The little bit I know, and, and

people can correct me and, and educate

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me on this a little more if I'm

wrong, is I think slavery had, um,

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obviously it was a negative thing.

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But when, when things go

negative, people cry out to God.

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And so in the history books, in

movies, if they're accurate, which

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I know a lot aren't, um, you see a

lot of people reaching out to God.

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You hear of godly people like

Harriet Tubman, and you hear of

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godly other people who rose up.

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within the difficulty of it.

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And a lot of African Americans

turned for the Lord strongly.

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I mean, you have the, the spirituals,

which I believe is the proper name

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for a lot of the songs that came out

of the, that era and African American

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people have held onto that through all

their struggles, through the sixties,

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through all the civil rights movement.

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Martin Luther King was

obviously a minister.

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And so if you go in the black society

and you drive up and down the streets

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where it's predominantly black Here's

what you're going to see church church

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church church church If you talk to uh

african american kids, which I do all

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the time as well as adults I remember

I was speaking to one specific group I

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said how many of you believe in god and

one kid looked at me and he said pastor.

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Are you stupid?

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He said everybody believes in god And

I thought, how sad, because he didn't

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realize that there's this huge society

in America, which is primarily the white

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society, which is shifting away from God.

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They're primarily becoming

atheistic, they're becoming

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agnostic, they're becoming just the

belief in some other type of God.

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The white population in America

is not a very godly population.

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Maybe they used to be, you

know, 70, 80, 90 years ago.

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But they have shifted away.

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Where African Americans have

this society that still has

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just hundreds more churches.

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They have the biggest, um, um, Pentecostal

denomination, the church of God in Christ,

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and is primarily all African American.

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So there's just this godly heritage.

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Almost every African American

grandma I know is usually a

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sweet old lady who loves Jesus.

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Now I'm not saying all of

them, but the majority.

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And in white society,

that's just not true.

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So there's this great heritage

that Black people have

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preserved and have passed down.

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If white people have passed down

economics, Black people have passed down

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spirituality, and that's something to

be proud of, something to celebrate,

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and really gives them an advantage.

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And I think that's the premier, um,

Aspect that's looked at when black

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people say, you know, there's white

privilege and they're frustrated and

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they're angry and they're disappointed.

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They're saying, listen, I don't

have, I don't have the honor.

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I don't have the advantage.

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I'm at a disadvantage.

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But you know what, you're also growing

up at an advantage of spirituality,

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that majority of black people have

Christianity in their homes and

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have a faith in God to some degree.

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Wow, that is like, I believe that's

incredibly insightful, and it definitely

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had to come from God for sure.

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And, , I think you're right on target

with that because that is what I've been

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seeing as well, , that, , for a spiritual

ality and having an openness to, , the

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spirit of God, it's, it's easier.

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We seem to grasp it.

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Easier, I should say, and I didn't

know, um, you know, pinpoint exactly

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why until you just mentioned about when

people are getting persecuted and broken

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down, they get to cry out to the Lord.

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They have no choice in a get

to have a relationship with

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him, which becomes very rich.

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Well, and praise, praise God for the black

grandparents and their parents and the

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generations of black people who've passed

down very specifically their faith in God.

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You know, I can't tell you how

many kids I talked to and they're

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like, Oh, my grandma's a minister.

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My grandpa's in the church.

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My, my uncle's a deacon.

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And so, you know.

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People have to take pride in what's

important in life and make sure

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they pass it down to their kids.

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And just being brutally honest,

the white society has not done

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that at this point in America.

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I'm terrified for white society.

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When I try to go to a suburb and I'm...

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trying to witness.

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And if I'm in a grocery store, wherever

I am, and I'm trying to tell some

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white person about Jesus, usually their

response is extraordinarily negative.

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They're like, leave me alone

with that BS or mother blinker.

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Get away from me.

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I mean, I get incredibly

hostile responses regularly.

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And I could walk up to anywhere from a

wealthy, uh, elite dressed businessman

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in the African American, uh, community to

a gangster who's got his pistol with an

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extended mag tucked out of his pants and

his grill on and say, Hey, what up, man?

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Can I talk to you about Jesus?

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Almost every time the response is

going to be yes and and a lot of times

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people say everybody needs a prayer

And I think there's just there is large

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differences, you know, um between the

black in In certain areas where it's

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predominantly all african american

or black or in certain areas So it's

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predominantly all white or caucasian.

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I think that's where you would notice

the biggest differences and Again,

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there's certainly neighborhoods that

are a little bit mixed and I think,

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you know, then cultures begin to

blend, which is, which is a healthy

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thing as long as we're blending the

positive things of both culture.

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And I just think this is a positive thing.

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Matter of fact, you know, it might be hard

to always feel that way, like, certainly,

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and it can be super stressful and you

don't have the money to pay your bills or.

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You're struggling with, you know,

economics at any factor of your life.

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But in the end, this is actually

the more important of the two.

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And I think that's what God was really

highlighting to me as well, is if I could

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pick one or the other as a human being,

you'd actually rather be in the one.

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group than the other if you had an

advantage of spirituality, because

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in the end that will lead to the

better, you could even say that

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would lead to the better economics,

because in heaven, that's the reward

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that will last, you know, that's the

streets of gold and the house that

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has been prepared for you by Jesus.

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So, , there is an advantage

in being African American.

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You know, is there some disadvantages?

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Absolutely.

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And should those be changed?

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: 00:16:14

Absolutely.

305

: 00:16:17

That's like I said, that's incredibly

insightful and yeah, these eternal

306

: 00:16:22

things are way more important than

what's actually passing like seasonal.

307

: 00:16:26

I should say.

308

: 00:16:27

And, , so you said you had a 95 percent

approval with the article in, um, dealing

309

: 00:16:37

with the African American community.

310

: 00:16:38

Community, the black American community.

311

: 00:16:41

I mean, whenever living, living in

all African American neighborhood,

312

: 00:16:45

the last 10 years has been eye

opening because sometimes I'm

313

: 00:16:49

a little quick with my mouth.

314

: 00:16:50

I like to talk and sometimes I have

to apologize because I, you know,

315

: 00:16:54

say something real fast or I don't

let somebody finish talking or.

316

: 00:16:58

You know, whatever.

317

: 00:17:00

So I was nervous about writing this

article just because living in an African

318

: 00:17:04

American community, you know, there's been

a few times I've offended people and, um,

319

: 00:17:09

I just thought, man, I do not want to be

offensive during such a sensitive time

320

: 00:17:14

that I had nothing to do with, you know,

I just kind of wanted to make sure that

321

: 00:17:18

I accidentally didn't offend anybody.

322

: 00:17:21

And, um, I was nervous.

323

: 00:17:23

I was, I was actually very nervous.

324

: 00:17:25

And I told my wife, she was like, Oh,

no, are you sure, you know, like, this

325

: 00:17:29

is not the article for you to write.

326

: 00:17:31

And if I remember it, I think I even got

a call from three separate pastors, all

327

: 00:17:36

African American pastor friends of mine.

328

: 00:17:38

And I think they were like,

Bro, what are you doing?

329

: 00:17:41

Like, are you serious?

330

: 00:17:42

Did you really just write that?

331

: 00:17:44

And I just told them

very point, pointedly.

332

: 00:17:47

I just said, listen, like,

I know I heard from God.

333

: 00:17:50

So regardless of whether people

approve or disapprove, this is a

334

: 00:17:53

message he's trying to get out.

335

: 00:17:55

And if people don't believe it,

that's, that's up for them to decide.

336

: 00:17:58

They think I'm trying to get out

my own opinion or they somehow

337

: 00:18:01

think I came up with this.

338

: 00:18:02

That's, that's for them to decide, but

it's not, it's something that he told me.

339

: 00:18:06

Um, and it's something that he

told me he wanted me to write.

340

: 00:18:09

Um, So when I put it out there, I,

I think I actually boosted it just

341

: 00:18:13

because my Facebook isn't super popular.

342

: 00:18:15

I don't, I don't post that often.

343

: 00:18:17

And I thought, Lord, if you really want to

get this out there, I'm going to boost it.

344

: 00:18:20

I'm going to, I'm going to add to this.

345

: 00:18:22

And I want to, I want to get this article

hopefully copied and shared and get people

346

: 00:18:26

to, to take this concept and really.

347

: 00:18:29

Feel something positive from

God and and focus on what God

348

: 00:18:32

is saying about their community.

349

: 00:18:34

So So yeah, I got I had a lot of

responses and I would say 95 percent

350

: 00:18:39

of it was positive again You get a lot

of african american Older people saying

351

: 00:18:44

amen brother and you know, you're right.

352

: 00:18:47

We do have something positive and quite

a few people who just said And again,

353

: 00:18:51

I don't want to, it was a while ago,

it was during the George Floyd time,

354

: 00:18:54

and so, um, I don't remember every

comment, but I believe a lot of them are

355

: 00:18:57

just saying, hey, this is eye opening,

or I never quite saw it that way,

356

: 00:19:01

or I never quite framed it that way.

357

: 00:19:03

And so there was a, there

was a very positive response.

358

: 00:19:06

There was a few people who just said,

sure, coming from a white past, or

359

: 00:19:09

how would you know, or, or whatever.

360

: 00:19:12

And, um, you know, I just kind of

ignored those comments and just thought,

361

: 00:19:15

you know, I wouldn't know necessarily,

but, but God knows, you know, God knows

362

: 00:19:20

everybody and he knows all things.

363

: 00:19:21

So, all right, so the

article left it at that.

364

: 00:19:25

Yeah, so my question is with

the negative feedback were they.

365

: 00:19:36

Were they God believers

or were they atheists?

366

: 00:19:39

Um, I'm just wanting to know

if you know, if you remember

367

: 00:19:42

that, or if you even know that.

368

: 00:19:44

Yeah, I think, um, I don't remember

if they specifically referenced

369

: 00:19:49

whether they were or weren't, but

I, I do know, like, just, you know,

370

: 00:19:55

I guess just living and talking.

371

: 00:19:57

I love the jibber jabber and I think I

know every 1 of my neighbors fairly well.

372

: 00:20:02

And, um.

373

: 00:20:03

Yeah.

374

: 00:20:05

I'm guessing some of them

were and some of them weren't.

375

: 00:20:07

I mean, I think, again, I think 90 percent

of African American people that I know are

376

: 00:20:12

in some way affiliated with Christianity.

377

: 00:20:15

It doesn't mean they

attend church regularly.

378

: 00:20:17

Um, it doesn't mean they

read the Bible every day.

379

: 00:20:20

Um, but a lot of them just have

an affiliation where if you

380

: 00:20:24

said, hey, what's your religion?

381

: 00:20:26

They said, well, of course, I believe

in Jesus, not realizing that Jesus is.

382

: 00:20:30

Not the only world religion,

you know, almost as if that's,

383

: 00:20:33

it's either Jesus or not.

384

: 00:20:35

And majority of people do believe

in Jesus in the African American

385

: 00:20:39

community and have, again,

some history with Christianity.

386

: 00:20:43

Maybe, again, maybe they're

active, maybe they're not.

387

: 00:20:45

So, I think there, there definitely,

let me just put this, I think there

388

: 00:20:48

definitely is a good 4, 5, 6%, maybe 10%.

389

: 00:20:52

I don't know, I don't know exactly,

again, what the numbers are.

390

: 00:20:55

Um, but there are people within

the church even who are offended.

391

: 00:20:59

I mean, I got a call from three

different pastors, so, in minutes

392

: 00:21:03

of posting, saying, please, one of

them said, please take this down.

393

: 00:21:07

You are not the person.

394

: 00:21:09

And I just said, listen,

I, this was not my idea.

395

: 00:21:12

This was not something I wanted to write.

396

: 00:21:14

Um.

397

: 00:21:15

This is just something that God told

me, so I'm gonna post it, you know,

398

: 00:21:19

and, and I just said, respectively,

this is my Facebook page, and if people,

399

: 00:21:24

you know, give me a hard time and

hate me, I'm willing to swallow that.

400

: 00:21:27

I'm willing to take that.

401

: 00:21:28

So...

402

: 00:21:29

You know, there's some kickback and,

and I think a large, a large part of

403

: 00:21:32

that kickback focuses around one thing.

404

: 00:21:34

It's just because, because I talk

to people all the time about issues

405

: 00:21:37

and I try to listen to people about

what's going on in the black community

406

: 00:21:40

and, and you had a long talk and I'm

sure you could have taught, uh, you

407

: 00:21:44

know, figured out within that talk.

408

: 00:21:46

There were plenty of points that if

somebody wanted to be offended, they

409

: 00:21:49

could have been offended, you know?

410

: 00:21:51

Um, and I think it's impossible

to discuss important subjects

411

: 00:21:55

without offending people.

412

: 00:21:56

How do you have something

that's important?

413

: 00:21:58

And everyone agree.

414

: 00:21:59

If everyone does agree, then

why are you discussing it?

415

: 00:22:02

What's the point?

416

: 00:22:03

Right?

417

: 00:22:04

So if you're discussing something

important and And people don't

418

: 00:22:08

agree, then you have to offend people

because it's important to them.

419

: 00:22:11

It's important to you.

420

: 00:22:12

You have disagreeing opinions

and humans are easily offended.

421

: 00:22:16

And so it's just, it's kind of something

that just goes with the territory

422

: 00:22:19

of saying something that matters.

423

: 00:22:21

And, um, Talking about it openly.

424

: 00:22:24

So I think I offended a few people.

425

: 00:22:26

And I think the majority defense just

came from the fact that how dare you

426

: 00:22:30

be a white person and have an opinion

or in their mind, probably an opinion

427

: 00:22:34

or try to say something factually on

what would help the black community.

428

: 00:22:38

And to me, that's a very dangerous

thought pattern because what we're

429

: 00:22:42

saying then is that if you're not

somebody, like, if you're not a

430

: 00:22:45

female, you can't understand females.

431

: 00:22:48

If you're not a, you know, an older

person, you can't understand older people.

432

: 00:22:52

And it just doesn't work.

433

: 00:22:53

I mean, we have therapists and

psychologists who are counseling people

434

: 00:22:58

all the time who are different than them.

435

: 00:23:00

You know, we have people who are helping

people like yourself in the prison system.

436

: 00:23:04

And I don't know your, your full

history, but I'm guessing you haven't

437

: 00:23:07

been in the prison system actively.

438

: 00:23:11

So prisoners could look to you

and say, you can't help me.

439

: 00:23:14

You've never been in my shoes.

440

: 00:23:15

And you know, I believe

God has given us empathy.

441

: 00:23:18

And I believe God has given us the

ability to, to look at something from

442

: 00:23:21

the outside and try to understand

each other as fellow human beings

443

: 00:23:25

so that we can lift one another up

when we're in negative situations.

444

: 00:23:29

Does that mean It's easy to understand

something you've never been through.

445

: 00:23:33

I don't necessarily know if it's easy.

446

: 00:23:34

I think the more you surround

yourself, the more you study,

447

: 00:23:37

the more you look into something,

um, the more you can understand.

448

: 00:23:40

And I think Within that, it's important

to always have an open mindset.

449

: 00:23:44

Like I always tell people, like, this

is what I think and I'm pretty sure of

450

: 00:23:47

it, but I could be completely wrong.

451

: 00:23:49

And as I get new information, um,

I'm willing to change my thoughts.

452

: 00:23:54

Now, the only way I'm not open to

changing thoughts is if I believe God

453

: 00:23:57

has shared in me his thoughts and if

I'm very certain and clear on that.

454

: 00:24:01

So I don't believe God makes

mistakes, but I do believe I do.

455

: 00:24:05

And, um, I certainly could even make

mistakes about what I think God is saying.

456

: 00:24:09

Um, I will say about this

article, I am, I am positive.

457

: 00:24:12

I am sure that God spoke to me, and

I'm sure that he feels that way.

458

: 00:24:16

I'm sure that he wants to uplift

the African American society

459

: 00:24:19

and see, help them see, hey, we

have something to be proud of.

460

: 00:24:22

We have something to boast about.

461

: 00:24:24

We have something to look

at in a positive light.

462

: 00:24:27

And if they can grasp that, you know,

one of the, the areas that I see in

463

: 00:24:31

the black community as I interact with

them is that a lot of young people,

464

: 00:24:35

they, they kind of, for lack of better

words, they see themselves as lower.

465

: 00:24:40

And they're just like, you know, we're

lower than you and we, we shouldn't be.

466

: 00:24:43

And who, who wouldn't agree with that?

467

: 00:24:46

Unless you're an evil person,

that no human being should look

468

: 00:24:49

at another and just feel lower,

just feel on a lower value.

469

: 00:24:54

You know, if there was a chart, you

know, you're a 10, I'm a 7, or you're an

470

: 00:24:58

8, I'm a 5, and that's just demeaning.

471

: 00:25:01

Like, I don't like to walk into a party

or a group or a church and just feel like,

472

: 00:25:05

like everyone here is better than me.

473

: 00:25:07

I shouldn't be able to speak

up my opinions, my thoughts, my

474

: 00:25:12

contributions are valued less.

475

: 00:25:14

And I think that's what a lot of African

American young people, as well as people

476

: 00:25:18

in general, have felt over the years.

477

: 00:25:20

And God said, okay, yes, economically,

you drive through the black inner

478

: 00:25:24

cities and you see worse economics.

479

: 00:25:26

Then they drive through a

white neighborhood and you see,

480

: 00:25:28

well, most people own a house.

481

: 00:25:30

Most people, you know, have several cars.

482

: 00:25:32

Most people's kids are,

you know, going to college.

483

: 00:25:34

The schools are better.

484

: 00:25:36

These are, these are facts that,

that we need to change as a society.

485

: 00:25:40

But also when they drive through

the African American neighborhoods,

486

: 00:25:42

they should see church,

church, church, church, church.

487

: 00:25:45

And you drive through.

488

: 00:25:47

White America and you you just don't

see that many churches anymore.

489

: 00:25:50

Matter of fact, the churches

are closing at an alarming rate.

490

: 00:25:53

And so You know, there's,

there's more than just economics.

491

: 00:25:57

Economics are a huge deal, and I

actually think they're, uh, one of the

492

: 00:26:00

biggest deals that, that need to change,

um, in one of the most important of

493

: 00:26:05

matters, but above them is spirituality.

494

: 00:26:08

Like, again, you make me pick

Jesus, or you make me pick my house

495

: 00:26:11

and my car, uh, where do I live?

496

: 00:26:13

Show me my shack.

497

: 00:26:15

I want to go to heaven, you know,

and I need him, I need his support

498

: 00:26:18

and I need his friendship and I

need him to be God over my life to

499

: 00:26:21

help guide me through this life.

500

: 00:26:22

And I need that more than

I need anything else.

501

: 00:26:26

Exactly.

502

: 00:26:26

I definitely agree.

503

: 00:26:28

And going back to what you said

about, you know, me not being in

504

: 00:26:32

a prison system, like literally in

jail or somewhere, , not because of.

505

: 00:26:40

Lack of chances.

506

: 00:26:42

So it's just, I was by the grace of God.

507

: 00:26:44

I didn't go.

508

: 00:26:45

But, , I want to say I did have a

response 1 time from a particular.

509

: 00:26:51

Um, pastor, black pastor,

and he thought I wasn't.

510

: 00:26:56

Worthy enough to help in this area

because he thought he thought so,

511

: 00:27:01

because I've never been a president.

512

: 00:27:03

So, , again, I totally agree with you.

513

: 00:27:06

And the whole point is that

everybody, regardless of your

514

: 00:27:10

background have to work together.

515

: 00:27:13

, to solve the problem, as long as

everybody is at the table, you

516

: 00:27:16

know, so to speak, but when we have

these sort of, I call it prejudices.

517

: 00:27:22

It's not, it does not help with the

solution because sometimes it has

518

: 00:27:28

to be someone on that's close to it.

519

: 00:27:31

Not necessarily inside of it

to see something where the

520

: 00:27:35

person inside cannot see.

521

: 00:27:37

So, you definitely have to have a diverse

of counselors to solve this issue.

522

: 00:27:44

And I, I really.

523

: 00:27:47

Congratulate you for doing this article.

524

: 00:27:50

It did take bravery and, , it, we do need

to see the value of our black culture.

525

: 00:27:58

And it's not being widely said in for you.

526

: 00:28:02

I know.

527

: 00:28:03

Anybody they're going to get offended

when they want to get offended.

528

: 00:28:07

They're going to find something

and get offended about

529

: 00:28:09

regardless of how you say it.

530

: 00:28:11

Some people like, oh, it's how

you say it is what you know.

531

: 00:28:13

It does not even matter.

532

: 00:28:15

Um, I've seen that before.

533

: 00:28:16

So, you know, that uses the most.

534

: 00:28:21

You know, unordinary people to do

miraculous things and you really

535

: 00:28:29

hit on a good point where a lot of

us have an identity issue where we

536

: 00:28:35

don't think that we are of value.

537

: 00:28:37

We see ourselves that way and.

538

: 00:28:41

That's what I see being played

out with the young people,

539

: 00:28:45

with young women, young men.

540

: 00:28:47

They're thinking that all they

can aspire to be is to be a drug

541

: 00:28:51

dealer, a basketball player, you

know, some form of entertainer.

542

: 00:28:55

That's it.

543

: 00:28:56

They don't look at us being

in the sciences and, um, just.

544

: 00:29:02

Being good at math or anything like that.

545

: 00:29:06

We, we have our, I would say

generalizations that we all have

546

: 00:29:10

our prejudices and how we view

particular cultures and stuff.

547

: 00:29:14

So, again, we do need to see ourselves

positive in this and you're right.

548

: 00:29:20

The spirituality is huge that

we can capitalize on if we get.

549

: 00:29:27

The right information, so I think I think

it's a huge emotional boost, you know, if.

550

: 00:29:33

You have to start somewhere.

551

: 00:29:35

So somebody can, you know, when you

walk out your door in the morning,

552

: 00:29:37

you're on your way to a job interview,

you're on your way to school, you

553

: 00:29:40

know, you have to kind of think like,

why, you know, why am I important?

554

: 00:29:44

You can tell by the way a lot of people

walk, you know, are your shoulders up?

555

: 00:29:47

Are you looking up?

556

: 00:29:48

Can you look someone in the eye?

557

: 00:29:50

And that comes, you know, if you

just left your house and your mom

558

: 00:29:53

and your dad are awesome and they

both live with you and they're

559

: 00:29:56

telling you, you know, we love you.

560

: 00:29:57

You're important.

561

: 00:29:58

You're valuable.

562

: 00:30:00

Microphone (2- AT2005USB): That

was part one of Black Privilege.

563

: 00:30:05

With Pastor Niefeld.

564

: 00:30:08

This is some good conversation to

listen to again, hold your judgment

565

: 00:30:12

to the end and see just what you

think after you hear the second part.

566

: 00:30:17

Remember tune in next week for that.

567

: 00:30:19

Thank you for listening and God bless.