UPDATE: Louie Giglio offered up a lengthy apology on social media today:
Original Story
Popular rapper Lecrae responded to heavy criticisms he’s received online after people felt he didn’t react strongly enough to Louie Giglio’s comments about potentially changing “white privilege” to “white blessing.”
During the less than two minute response, Lecrae says he was “not okay” with Giglio’s suggestion and didn’t immediately challenge it because he was still processing how to respond.
He began by saying “thank y’all” for “acknowledging the pain and frustration you had” watching the video. “It’s rough. We’re talking about 345 or 400 years of slavery then 89 years of Jim Crow and we’re battling here still in 2020.”
“I wasn’t okay with it. I was very uncomfortable and I was processing, ‘man what do I say in light of this'” the rapper explained. “There have been a lot of times, as I’ve navigated white supremacy or racial injustice and I’ve wanted to lash out, honestly, in anger. And there’s other moments where I’ve been like ‘God, give me the grace and wisdom on how to deal with this’ and in that moment I was processing, ‘man, what do I do?'”
While he didn’t confront Giglio about the “White Blessing” comment in real time, LeCrae says he talked to the pastor after taping.
“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 perspective,” he said. “Obviously, I wasn’t okay with it and we can’t just be virtue signaling and doing this because it’s the in thing to do, talk about race on platforms.”
“White Blessing”
Lecrae participated in a sit-down conversation with Pastor Louie Giglio and Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy over the weekend in an attempt to have an “honest conversation” about race and the Church.
Instead, both Giglio and Lecrae became targets of criticism after Giglio attempted to navigate buzz phrases such as “white privilege.”
Giglio tried to say that the term is a road block and often causes more harm than good and suggested using different terminology. He offered up the term “white blessing” to replace “white privilege” and the clip spread like wildfire on the internet.
Giglio received a hefty dose of criticism, especially from many in the progressive left like Jonathan Merritt, who saw the flub as confirmation that evangelical leaders are “two or three good questions (and a bourbon) away from confessing a white supremacist view.”
Others were quick to condemn Lecrae as well for both not offering a more robust refutation in real time while also accepting Giglio’s apology after the fact.
That entire conversation can be seen below:
*Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with the phrase “keyboard warriors” removed.