The words of Bree Newsome rang out across the capital, “In the name of Jesus, this flag must come down.” Having scaled up the flag pole, Newsome did what many have been asking for since the shooting at Emmanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina. Newsome took action into her own hands and the symbol of an African-American woman removing the confederate flag that has flown over the state since the time of Jim Crow was a powerful action of resistance, power and pride.

Though Newsome was summarily arrested and the flag was put back up, her actions were inspiring. They occurred while a larger discussion has begun to take place in the days and weeks that have passed since the shooting at Mother Emmanuel. For some reason it was this latest action against a black church (six southern black churches have been burned down since the shooting in Charleston) that an obsession with taking down the confederate flag that has flown above the state capital for decades is finally taking place.

Bree Newsome takes down the flag. Reuters Media Express/Adam Anderson Photos

While I fully support removing the confederate flag to the recesses of Civil War museums, I have been plagued by the feeling that this discussion has become a way for white society to deflect the conversation and not deal with the core problem – the white supremacy that is festering within the veins of U.S. society.

By focusing on the flag, we are not focusing on the fact that the shooter (I refuse to use his name) came to maturation in a society that allowed him to develop these views without any confrontation.

By focusing on the flag, we are not focusing on the fact that in American society, people of color are routinely targeted and shot by police, are over-represented in our prison systems, have been systematically targeted by predatory lenders, and are enrolled in under-performing schools at a higher rate than white students … just to name a few.

By focusing on the flag, we are not focusing on the fact that a recent study has shown that seventy-five percent of white people “have entirely white social networks without any minority presence.”

It seems that the focus on the flag is replacing a focus on the white supremacist society in which we live. It will make us feel better momentarily but not address the core issues that continually haunt American society.

I believe that it is almost certain that the flag will come down; too many people and too much media are focused on this objective. It is my hope that the stripping of the confederate flag from the pole in which it has lived will also strip the lid off of the box that contains a deeper discussion on the role of race in our society.

I hope that by taking down the flag, other ways that racism is embedded in our social systems and individual psyches will come to the forefront.

I hope that by taking down the flag, a consciousness raising for the white community will start to come forth. So far it seems that all public attention has been focused on how the black community has reacted to the shooting. I hope the lens will shift to us white folk and force us to realize the white supremacy that lives within each of us and all of social structures. By the way, it’s not a condemnation on us personally to recognize this, it is a fact of growing up in the United States – it is unavoidable. What is a condemnation is if we refuse to recognize it and allow it to haunt our psyches unchecked.

What are we doing to counter-act the white supremacy embedded in our lives? When we are at an event and it is entirely made up of white people, are we asking what tenets of white supremacy might be lurking under the surface that leads to such a gathering of people? Are we challenging/questioning the tenets of society that we were brought up with? When we enter into conversation with people of color, are we truly listening and entering into dialogue, not to be right or feel accepted, but to learn about an experience that is foreign to us? Anytime we hear talk of how white supremacy has hurt an individual, do we run away and condemn the communicator or do we really enter into the pain of the person and try to move in a direction of healing? Are all of our friends and social circles white?

We need to ask ourselves some deep questions. The shooting at Mother Emmanuel Church is the most recent clarion call to the white community. Are we going to capitalize on this moment, or are we going to focus on a shallow action and let the ghosts of white supremacy continue to haunt American society unchecked?

Originally Published by Westar Institute Here

Stephen is a member of Westar’s new Young Leaders in Religion Forum. He serves as the Project Director of the Millennial Leaders Project at Union Theological Seminary and as a member of the leadership team at Metro Hope Church in New York.