The White Savior Complex

Yesterday I wrote about the little boy we are sponsoring in Ghana, Felix Kusi, and it got me thinking about this concept that I have become more and more familiar with in the past month or so, The White Savior Industrial Complex.
Basically, and I am sure I am oversimplifying this, the White Savior Complex is the idea that as White, Western, Americans we are "heroes" or "saviors" to the rest of the world, primarily non-white, impoverished peoples in Africa and the like. It is viewed as a very negative thing, with many asserting that those with this "complex" simply ride in on a white horse to make themselves feel and look good, but don't actually accomplish anything to alleviate real problems, and are insulting and belittling to the people they "help" by either implying or directly stating that they have no power to help themselves. Essentially, they are "saviors" who are rescuing the pitiful masses who can't do anything for themselves. At least that is the portrayal and generally what is meant when someone talks about the "White Savior."

Recently, Invisible Children has been accused of this, especially with the KONY 2012 campaign. Being that I am a ssupporter of that campaign, and that I am sponsoring a black child in Africa I thought it would be relevant to write a bit about this "complex."

I'm not going to write pages about this, afterall, it is a very complex issue, and I can see the point behind those that taut that this "White Savior Complex" is a very bad thing, but I tend to disagree, and here's why.

1. While there are definitely deeper rooted problems behind much of the poverty, hunger, sickness, etc... around the world, it doesn't change the fact that there are still these problems, and for many "white saviors" who are sending money/contributing to humanitarian efforts the desire is not to make themselves feel good, but to help those who are in need. Many individuals cannot change the governments that are contributing to these problems, and even many organizations cannot change these governments. They can contribute to helping the relieve the effects of these governments, and as such, is what they do. However, this is not to say that there can be nothing done. If anything, I think that the KONY 2012 campaign has shown that people can get active about causes, and influence their governments to take action. It is in this sort of campaign, one that involves governments, that change can be made to the causes behind the situations around the world.
2. The fact of the matter is that, in America, no matter who you are, you are riduclously rich and powerful compared to a lot of the rest of the world. What you spend on a coffee or burger in the course of an hour or so on any given day is probably more than the monthly income for many families around the world. To quote SpiderMan "With great power comes great responsibility" and to quote Jesus "Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more." -- Luke 12:48b  In America, as well as in many European countries, we have been given much, we have abundant blessings in food, money, shelter, health, rights, etc..., and therefore, much is expected from us. It is our duty to help provide for those who do not have, not as some "savior," but as fellow human beings.
3. The argument has been made that before trying to "fix" the situations of others we should fix our own country's foreign policies, etc... many of which may contribute to the poverty in Third World countries. I agree that we have an obligation to try and change these things as well. If there is a hole in your boat you eventually have to plug the hole, not just keep throwing buckets of water out of your boat. If you don't plug the hole, eventually you will sink, BUT if you are working on plugging the hole, you still have to throw the buckets of water out or you will sink. We need to fix foreign policies, etc... that contribute to corrupt governments and Third World poverty, but while working on that, we cannot ignore the fact that there are millions of men, women, and children dying of sickness and starvation.

So, there may be some who only want to help in order to give themselves a good feeling and a "hero" status, but I believe that this is not the case for the majority of those who help. The fact is that there are people who need help, and there are many ways to help, and many things that need to be done, but to essentially discount any assistance as a "White Savior Complex" is misguided in my opinion. Should we be seeking to fix underlying issues of corrupt and evil societies and governments? Of course! Should we be seeking to fix the corruption and greed in our own governments that contribute to this? Of course! Should we be giving money/assistance to help provide food, health, shelter, education to the people in need? Of course! Are we in America and other First World countries blessed beyond belief? Of course! Do we have a responsibility to use what we have been given to help those in need, whether in our own country or around the world? Of course! Are we saviors? Absolutely not! However, we are to show the love of the Savior to those around us!

To close this out I thought I would post some pictures that I found when I do a Google image search for White Savior Complex, just for fun. What do you think?