Inspired by @ListPrompts
…Perhaps the only thing about which the people who experience it the most are least qualified to understand it.
Which makes it difficult for me to write this list.
I can’t legitimately apologize for it because I didn’t ask for it and was blissfully unaware of it most of my life…
…but I can be in some complicated way ashamed of it because I so obviously benefited from my many forms of privilege.
Which makes this list difficult to write.
But if I must pretend I understand what I don’t really understand well I would say…
1. White privilege is legacy
I’ve read that one of the strongest indicators of success is the success of your father. This powerful boost in outcomes obviously stretches across generations. Membership has if a privileges. And many African Americans in particular have a family history of enslavement.
2. White privilege is anonymity
Three of my four great-grandfathers were immigrants, Polish, Irish, and German. I have no doubt they were persecuted in one way or another. But what set them apart from the so called power class was language, culture, dress… Their children were embarrassed by their crazy immigrant ways. Their grand children were fascinated by their interesting immigrant heritage. White privilege means I have largely forgotten it and can be a member of the power class without raising eyebrows.
3. White privilege is access
Access to trust from fellow citizens and (by extension) law enforcement, access to economic opportunity, access to the benefit of the doubt from people in power who make decisions that impact my life.
4. White privilege is comfort
Our racist past was so overt. It became socially unacceptable to be overtly racist, and then my generation grew up genuinely opposed to that kind of racism. We can hardly imagine supporting segregation, name calling, and physical violence motivated by race. The very best part about having white privilege is that I can benefit tremendously as compared to my non-white counterparts, while believing that I am not. Because I wholly reject “racism” so I’m one of the good guys. I would never.
5. White privilege is membership
There are American pastimes and then there are black pastimes. There are American styles of dress and then black dress. American food and black food. This all seemed so normal growing up. We celebrate black culture right? “They” have tv shows, fashion models, … and good for them! “They” have such beautiful hair! White privilege is imagining that “Black” and “American” are two things without realizing the incongruity inherent in that false dichotomy. All this applies to “Asian” and “Arab” too.
6. White privilege is a call to please go home
White privilege is an armed occupation of a government building followed by two days of discussion and a friendly plea to please go on home to your ranches.
7. White privilege is reductive
White privilege is listing about white privilege and being A Very Good Guy as if it absolves me of: 1. For most of my young life we locked the car doors in the bad parts of town where “bad” = “black people around”. 2. Even today when I sit in a train car full of young black men I notice and feel self conscious. 3. Walking around Harry Potter world every time I see an Asian woman dressed up my brain thinks “Cho Chang” and I curse myself. I’m sorry.
But what I’d rather talk about is not what white privilege is (and so many of you can tell me that better than I can discern it) but what we can do.
1. Acknowledge.
It is painful to feel like I’m a part of something ugly so the temptation to dismiss is real.
2. Understand.
Once we acknowledge the problem we can begin to understand that one can be privileged without knowing it and racist without meaning to be. Much of this probably has its roots in biology: we are in some ways hard-wired to fear “different”. It kept our ancestors alive for half a million years. But just because it is innate does not mean it is ok. Using reason to overcome our lesser nature is what makes us human.
3. Change.
Be open about our privilege, listen to the grievances of people of color, and most importantly teach our children about inequality in all its pernicious forms.
4. Realize.
Realize that men in power in America by and large benefit from the privilege of whiteness, maleness, straightness, and wealth. There are powerful economic incentives to resist change. Be skeptical of counterarguments that promote the status quo.
These are my thoughts.