#104: What a Privilege!

To my dismay, I’ve had a few friends & acquaintances say some things that are a bit strange about white privilege, and I feel like maybe some context might make people understand the concept a bit better. These friends & acquaintances have said things to the effect of “I hate when people tell me I have white privilege. I grew up in a poor family & never had privileges. Just because I’m white doesn’t mean I had everything growing up, and it doesn’t mean I don’t work hard. This hatefulness directed toward me, just because I’m white, is oppressing me.” Just…no. I want to shed some light on what it really means to be oppressed, and what white privilege really means. Also, I want to discuss some ways that white people can use white privilege for good – do something honorable with it. But first, we white people, have to admit we have white privilege, and hopefully this entry will help you to come to terms with that fact. Here are some bullet point ideas to help you understand this concept more fully:

1. If you are white, then you automatically have white privilege, point blank. Even if you are mixed but appear to be white, you can have white privilege. I don’t care if you grew up in a poor family or had a rough childhood. If you are white, you were born into the group of people that are in power in this country. You don’t have to worry about a cop following you while you’re driving, just to catch you when you slip up. You don’t have to watch women hug their purses close to them when you get onto the subway. You don’t have to hear car locks engaging when you walk by someone sitting in their car. You don’t have to worry about a store employee eye-balling you while you shop, making sure you don’t steal anything. You don’t have to worry about coming across an article on the internet, in which a black person was charged with a crime, and see a prejudiced commenter calling all black people “gorillas” or “thugs.” You can apply for a job & not have to worry whether or not the person doing the hiring is secretly biased against people whose names sound “ethnic.” You most likely come from a family that has been here legally for a couple of centuries, so you don’t have to worry every time someone knocks on your door, scared that it might be the police coming to deport your parents. If you approach a police officer while unarmed, you probably don’t fear that he will shoot you. If you commit a crime, people will consider you “mentally ill” & “misguided,” while your black counterparts will be considered “thugs that should be hung from a tree.” (Yes, I have actually seen people say these things on the internet.) These are the small things that white people don’t have to worry about that people of color do – and you might not even realize these things happen, because they’ve never happened to you. And what about the big things? Did you know that a white male with a criminal record is 5% more likely to get hired for a job over a male of color with a clean record? And what about the man named Jose who never received any job interviews with his resume until he changed his name to Joe? You can read about that story in the article “He Dropped One Letter in His Name while Applying for Jobs, and the Responses Rolled in” on Huffpost.com. White people are far more likely than people of color to graduate high school, get into college, find a decent job, stay out of jail when they do something illegal, and not be shot by police while they are unarmed. Even if you’re not the type of white person to perpetuate racism, the point is YOU don’t have to worry about any of these terrible things happening to YOU.

2. White privilege is NOT your fault. It’s not your fault that you happened to be born into the group of people who basically run the country. You didn’t choose your skin color. Stop being offended when people talk to you about white privilege, as if that is a put down, because it’s not. They’re criticizing a flawed system that puts white people at the top. It’s not a personal attack directed at you. And the fact that people criticize white privilege does NOT oppress you. You are still at the top. Your race still practically runs this country. You still don’t have to worry about encountering instances of racism like the examples I gave in #1, so please stop using the term “oppression” so incorrectly. They do always say that equality feels a lot like oppression when you’re used to being at the top.

3. Just because you were born into white privilege doesn’t mean anyone is claiming that you haven’t worked hard for what you have. Everyone has their hardships. It’s apart of being a human being. Maybe you grew up in a poor household.  Maybe you were a victim of child abuse growing up. Maybe you lived in a bad neighborhood. I’m sure you have dealt with some hardships, just like everyone has. But think about how people of color go through their own fair share of hardships that all people have, on TOP of encountering racism all the time, even if it’s not blatant racism. Yes, I’m sure you worked very hard for that degree of yours. You worked your butt off to get the best grades in high school, so you could be accepted to the best college. You then worked your butt off in college to get the best GPA & graduate with honors. You worked 50+ hours a week to be able to afford to go to that college & racked up some intense debt that you will now spend years paying off. You tirelessly searched for a good job that would allow you to provide for yourself and your family, as well as pay your debts. We get it. Just because you’re white doesn’t mean someone just handed you your diploma for free & went on with their day. But your black counterpart did all of that, while enduring racism along the way. Your black counterpart had to work just a little bit harder to get where he/she is & had to overcome some obstacles that you couldn’t even dream about, because you don’t know that kind of hardship. And it’s ok. No one expects you to understand those hardships, but we do expect you to come to terms with the fact that you have a small privilege over your counterparts of various colors.

You can do one of three things with your white privilege: deny you even have white privilege, and pretend that racism isn’t as bad as it actually is; use your white privilege to trample on other races, so that you can make it to the top more quickly and easily; or use your white privilege to help people of color raise up. Stand up for the black kid in school who is being bullied because of his skin color. Put people in their place when you see them throwing around racial slurs on social media. If you see blatant racism, try to stop it, or at least bring it to the attention of the people around you. Don’t ignore it. If you ignore it, you are just as bad as the oppressors. Let’s face it; because white people have privilege, people will pay much more attention to a white person standing against racism than they will pay attention to a person of color saying the exact same thing. So it’s the duty of the people with white privilege to stand up & do something. Watch this video for a great example of someone using her white privilege to help a black woman & put a racist person in her place: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1141203362587187&id=354522044588660. All you have to do is admit that you have privilege, and then use it for good – to help others who do not have such privilege. And then you’re doing something admirable, rather than perpetuating or ignoring the problem.