White Privilege?!!

 

Not again! I try to bring up the subject of white privilege with an American female, millennial. I need to find a better introduction (how exactly did I start?) since I always get a knee-jerk, white anxious* response. “I can’t have white privilege, because I’m Jewish,” she responded. Apples and oranges, I wish I had said.  A person can benefit from one privilege and suffer from another discrimination.

What is white privilege? We’re not talking about the Ku Klux Klan or Musk’s Nazi salute. Those are extremes-- important subjects to write about elsewhere. White privilege, as I see it, is an absence of barriers. Imagine a track-and-field hurdle competition. Each person has a set of barriers, higher or lower, according to their race, gender, dis/ability, religion, class, etc. White privilege is the ABSENCE of race related barriers. It doesn’t mean others weren’t added.

I, for example, have the barriers of gender, health, and a turbulent childhood. On the other hand, I don’t have the burden of being followed in a store because of my skin color, denied a job because of my religion, or barred access to the metro because of a wheelchair. I LACK those barriers related to race, religion, or that degree of disability.

A typical American Caucasian may feel that there are not so many barriers related to race. Even someone with an adopted Black brother and a part-Arab husband. I would encourage them to take an anti-racist training course.

During such a course run during COVID, I learned about “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” an article written by Peggy McIntosh in 1989. She describes this backpack as full of things that don’t drag one down but lift one up. In her view, she came up with a list of over 25 ways Caucasians “win.” Here are ten:

·  I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.

·  If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.

·  I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.

·  I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.

·  I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.

·  When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.

·  I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.

·  If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.

·  I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods that fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair.

·  Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.

Do all these things make a difference? Along with all the micro-aggressions people suffer? Ask a person of color, not me.

If they do make a difference, then this calls into question the meritocracy system. At Franco-American Thanksgiving dinner, affirmative action was brought up. The two French guests believed the system was unfair; they deserved their success by their hard work. Nobody is saying they were slackers. Instead, they lacked certain barriers. (Actually, one would have benefitted from affirmative action) They may have had other barriers, but the system of pure meritocracy is a myth, if you ask me.

Taking an anti-racist course is not about self-flagellation. It is not about taking on the sins of our parents. It is not about denigrating the USA as a whole, but recognizing its racist past. It is about learning what white anxiety is. It is about learning what a micro-aggression is.**. It is an awakening. What is being woke? In her acceptance speech for lifetime achievement, Jane Fonda defined it as “Giving a damn about other people.” If this article stirs something in you, I urge you to go find an anti-racist course. Give a damn.

*White anxiety: my definition is the uneasiness with which Caucasians speak about race issues. It is the knee-jerk reaction that diverts the conflict in race matters to other matters, a defensiveness. It is NOT the advanced form of fear of living as a minority.

**Microagression: from Wikipedia: Microaggression is a term used for commonplace verbal, behavioral or environmental slights, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward members of marginalized groups.