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Recently I was invited to participate in an online forum about race in America. Three other guests and I were discussing the murder of Mario Woods by the San Francisco Police Department, the Bundy Oregon occupation, and the lack of African Americans in Silicon Valley. As we talked about the issues and the reasoning behind them, one of the guests said:
“The reason why the Bundy family has not been arrested, more Blacks are not working at dotcom’s, and Woods was murdered is because of white privilege. If Woods had been white, none of this would have happened. The Bundy’s are not arrested because they are white. You can get a job quicker if you are white.”
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While I agreed that race did play a part in all of these situations, I felt that white privilege was too simple for the complex problem of race. It was too neat and quick of an explanation.
I first started hearing “white privilege” when I involved myself in activism and anti-racism studies a couple of years ago. When I would listen to white people speak of past racist acts or growing up in America, many facets would be attributed to white privilege.
“I got this because of my privilege….”
Or, when Twitter was ablaze with the topic #crimingwhilewhite, many users pointed out their white privilege as the reason they did not get arrested for the same incidents African Americans would. I would be stunned at not only the casual use of the word, but how some whites felt proud of admitting that they possessed it, like it absolved them. It seemed white privilege became the cool way to talk about racism.
More hashtags followed and pop culture embraced the phrase. Macklemore made a dope song about it in an attempt to show solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Black, Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Native American people added it to their vocabulary. It was done—white privilege was the way we all communicated about white supremacy. Yet, when I would attempt to say the phrase, something didn’t feel right. It felt fake. It didn’t accurately describe what people who looked like me went through all of our lives.
The definition of racism that I like to use goes as follows:
A global system designed to disenfranchise, discriminate, and harm people of color while maintaining a hierarchy that has white people at the top.
Before I understood that racism was a system, I pictured it as a white man spouting racial slurs, skinheads, the KKK, and corrupt police. I didn’t realize that racism encompasses education, finance, housing, the justice system, and politics. I couldn’t imagine it was this gargantuan being that influenced everything in life. When I learned how racism is systemic and not personalized, it not only changed the way I looked at racism, but the language I used when discussing it. As a writer I realized words have meaning, power, and how you use words matters.
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At best white privilege is an incomplete definition of racism.
At worst, white privilege is a distortion of racism, a watered down term that is designed to confuse Black and other non-white people into thinking racism is all about the stuff white people get.
- White privilege doesn’t reveal how White people get their status and how they keep it.
- White privilege doesn’t talk about the brutal history that non-white people have had to endure to survive.
- White privilege doesn’t take into account the physical, mental, and emotional abuse that non-white people deal with on a daily basis.
- White privilege doesn’t explain that the current justice, educational, political, and economic system was not built for non-white people to thrive.
I believe the term has been popularized because there are many people who do not have an accurate understanding of what racism is.
I can see how white privilege is an easy non-offensive term to use.
Most talks about racism between white people and non-white people revolve around not trying to be offensive, no hurt feelings, and having a “safe space” that we can talk about the issue. “There shall be no white tears fallen” when we have this discussion. When white privilege and other vacuous terms like “white fragility” are used, it doesn’t completely challenge the system. White privilege doesn’t say, “White people, your system has brutalized, disenfranchised, murdered, and completely discriminated against POC since eternity.” No, it says, “Well you won’t get pulled over because you are white” and “You will have a better chance in buying a house or getting a job because you are Caucasian.”
I guess I should be thankful for the term “white privilege.” It is starting to get people to talk about race right? People are starting to become more race conscious. We are having “The Conversation” right?
Well, what if we are having the wrong conversation?
When we talk about race, we should talk about everything—slavery, reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Japanese Internment camps, the lynching of Black and Latino bodies, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, abuse of the undocumented worker, and the unarmed killings of Black men by the police. No stone should be left unturned.
This should be the most brutally honest conversation you will ever have. I find many Black and Latino folks don’t use the terms racism/white supremacy because they make people uneasy. They don’t want to come off as the “Confrontational Negro” or the “Angry Brown person.” We try and avoid “white tears” that may come during talking about the subject. Talking about race should be extremely uncomfortable. It should make people mad, angry, sad, and question everything they know and/or thought they knew. That’s what a real conversation on race should do. That’s how we begin to truly dismantle the system of racism. Saying the words ‘white privilege’ does not.
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There’s isn’t such thing as white privileged. People say that to get attention, scholarships, etc. People are arrogant thinking all white people have it easy. No they don’t, I knew a couple of white girls and boys who lived in trash, literally. They drank from toilet bowls to get water. Not only but back then in Europe there was child labor and all the white kids had to work long hours for a penny. (I don’t know if you would technically call them white but they do have white skin) Just because you see white people on TV more often… Read more »
I see where your coming from
White privilege is a two word rhetoric. No, it doesn’t end racism, but it’s a teeny tiny step in a conversation. Yes, everything should be talked about, those two words are not a whole conversation… I thought this article was going to express something inherently wrong with saying the phrase, or come up with a better more accurate phrase to rival and take the place of the other. Instead it just says using the term white privelage is not very poignant but offers no suggestion to progress to.
Great post. I enjoyed your viewpoint. I feel the term “white privilege” has really almost become some hip new blanket statement that really shouldn’t be embraced as much as maybe understood. When a White person not just understands and acknowledges the term but revels, takes joy, and is almost proud of it–It becomes offensive. There have been several instances in my life where a person used this term in a way to describe their experience to appear “sensitive” but really came off as downright boastful. This is way more offensive than a person who is simply in denial or unaware… Read more »
I realize that this may be an older article, however I take issue with the authors assumed definition of racism:
A global system designed to disenfranchise, discriminate, and harm people of color while maintaining a hierarchy that has white people at the top.
The author explicitly excludes, by race, a class of people from being on the receiving end of racism, and in the same breath identifies, by race, the only perpetrators of racism, as white.
This discussion is over as the author has a biased frame of reference that has no room for opposing opinions.
It’s not a biased frame of reference it’s fact. Race was constructed by Europeans during colonial conquests. His definition is not inaccurate. Racism originated with Caucasians towards non-whites. Have you personally experienced racism? If so please share? I have and can give you numerous accounts as a non-white person.
That is right, tell the white man came along no tribe or nation ever killed each other over things like ethnicity before. The white man invented slavery and was so powerful and dominant no one else could ever stand up to him.
Joseph M. Quinones, thank you for your well expressed post here. I’m impressed (not happily) with all the other picking at different uncomfortable posts in this thread. The whole subject is difficult, but we must address it. I don’t think that the author of this article did a good thing by seeming to pass off the fact of White Skin Privilege as a weak synonym for Racism. Unless we pale folks try to understand the mileau of White Supremacy that we swim in we won’t ever be able to understand the privilege that falls to us just because of the… Read more »
LeRon thank you for this post. We really need to take off the kid gloves and stop using terms like white privilege, white fragility, white tears. Indeed whiteness itself is and entire network of intimidation and oppression. Until you can reject association with whiteness and align yourself entirely with the black struggle WITHOUT looking for credit, like the countless black people who fight this struggle, unrecognised, then the stain of white supremacism will continue unabated. Two numbers define the inequality of white supremacism like no other, at least in the US. The first is that the wealth of the median… Read more »
Thank you for your comment!
I think there needs to be distinction between demographics and individuals. It seems that this article is talking about “demographic” racism – large scale, systemic. On an individual level, the “privilege” concept just seems to fold up into a toxic mess of victim politics, disempowerment and right-on bullying (“white tears”, anybody?). So yes to empowerment, no to victimhood, which does nobody any favours. On an individual level, it’s impossible to judge who’s more privileged ?!?!?!? than someone else. ffs
This is an interesting piece. I think the author makes some excellent points. As a member of a biracial family I would add that the expression “white privilege” has been around a very long time. I don’t know its origin, but I can tell you that we talked about it a lot in the 80s when my children were very small. Here is my personal example of white privilege: I am white and my children are black. I would take them into a store, let’s say, when they were young and if it was very clear I was shepherding them… Read more »
Erin and Merrian, Direct quote from the Author. In his reply to Danny: “The problem is that many white people don’t want to face the reality of what they have [done] and still do to perpetuate racism [&] white supremacy.” The sentence above infers white people are collectively complicit for a racist system and for advancing white supremacy. I am a white person. My neighbor’s 4 month old is white. What have either of us done? What actions have she or I consciously committed to perpetuate white supremacy? That is a rhetorical question because the answer is either “nothing” or… Read more »
I’m truly sorry this will be the last time you will respond. I was hoping to get your actual thoughts on the actual facts I gave you. The ones you said you wanted. The ones you ignored. You kept saying you were comfortable talking about this topic but all you could manage to talk about was how you were victimized by this topic. I don’t see anything untrue about saying that white people are ‘collectively” (that being the key word) complicit in a racist system. Dude, we are. And we have been. If you had been willing to confront the… Read more »
See Dubya – I feel your inference of complicities is too strong. I don’t think the quote goes that far. I could be wrong. Perpetuating could also mean being passive where social participation is needed, all of which is a common human failing. Complicity conjures up active participation. For instance, I would not say that wealthier folks are complicit for the poverty of a few streets over, but it’s not an ideological stretch to claim that wealthier folks perpetuate poverty, and do so via their passive reaction to poverty – in a general sense of course. My pet peeve is… Read more »
I thought this was one of more well-written and thoughtful pieces I’ve read in awhile. It resonated with me.
Great piece LeRon. Clearly from the comments you’ve touch upon something that is woven into the fabric of a nation still in denial.
This whole conversation proves my point. The author calls me a troll for merely espousing a different pov. A middle aged black fellow at my workplace who has no idea I advocated on his behalf is my friend. We don’t even really know each other. But I saw his character and vouched for it. He needed this job and he was a good guy. Maybe he didn’t need it it, my vouch, you may call it my freaking white privilege. but bottom line we all need background help. Glad to give it. From this freaking troll. Man LeRon, that really… Read more »
LeRon. I am hardly a troll. Please look at many many other posts. Do you deny that there are problems in the minority community? Seriously dude. What is being done in the black community about gang violence on their own? Dude. Basically squat. You know it as well as I. I abhor it too. Bumait just ain’t anywhere a white thing. It’s all of us.
I’m pretty aware of the arguments behind theories of racial privilege, and I think the author makes some very good points. There are people who talk about privilege in a somewhat superficial way, while there are others who have a more complex view of racialized systems. There is more to white privilege theory than the way that many people talk about it, just like there’s more to natural selection than the way that pop culture talks about evolution. Here’s what aggravates many otherwise sympathetic people like me: Many, many times, I’ve heard people talk about “the conversation about race” or… Read more »
Thank you- well explained and point taken.
Right on wellokay
Mr. Barton and I seem to have a very different understanding of the term “White Privilege”. For those who, like me, have been involved in anti-racism, anti-discrimination and equity work for the past 40 years the term White Privilege is not used as a substitute for White Supremacy or as a watered-down version of Racism. White Privilege is used to describe the general environment, milieu really, that White People live in as a result of White Supremacism. To borrow a phrase; White Racism is the water in the fishbowl that the fish is completely unaware exists. It sustains them, buoys… Read more »
Sir, you just described what white supremacy is.
We should call it for what it is, racism/white supremacy.
Btw. This is an example of what I said earlier about how this conversation goes. Reverting back to accusation and off we go to the races. The culture has been around for a long time. Address has been around for 50 years of it but if it doesn’t come fast enough in the right way then we say we live in a racist world. Fact is we do. So does France. And China. And Kenya. Ad nauseum. But God knows were really one of the few cultures trying at least to do something about it. Sorry it isn’t moving fast… Read more »
Hi,
White Supremacy is the belief that White people are superior to people of all other races, especially the Black race, and should therefore rightfully dominate society.
White Privilege on the other hand is the underlying condition of unearned advantage that automatically accrue to a White Person in our society whether they believe in White Supremacy or not, whether they are aware of those privileges/advantages or not, whether they want to exercise those privileges/advantages or not, whether they are racist or not.
It just is, as the water in the fish tank.
I find the phrase offensive. It trivializes the hard work that it takes for most white people get ahead in life. For most of us getting ahead has little to do with privilege and everything to do with hard work. It also sends the wrong message to our young people. It says that to get ahead you need to stand in line and wait for someone to hand you your privilege. The whites got theirs, now it’s our turn. I will not sit by quietly when someone tries to tell me that the reason my wife, a non-white immigrant who… Read more »
What phrase do you find offensive? And how are people who work hard ( white or otherwise) being trivialized in the process? Are you suggesting that we should not talk about the trials minorities face because it’s offensive to white people?
Someone I knew a long time ago was always pissed about the Bakke case at Berkeley (I think)….I never understood why he was so mad about it until many years later when I realized that he wished he could have been admitted to pre-professional school (he was Caucasian and older)…he had never mentioned these aspirations for all the time that I knew him….he was so pissed off– he would go on and on about how a minority student with inferior scores got into the school, while Bakke, a Caucasian with better scores but advanced age, was refused….eventually Bakke did get… Read more »
But Leia. Maybe he should have. The basic problem I have with affirmative action is its so disrespectful. It continues disrespect to minorities. That they can compete. They are in fact less than. I don’t believe that. To give a much less qualified minority the job over a qualified white is disrespectful. To the person and the job. But many think this is cool. It’s not. It continues racism and discord. If you like it then what happens when a piss poor eat shows up at your house when your in the throes of a heart attack? I couldn’t that… Read more »
Thanks for writing this piece.
“White people, your system has brutalized, disenfranchised, murdered, and completely discriminated against POC since eternity.” 1. The Mongols killed 40MM-50MM in the initial conquest of empire and enslaved millions – read up on “Harvesting the Steppe” 2. The Huns killed and enslaved millions across Eurasia. 3. The Egyptians depending on the dynasty enslaved huge numbers of Nubians and Caananites. Thutmose took 90000 slaves in one war. They were branded or tattoo’d and often lived short brutal lives in mines. 4. The Qing Dynasty enslaved an entire civilization (the Booi Aha) 5. The Mexica (Aztecs) enslaved vast numbers and routinely used… Read more »
What does that have to do with the implicit racism of the United States economic and justice system in the 21st century? You’re reaching
I’m refuting a ridiculously hyperbolic, inaccurate and inflammatory statement by the author. Serious conversations should be fact based and productive. Good rule of thumb- Don’t make ridiculous ascertations if you don’t want to derail a conversation. For example, collective complicity for historical ills is a worthless waste of time. If I must be “confronted” about the historical sins of white people surely POC should be confronted with the historical sins of other POC? I think that’s just stupid.
What are those sins of POC directed toward White people?
Who do you think populated massive portions of Eurasian steppes, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean? There is no single population group without “sin.” It’s astounding to me that Progressives lack a rudimentary knowledge of the world’s history outside of a few cherry picked decades of the USA.
Don’t label all progressive the same, thank you very much. I just took a fellow leftie to task a few messages back.
I don’t recall anyone here saying that any single population of group was without ‘sin’. No one is making the claim that black people didn’t have it in them to enslave white people if things had turned the other way. But here is the reality, black people didn’t enslave white people! White people enslaved black people. Those are the ‘facts’, that you claim are important, that which we are dealing with. White people enslaved black people and from that moment on, we have been a culture of oppression for minorities. We wanted freedom from British tyranny and then we came… Read more »
Erin-‘the point is we can have a fact based discussion without all of the ridiculous hyperbole and hand wringing. Secondly, assigning accountability and responsibility (think about those words) to a random person based on their skin color is just plain stupid. Yes, we all understand that black people can face more difficult challenges in life. In the author’s POV- a white infant IS ACCOUNTABLE for a situation they don’t even know exists. That is just plain smack you in the face stupid. I’ll have a conversation- I’m very comfortable doing so, im so comfortable that I can point out ridiculous,… Read more »
You’re comments don’t add up Dubya. You keep repeatedly saying how ready you are to have this conversation and yet you’ve done everything in your power to avoid it. I gave you some ‘facts’ to ponder and you didn’t even comment on one of them. Not one. So there appears to be a contradiction of terms here. On one hand, you say you’re ready to have this conversation, on the other hand, you ignore the facts your given and have carried on with your own agenda. What are your thoughts on the statistical information I provided you? You say you’re… Read more »
Awesome!
I posted earlier that perhaps the reason might not be racism but that many black households don’t supervise their kids. Which may be why the kids get suspended more than whites. Are you talking about an individual school or are you talking about a collective? Maybe many non white kids don’t take the opportunity to get extended education for whatever reason and end up earning less than others. This is not a catch all that past and even current racism equals current oppression. You can’t just toss out a variety of historical facts and expect them to coherently explain away… Read more »
Dude seriously?
Stop being a troll.
Erin- nothing you’ve said is news to me. I’ve acknowledged that black people can face challenges in life that white people are less likely to face. You’re not addressing anything I have said. I do not support the ham-fisted “4 legs good, 2 legs bad” approach that the author has taken in this piece and so many other advocates mirror. If the author wants to make ridiculous statements like “oppressing POC for eternity” he should be able to back em up. If he wants to ascribe responsibility and accountability to people based on the color of their skin he better… Read more »
Doubt my longer comment makes it through…. but you arent telling me anything I dont know. I’ve acknowledged that black people can face challenges in life that white people may not. Try addressing my points not randomly spouting facts that I’m very well aware of. Conversation implies dialogue; you’re just shouting.
This is giving me much food for thought. I want to say that you are not yourself responsible for this system but you are benefitting from it. People often say ” I didn’t enslave anyone” and then follow with “we need to just forget about racism”. Mr. See here is not saying I didn’t inslave so forget he says I didn’t enslave so don’t blame me but I do realize that it’s hard for black folks. This is interesting. I’m gonna ponder this. I do think the fervor with which Mr. See seems offended by the idea that white folk… Read more »
Dubya, nothing I said is new to you – and you’ve made sure I was made aware of how insignificant you found my comments, not once, but twice. Because after all, I should know what you know or don’t know. You also accused me of shouting at you. Where have I shouted? Apparently your a victim of my supposed ‘shouting’ and of the author’s concern about racism. But you asked for facts and I delivered facts. And sure, you did say, “Yes, we all understand black people can face more difficult challenges in life”. Then right after that comment you… Read more »
Nearly everybody has privilege over somebody. It really bothers me that there are people who think that a white homeless man on the streets of London has more privilege than President Obama because he is black, and more privilege than our queen because she is a woman.
It’s absurd, divisive nonsense and incredibly unhelpful. I am politically on the left and hate how this ideology has infected modern social liberalism.
There are always outliers to every situation. Does literally every single white person have more money than every single black person? No, but the system as it is (which I know is a vague description, but it’s a deep, complex problem) has implicit setbacks for minorities.
Also side note this is a conversation about the United States, so don’t bring other countries/governments into this.
I don’t see what your point is with regard to other countries. Do you think the US is the only one to experience racism in any form? The point stands for any country where whites are a majority. A homeless white man does not have more privilege than a millionaire black woman by any stretch of the imagination, and to suggest so is very unhelpful. It’s more than an “outlier” and equally unhelpful to suggest that exceptions are rare.
Exceptions are rare. more importantly white people still have the largest proportions of wealth and resources. Unemployment a is always double whites or more discrimination happening based on names, perceptions of intelligence, and “common culture” as well as implicit bias. There is still a racial pay gap. These are things you simply don’t have to think about as a white person that’s privilege. . But this authors piece is interesting because it takes the argument beyond the idea of privilege perhaps for reasons such as this.
Do you think white homeless men take any comfort from that? How do you think that helps them?
It should make people mad, angry, sad, and question everything they know and/or thought they knew. That’s what a real conversation on race should do. That’s how we begin to truly dismantle the system of racism. Saying white privilege does not. One thing that I’ve seen that worries me is that people, on both sides, seem to go into the conversation with the express goal of making the other side uncomfortable as if that is the end game. Make the other uncomfortable and then put the onus on them to change. I think that’s just going to lead to resentment… Read more »
Danny,
Thank you for reading the essay, I really appreciate it. When you say “Both sides go into looking to make the other side feel uncomfortable,” I don’t know what you mean. When I talk about racism I don’t spare people’s feelings. I think that Black and other non white people should be as honest as possible. The problem is that many white people don’t want to face the reality of what they have and still do to perpetuate racism white supremacy.
When you say “Both sides go into looking to make the other side feel uncomfortable,” I don’t know what you mean. What I mean is when you say, “When I talk about racism I don’t spare people’s feelings. I think that Black and other non white people should be as honest as possible.” I get that you want to be as honest as possible for the sake of progressing the conversation and helping everyone in the long run. That’s a noble goal however I have seen too many conversations where some people, on both sides mind you, aren’t making people… Read more »
I guess telling the truth is a bad thing?
No one is shaming anyone?
How did you get that from the piece?
Those are probably questions you should be asking yourself. Why would Danny perceive this as shaming? Why would he take this from my piece? What message is he trying to convey to me and why? And for goodness sake, don’t take the easy road of dismissing his feedback as “he just do esn’t want to deal with the truth!” Here is one great example of why this conversation is a non-starter: You say you want to confront “white people” with what they have done and what they have to do. Well, “white people” aren’t some kind of collective consciousness. You… Read more »
“I think the war on drugs was and is a travesty of justice. I absolutely agree that we need to de-criminalize many drugs, repeal many mandatory sentencing laws, and release many non-violent offenders.” Some of this I agree with, in particular the “non-violent offenders” and perhaps the “mandatory sentencing” for some crimes. But I don’t want to get into a discussion about those two aspects. For the past 15+ years I’ve worked in a residential treatment center where we’ve had as many as 34 male adolescents in treatment at a time. 98% of those clients were court ordered into treatment… Read more »
I’m sorry Dubya, but while “white people” aren’t a collective consciousness, denying that institutional racism doesn’t still exist in this country, that opportunities exist more easily for those who are infact white, that the bar is stacked against those who are a minority, is simply not right. And while we are all ‘individuals”, the reality is that we do exist in a ‘class’ system, we do exist as a social group. You can not deny that just because we have individual identities. We do exist as a social order. As a class system. And that class system gives more options… Read more »
I don’t think anyone got that from the piece. I think probably most would get that from experience. It may start out as conversation. And then being honest, yet having one party to that conversation portraying the victory of such and one portrayed as a member of the perpetrators it gets out of hand. Pretty quickly.
I don’t think it’s you per se, but I’ve seen many white people share this article kinda with the intent of shaming others from talking about white privilege.
Agreed that an ahistoric term like white privilege flattens and simplifies. How about … Male European Thievery …