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You’re a fish.
You were born in the water. You breathe it. You crap in it. You fuck in it. You never think twice about it; it’s just there. It’s omnipresent.
Then one day a catastrophe happens.
You get caught in a fishing net. You’re tossed unceremoniously onto the deck of a boat. You’re immobilized. You can’t breathe.
A minute goes by; then two. Your eyes are drying out, your gills are gasping for water. Five excruciating minutes pass: you’re not sure how much longer you can hold on, and your little fish life is passing before your little fish eyes. You’re ready to consign yourself to oblivion, wondering if you’re ever going to see your roe again, when a miracle happens! For reasons entirely unexplained, you get tossed back into the ocean.
You swim away, thankful like never before, for precious, life-saving, life-sustaining water. As you try to put the traumatic experience behind you, you wonder: how do those creatures on the boat survive? What keeps them going?
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This is what privilege is like. You didn’t make the ocean. You didn’t ask to be born into it, yet you’re ensconced by it. Privilege is being so entirely and constantly surrounded by something that sustains and protects you that you’re almost entirely unaware it exists. If for some reason you’re temporarily removed from your privilege, it feels like you’re going to die, and you don’t understand the creatures who aren’t afforded the luxury of just swimming away. Being in the water is no guarantee of a long, prosperous fishy life; the ocean is full of predators. Maybe your dad’s a shark, maybe you come from a long line of clownfish. Being born in the ocean doesn’t mean you can’t suffer; it doesn’t mean life underwater is easy. It does mean you’re intrinsically advantaged over the fish that are trying to survive on land. Given a choice, this isn’t something you are ever giving up willingly. If you’re a fish, water is awesome.
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Marginalized groups—minorities — are fish on the deck of the boat. They’re born there, they live there, and most of them will die there. They will spend their entire life gasping for what fish in the water take for granted: the barrier of protection, the unquestioned right to exist. These fish can strive to be smarter, work harder, create a life for themselves, but ultimately nothing they can do affords them the kind of freedom of movement the ocean provides. Some of them – a select few – might make it to the ocean. Just like fish who were born there, this does not guarantee their survival. They’ll still face the same challenges and struggles of the perilous deep blue sea, but given the choice, none of them would ever return to land.
Here is the beauty of the entire scenario: the fish on land have absolutely no desire to force the fish in the water to experience their suffering. There’s enough water for all fish, and it literally takes nothing away from the fish who were born in water to share their freedom, the protections they enjoy.
It’s a big ocean. There’s water enough for all.
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photo: iStock
White wolf though. I’m not looking at white privilege, but black oppression. Does no good to preach to white people about a privilege that you yourself claim they cannot see. Does no good when many of us are of ethnic origin that have spent our time in the cellar. Me for example, my family, my life. We are now Third generation Italians. Grandparents came through Ellis Island with the words WOP chalked on their back (our version of the N word). In our time, Irish (and other) cops beat and shot us. They had the privilege. We were the downtrodden… Read more »
The analogy suggests that “privilege” is a medium that exists independently rather than as a characteristic of the population to which it is attributed.
Water is not a characteristic of fish nor does it rely on fish for its existence
Until they finally do jump in the water, are eaten by a shark or the other couple of thousand predators out there, and realize that perhaps that privilege is not such a privilege after all. Don’t ask me to walk a mile in your shoes. Trade shoes, walk that mile, and as both finish and turn to each other saying, “well that sucked”, we will gain both a better understanding, and a more united brotherhood, stop blaming and pointing fingers, but walk the next one in our own shoes, together. There are problems, no doubt, but pointing at white people,… Read more »
I specifically said that water doesn’t protect you from the dangers of the sea. However to claim the water offers no protection is to be unaware it exists, which is the entire point of the essay. I didn’t blame anyone for the existence of the ocean, or even use the words white or fragile. It’s possible you might be a wee bit sensitive on the subject.
If you think I’m just being sensitive, then you are not listening to my words, brother, just seeing the color of my skin.
Your avatar is a wolf. How could I possibly know the color of your skin?
Maybe he’s a fish!
Nope, I just smell fish, G..
My reply to you went to the top, Jackie, rather then here. Does that sometimes. No idea why.
Your article describes a phenomenon, not a problem.
Majority groups deserve to be more privileged, and not even realize it. There are more of them than you. Anything extended to a minority is therefore unearned, and better described as an entitlement.
It is only phenomenon if you believe it doesn’t affect you. Your claim that majority groups deserve to be more privileged is contradicted (in America) by the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. The idea that these rights need to be earned is the very definition of entitlement.
Amen my brother this is a wonderful physical example of white privilege for all to understand Dr DiAngelo speaks about water in reference to white fragility.
And because fish have eyes on either side of their.face they often can’t see the big picture, that is in front of them they only see one side at a time.
This is a neat concept, Iam developing an entire curriculum for anti-racism workshops based on some of this
Thanks keep up the good work, Brooklyn
Love the fish analogy, beautiful metaphor of truth.
Very well written, sir.
Take a look at David Foster Wallace’s “this is water” if you haven’t already, I think you’ll like it (or it inspired you 🙂 ).
Never heard of David Foster Wallace’s “this is water” before now, but I appreciate the parallels. Thank you for recommending!