Blog – Female VS Male Privilege
(completed by Jennifer Dionne)
In conclusion, I just wanted to state again what privilege is. It is a grant to an individual or corporation of a special right or immunity under certain conditions. In other words it is a special advantage, immunity, permission, right or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class or caste.
I thought it would be very interesting to see the different privileges that both female and males have. We all know that both male and females have privileges, but towards different things and the lists that I found about each lay out good examples.
Female Privilege:
1. I am physically able to give birth to another human being, and then do my best to mold her or him into the kind of person I choose.
2. I am not automatically expected to be the family breadwinner.
3. I feel free to wear a wide variety of clothes, from jeans to skimpy shorts to dresses as appropriate, without fear of ridicule.
4. I can choose to remain seated to meet most people.
5. I am not ashamed to ask for others’ perspectives on an issue.
6. I feel free to exhibit a wide range of emotions, from tears to genuine belly laughter, without being told to shut up.
7. My stereotypical excesses in shopping, clothes, jewelry, personal care and consumption of chocolate usually are expected, even the source of jokes.
8. Public policies generally offer me an opportunity to bond with my offspring.
9. I am among the first to get off a sinking ship.
10. I can usually find someone with superior strength to help me overcome physically challenging obstacles, such as changing a tire or cutting a huge Christmas tree.
11. Changing my mind is seen as a birthright or prerogative.
12. I feel free to explore alternate career paths instead of being bound to a single career ladder.
13. I am used to asking for help, around the kitchen table or the proverbial water cooler or the conference room.
14. People I’ve never met are inclined to hold doors open and give up their seats for me.
15. I can be proud of the skill I have worked to develop at stretching limited financial resources.
16. I am not ashamed of using alternatives to positional power to reach my goals.
17. I know how to put a new roll of toilet paper in use and am not above doing it for the next person.
18. I am not ashamed to admit that the decisions I make reflect my personal values.
19. I am not afraid to create and maintain honest relationships with others.
20. I do not fear being accused of having an ethic of care in my professional life.
21. When I enter an office, I am likely to encounter those who can help me “in low places.”
22. I am more likely to get hugs than handshakes, depending on the situation.
23. I am less likely to be seen as a threat, which allows me more subtle alternatives.
24. I can use men’s “sheer fear of tears” to my advantage.
25. I can complain that these female privileges are relatively minor compared with the vast assortment of dominant male privileges, but I wouldn’t change places for the world.
Male Privilege:
1. My odds of being hired for a job, when competing against female applicants, are probably skewed in my favor. The more prestigious the job, the larger the odds are skewed.
2. I can be confident that my co-workers won’t think I got my job because of my sex - even though that might be true.
3. If I am never promoted, it’s not because of my sex.
4. If I fail in my job or career, I can feel sure this won’t be seen as a black mark against my entire sex’s capabilities.
5. I am far less likely to face sexual harassment at work than my female co-workers are.
6. If I do the same task as a woman, and if the measurement is at all subjective, chances are people will think I did a better job.
7. If I’m a teen or adult, and if I can stay out of prison, my odds of being raped are relatively low.
8. On average, I am taught to fear walking alone after dark in average public spaces much less than my female counterparts are.
9. If I choose not to have children, my masculinity will not be called into question.
10. If I have children but do not provide primary care for them, my masculinity will not be called into question.
11. If I have children and provide primary care for them, I’ll be praised for extraordinary parenting if I’m even marginally competent.
12. If I have children and a career, no one will think I’m selfish for not staying at home.
13. If I seek political office, my relationship with my children, or who I hire to take care of them, will probably not be scrutinized by the press.
14. My elected representatives are mostly people of my own sex. The more prestigious and powerful the elected position, the more this is true.
15. When I ask to see “the person in charge,” odds are I will face a person of my own sex. The higher-up in the organization the person is, the surer I can be.
16. As a child, chances are I was encouraged to be more active and outgoing than my sisters.
17. As a child, I could choose from an almost infinite variety of children’s media featuring positive, active, non-stereotyped heroes of my own sex. I never had to look for it; male protagonists were (and are) the default.
18. As a child, chances are I got more teacher attention than girls who raised their hands just as often.
19. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether or not it has sexist overtones.
20. I can turn on the television or glance at the front page of the newspaper and see people of my own sex widely represented, every day, without exception.
21. If I’m careless with my financial affairs it won’t be attributed to my sex.
22. If I’m careless with my driving it won’t be attributed to my sex.
23. I can speak in public to a large group without putting my sex on trial.
24. Even if I sleep with a lot of women, there is no chance that I will be seriously labeled a “slut,” nor is there any male counterpart to “slut-bashing.”
25. I do not have to worry about the message my wardrobe sends about my sexual availability or my gender conformity
26. My clothing is typically less expensive and better-constructed than women’s clothing for the same social status. While I have fewer options, my clothes will probably fit better than a woman’s without tailoring.
27. The grooming regimen expected of me is relatively cheap and consumes little time.
28. If I buy a new car, chances are I’ll be offered a better price than a woman buying the same car.
29. If I’m not conventionally attractive, the disadvantages are relatively small and easy to ignore.
30. I can be loud with no fear of being called a shrew. I can be aggressive with no fear of being called a bitch.
31. I can ask for legal protection from violence that happens mostly to men without being seen as a selfish special interest, since that kind of violence is called “crime” and is a general social concern. (Violence that happens mostly to women is usually called “domestic violence” or “acquaintance rape,” and is seen as a special interest issue.)
32. I can be confident that the ordinary language of day-to-day existence will always include my sex. “All men are created equal,” mailman, chairman, freshman, he.
33. My ability to make important decisions and my capability in general will never be questioned depending on what time of the month it is.
34. I will never be expected to change my name upon marriage or questioned if I don’t change my name.
35. The decision to hire me will never be based on assumptions about whether or not I might choose to have a family sometime soon.
36. Every major religion in the world is led primarily by people of my own sex. Even God, in most major religions, is pictured as male.
37. Most major religions argue that I should be the head of my household, while my wife and children should be subservient to me.
38. If I have a wife or live-in girlfriend, chances are we’ll divide up household chores so that she does most of the labor, and in particular the most repetitive and unrewarding tasks.
39. If I have children with a wife or girlfriend, chances are she’ll do most of the childrearing, and in particular the most dirty, repetitive and unrewarding parts of childrearing.
40. If I have children with a wife or girlfriend, and it turns out that one of us needs to make career sacrifices to raise the kids, chances are we’ll both assume the career sacrificed should be hers.
41. Magazines, billboards, television, movies, pornography, and virtually all of media is filled with images of scantily-clad women intended to appeal to me sexually. Such images of men exist, but are rarer.
42. In general, I am under much less pressure to be thin than my female counterparts are. If I am fat, I probably suffer fewer social and economic consequences for being fat than fat women do.
43. If I am heterosexual, it’s incredibly unlikely that I’ll ever be beaten up by a spouse or lover.
44. Complete strangers generally do not walk up to me on the street and tell me to “smile.”
45. On average, I am not interrupted by women as often as women are interrupted by men.
46. I have the privilege of being unaware of my male privilege.
An Unabashed Imitation of an article by Peggy McIntosh
Overall, I found it very interesting that first off the male privilege list is about doubled the female list. Each list does however; give a good lay out in comparison with the other. The length of the list does show that people do have more to say about male privileges.
Even though the lists are unequal how does everyone feel about the length? Does that matter or does the contexts within the lists matter?
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
White Privilege, Heterosexual Privilege, and Liberal Guilt
By Stacey Goldstein
First there was white privilege.
White privilege isn’t something I thought about until I was confronted with a bulletin board full of it. I was at a Unitarian church I had sporadically attended and had wandered into an area of the church I had not been to before. This area featured a large bulletin board with essays tacked up onto it. The essays were stories from the church members about how they led hassle-free lives. Essay after essay explained everyday situations the church members had been in and how nothing had gone wrong. One member had gone to a department store and shopped peacefully. Another member had gone to Maine without any event. The odd thing that struck me about these essays was that the authors felt an obvious guilt about their hassle-free experiences. They felt that if they were a minority, these stories may not have played out so happily. The essays focused mainly on the guilt these people felt because their lives were easy.
The essays struck me as vaguely ridiculous. I am white. It was not a choice that I made, I just came out this way. Because I do not consider myself at all racist and it’s not like I chose to be white, I saw no reason for me to feel guilty about not being a minority. I’m a woman with a Jewish last name, doesn’t that count for anything?
At the time I read the church essays, I was friendly with someone whose mother was a Unitarian minister. When I told him about what I had read, he said it was a typical Unitarian thing. He explained that Unitarians often love guilt. You’re supposed to feel guilty if you make a lot of money. You’re supposed to feel guilty if your profession does not further the good of mankind. You’re supposed to feel guilty if you’re not a minority. According to him, Unitarians are supposed to feel an overall guilt if their lives are not a hardship. I had thought that Unitarians were simply into doing good and being nice to other people. I had not realized they were all about liberal guilt. This turned me off to the Unitarian church and I did not go back.
Soon after, I discussed the concept of white privilege with a good friend who is a woman and a minority. Her thoughts on the topic were that people may feel guilty about any white privileges they may have because it was a privilege they did not earn. This made sense to me and I started to think of any guilt due to white privilege as being another form of liberal guilt. It seemed like a slightly different, but highly similar form of the concept.
This led me to look up “white privilege” on Wikipedia. The entry stated that “in critical race theory, white privilege is a set of advantages enjoyed by white people beyond those commonly experienced by non-white people in the same social, political, and economic spaces (nation, community, workplace, income, etc.). Theorists differentiate it from racism or prejudice because, they say, a person who may benefit from white privilege is not necessarily racist or prejudiced and may be unaware of having any privileges reserved only for whites.”
As I appeared to be unaware that I had any privileges simply because I am white, this seemed like an accurate description to me. But should I feel bad about this? Maybe. Am I automatically an unappreciated jerk because I am not a minority? I don’t know, I don’t think I’m a jerk. If I felt guilty, would that help anything? Probably not. I decided that the best thing for me to do is to continue treating everyone the same way, regardless of his or her race. As this is what I have always done, nothing really changes.
Then came heterosexual privilege.
Heterosexual privilege is a term I have only recently become familiar with. A good female friend of mine usually dates women. Recently though, she started dating a man. While I saw this as a decision that was completely up to her, some of her gay friends gave her a hard time about it. They said that she was giving in to society and heterosexual privilege.
This angered my friend. She thought that she should be able to date whoever she wanted without input from anyone else. When she told me about this, I agreed with her. However, I did need some clarification on heterosexual privilege.
Apparently, heterosexual privilege is the privilege to not give much thought to your sexuality. It’s the freedom to publicly express your sexuality without any feeling of repercussion. I gave this some thought, then decided to discuss it with some of my gay friends.
The friends I discussed heterosexual privilege with said that yes, it is a real thing. However, they added the footnote that if you live in certain places, it is not something you can complain about. They said that in Boston or New York it’s not particularly relevant because these are open-minded places. Having not verified this with every homosexual in these cities, I can’t confirm or deny this.
Because I like to look things up on the Internet, I decided to Google heterosexual privilege. On a Queers United blog, I found the “Heterosexual Privilege” Checklist. It certainly makes some good points. The checklist reads as follows:
On a daily basis as a straight person…
•I can be pretty sure that my roommate, hallmates and classmates will be comfortable with my sexual orientation.
•If I pick up a magazine, watch TV, or play music, I can be certain my sexual orientation will be represented.
•When I talk about my heterosexuality (such as in a joke or talking about my relationships), I will not be accused of pushing my sexual orientation onto others.
•I do not have to fear that if my family or friends find out about my sexual orientation there will be economic, emotional, physical or psychological consequences.
•I did not grow up with games that attack my sexual orientation (i.e. fag tag or smear the queer).
•I am not accused of being abused, warped or psychologically confused because of my sexual orientation.
•I can go home from most meetings, classes, and conversations without feeling excluded, fearful, attacked, isolated, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, stereotyped or feared because of my sexual orientation.
•I am never asked to speak for everyone who is heterosexual.
•I can be sure that my classes will require curricular materials that testify to the existence of people with my sexual orientation.
•People don’t ask why I made my choice of sexual orientation.
•People don’t ask why I made my choice to be public about my sexual orientation.
•I do not have to fear revealing my sexual orientation to friends or family. It’s assumed.
•My sexual orientation was never associated with a closet.
•People of my gender do not try to convince me to change my sexual orientation.
•I don’t have to defend my heterosexuality.
•I can easily find a religious community that will not exclude me for being heterosexual.
•I can count on finding a therapist or doctor willing and able to talk about my sexuality.
•I am guaranteed to find sex education literature for couples with my sexual orientation.
•Because of my sexual orientation, I do not need to worry that people will harass me.
•I have no need to qualify my straight identity.
•My masculinity/femininity is not challenged because of my sexual orientation.
•I am not identified by my sexual orientation.
•I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help my sexual orientation will not work against me.
•If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has sexual orientation overtones.
•Whether I rent or I go to a theater, Blockbuster, an EFS or TOFS movie, I can be sure I will not have trouble finding my sexual orientation represented.
•I am guaranteed to find people of my sexual orientation represented in my workplace.
•I can walk in public with my significant other and not have people double-take or stare.
•I can choose to not think politically about my sexual orientation.
•I do not have to worry about telling my roommate about my sexuality. It is assumed I am a heterosexual.
•I can remain oblivious of the language and culture of LGBTQ folk without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
•I can go for months without being called straight.
•I’m not grouped because of my sexual orientation.
•My individual behavior does not reflect on people who identify as heterosexual.
•In everyday conversation, the language my friends and I use generally assumes my sexual orientation. For example, sex inappropriately referring to only heterosexual sex or family meaning heterosexual relationships with kids.
•People do not assume I am experienced in sex (or that I even have it!) merely because of my sexual orientation.
•I can kiss a person of the opposite gender on the heart or in the cafeteria without being watched and stared at.
•Nobody calls me straight with maliciousness.
•People can use terms that describe my sexual orientation and mean positive things.
•I am not asked to think about why I am straight.
•I can be open about my sexual orientation without worrying about my job.
Like the Wikipedia definition of white privilege, this checklist made me feel crappy about enjoying the heterosexual privilege I was unaware I had. But again, is this a form of liberal guilt I should feel bad about? I’m just not sure. The answer is the same as I found for myself with white privilege. I can help by treating everyone the same regardless of their sexuality. White, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, gay, straight, whatever, people are people who should be treated equally.
By Stacey Goldstein
First there was white privilege.
White privilege isn’t something I thought about until I was confronted with a bulletin board full of it. I was at a Unitarian church I had sporadically attended and had wandered into an area of the church I had not been to before. This area featured a large bulletin board with essays tacked up onto it. The essays were stories from the church members about how they led hassle-free lives. Essay after essay explained everyday situations the church members had been in and how nothing had gone wrong. One member had gone to a department store and shopped peacefully. Another member had gone to Maine without any event. The odd thing that struck me about these essays was that the authors felt an obvious guilt about their hassle-free experiences. They felt that if they were a minority, these stories may not have played out so happily. The essays focused mainly on the guilt these people felt because their lives were easy.
The essays struck me as vaguely ridiculous. I am white. It was not a choice that I made, I just came out this way. Because I do not consider myself at all racist and it’s not like I chose to be white, I saw no reason for me to feel guilty about not being a minority. I’m a woman with a Jewish last name, doesn’t that count for anything?
At the time I read the church essays, I was friendly with someone whose mother was a Unitarian minister. When I told him about what I had read, he said it was a typical Unitarian thing. He explained that Unitarians often love guilt. You’re supposed to feel guilty if you make a lot of money. You’re supposed to feel guilty if your profession does not further the good of mankind. You’re supposed to feel guilty if you’re not a minority. According to him, Unitarians are supposed to feel an overall guilt if their lives are not a hardship. I had thought that Unitarians were simply into doing good and being nice to other people. I had not realized they were all about liberal guilt. This turned me off to the Unitarian church and I did not go back.
Soon after, I discussed the concept of white privilege with a good friend who is a woman and a minority. Her thoughts on the topic were that people may feel guilty about any white privileges they may have because it was a privilege they did not earn. This made sense to me and I started to think of any guilt due to white privilege as being another form of liberal guilt. It seemed like a slightly different, but highly similar form of the concept.
This led me to look up “white privilege” on Wikipedia. The entry stated that “in critical race theory, white privilege is a set of advantages enjoyed by white people beyond those commonly experienced by non-white people in the same social, political, and economic spaces (nation, community, workplace, income, etc.). Theorists differentiate it from racism or prejudice because, they say, a person who may benefit from white privilege is not necessarily racist or prejudiced and may be unaware of having any privileges reserved only for whites.”
As I appeared to be unaware that I had any privileges simply because I am white, this seemed like an accurate description to me. But should I feel bad about this? Maybe. Am I automatically an unappreciated jerk because I am not a minority? I don’t know, I don’t think I’m a jerk. If I felt guilty, would that help anything? Probably not. I decided that the best thing for me to do is to continue treating everyone the same way, regardless of his or her race. As this is what I have always done, nothing really changes.
Then came heterosexual privilege.
Heterosexual privilege is a term I have only recently become familiar with. A good female friend of mine usually dates women. Recently though, she started dating a man. While I saw this as a decision that was completely up to her, some of her gay friends gave her a hard time about it. They said that she was giving in to society and heterosexual privilege.
This angered my friend. She thought that she should be able to date whoever she wanted without input from anyone else. When she told me about this, I agreed with her. However, I did need some clarification on heterosexual privilege.
Apparently, heterosexual privilege is the privilege to not give much thought to your sexuality. It’s the freedom to publicly express your sexuality without any feeling of repercussion. I gave this some thought, then decided to discuss it with some of my gay friends.
The friends I discussed heterosexual privilege with said that yes, it is a real thing. However, they added the footnote that if you live in certain places, it is not something you can complain about. They said that in Boston or New York it’s not particularly relevant because these are open-minded places. Having not verified this with every homosexual in these cities, I can’t confirm or deny this.
Because I like to look things up on the Internet, I decided to Google heterosexual privilege. On a Queers United blog, I found the “Heterosexual Privilege” Checklist. It certainly makes some good points. The checklist reads as follows:
On a daily basis as a straight person…
•I can be pretty sure that my roommate, hallmates and classmates will be comfortable with my sexual orientation.
•If I pick up a magazine, watch TV, or play music, I can be certain my sexual orientation will be represented.
•When I talk about my heterosexuality (such as in a joke or talking about my relationships), I will not be accused of pushing my sexual orientation onto others.
•I do not have to fear that if my family or friends find out about my sexual orientation there will be economic, emotional, physical or psychological consequences.
•I did not grow up with games that attack my sexual orientation (i.e. fag tag or smear the queer).
•I am not accused of being abused, warped or psychologically confused because of my sexual orientation.
•I can go home from most meetings, classes, and conversations without feeling excluded, fearful, attacked, isolated, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, stereotyped or feared because of my sexual orientation.
•I am never asked to speak for everyone who is heterosexual.
•I can be sure that my classes will require curricular materials that testify to the existence of people with my sexual orientation.
•People don’t ask why I made my choice of sexual orientation.
•People don’t ask why I made my choice to be public about my sexual orientation.
•I do not have to fear revealing my sexual orientation to friends or family. It’s assumed.
•My sexual orientation was never associated with a closet.
•People of my gender do not try to convince me to change my sexual orientation.
•I don’t have to defend my heterosexuality.
•I can easily find a religious community that will not exclude me for being heterosexual.
•I can count on finding a therapist or doctor willing and able to talk about my sexuality.
•I am guaranteed to find sex education literature for couples with my sexual orientation.
•Because of my sexual orientation, I do not need to worry that people will harass me.
•I have no need to qualify my straight identity.
•My masculinity/femininity is not challenged because of my sexual orientation.
•I am not identified by my sexual orientation.
•I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help my sexual orientation will not work against me.
•If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has sexual orientation overtones.
•Whether I rent or I go to a theater, Blockbuster, an EFS or TOFS movie, I can be sure I will not have trouble finding my sexual orientation represented.
•I am guaranteed to find people of my sexual orientation represented in my workplace.
•I can walk in public with my significant other and not have people double-take or stare.
•I can choose to not think politically about my sexual orientation.
•I do not have to worry about telling my roommate about my sexuality. It is assumed I am a heterosexual.
•I can remain oblivious of the language and culture of LGBTQ folk without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
•I can go for months without being called straight.
•I’m not grouped because of my sexual orientation.
•My individual behavior does not reflect on people who identify as heterosexual.
•In everyday conversation, the language my friends and I use generally assumes my sexual orientation. For example, sex inappropriately referring to only heterosexual sex or family meaning heterosexual relationships with kids.
•People do not assume I am experienced in sex (or that I even have it!) merely because of my sexual orientation.
•I can kiss a person of the opposite gender on the heart or in the cafeteria without being watched and stared at.
•Nobody calls me straight with maliciousness.
•People can use terms that describe my sexual orientation and mean positive things.
•I am not asked to think about why I am straight.
•I can be open about my sexual orientation without worrying about my job.
Like the Wikipedia definition of white privilege, this checklist made me feel crappy about enjoying the heterosexual privilege I was unaware I had. But again, is this a form of liberal guilt I should feel bad about? I’m just not sure. The answer is the same as I found for myself with white privilege. I can help by treating everyone the same regardless of their sexuality. White, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, gay, straight, whatever, people are people who should be treated equally.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Privileges in the Black Community
Hannah Kelley
Black Community Privileges
We all know that privilege exists among all races and ethnicities but one that we have not focused on yet is privilege among the black (African American) community. White privilege is so vast in our country so even black people are trying maybe without even noticing to appear whiter or lighter because it is more socially favored and gives a person more privileges. For example some black women, use fake hair in order to make their hair straighter and more manageable. This is taking away from their hairs natural state and making it more like white hair. (whether they mean to do this or not) Also bleaching is something in the black community that is used. This means some people actually bleach their skin in order for it to be lighter. I saw a television show that a woman bleached her three-year old babies skin because she wanted them to be able to have more privileges in this country. Also among the black community there are many shades of skin color. However it is favored to have lighter, fairer skin because to many it is looked at as being more beautiful and more beneficial. To me, this is extremely sad because all shades of black skin are beautiful and unique. Also for biracial people in the black community, they are looked at as higher breeds. Some think because they are lighter, have more Caucasian hair, and have some white in their genes that they will be able to have more privileges and not feel as much oppression as a darker person. I am biracial, my mother is Italian and my father is African American and this is something I have struggled with all my life. I have included an exerpt from an article by Zuhey Coria Lopez about oppression and change. It is looking at what I have discussed about privilege and oppression in the black community.
Internalized Oppression in the U.S. is Hard to Change, but Never Impossible
by: Zuhey Coria Lopez
According to two researchers Kenneth and Mamie Clark, most African Americans preferred to be white. Both Kenneth and Mamie perform a research on both African American children and on adults. Based on this research, Kenneth and Mamie state, “That black children preferred white dolls and pictures of white children to black dolls and pictures of black children (Clark and Clark 1940; Clark and Clark 1950)… Hill (2002b) showed that black interviewer evaluations of black respondents' attractiveness were highly correlated with lighter skin tone for women, and moderately for men.” At such a young age, African American children have a mentality that white dolls are more beautiful and preferable than black dolls. However, it is not necessarily just their fault because most toys stores tend to sell lighter skinned dolls than dark ones. On the other hand, African Americans prefer white women because society views them as better. Since society sees white as better, citizens try to talk and affiliate with white woman.
Light skin is considered beautiful and as the best way to look because white people had more power than people of color and were seen as the best. White people were seen as the ones who did not commit crimes. Hunter believes “Light skin is described as more “beautiful” both inside and outside of the African American and Mexican American communities.” (Hunter 102) The advantage for light skinned minorities caused them to act or want to be white in order to receive privileges. However, because society views white as being the best, this leads to internalized oppression. Dark skinned women are not satisfied with the way they look. Instead of women living a normal life and appreciating themselves for what they have and look, they worry about their exterior. Since everyone wants to look beautiful, people of color are willing to change themselves in order to look better.
Monday, April 5, 2010
White Trash Blues: Class Privilege v. White Privilege
by Jennifer Kesler
If you read about white privilege, you’re probably sick to death of people playing the “white trash” card in your comments. Their argument usually goes something like this:
“Being white didn’t give me all these privileges you’re talking about.”
“I know plenty of [minority] people who are better off than I am.”
And the advanced version, which I’m guilty of using myself: “It’s really more about class than it’s about race.”
I am “poor white trash”. I can relate to all of the statements above. I grew up looking the part of Average White Girl, but middle class white people always pegged me as “different”. This left me vulnerable to losing opportunities and even jobs to white people who “fit in” better. Also, after my family made its great escape from White Trash Hell into Middle Class Purgatory, I learned to my surprise that there were black kids in the world who’d grown up with more money than I ever had. And so on, and so forth.
Here’s where the confusion comes in. Yes, I have a legitimate grievance against the system. Yes, I’ve lost out on things because I didn’t have the $20 to invest or know the magic social password that would have marked me “normal” (read: “middle class, preferably white”). And yes, it hurts when you don’t fit in with your own race because of your class, and you don’t fit in with your class because of your race. It’s hard to see privilege around that stuff, but the examples are out there.
Wealth gets you a ticket, but it doesn’t guarantee you a seat
One of the black kids I went to school with whose family was richer than mine? We discovered we’d given identical answers on a test, and she’d gotten some of them marked wrong while I got 100%. When we examined her other papers, we realized the teacher had been doing this for some time: “giving” the black girl a lesser grade. And one of the Jewish girls I knew whose family was richer than mine? When she was absent for a Jewish holiday and missed a test, one of her teachers decided to teach her a lesson by refusing to let her make up that test anytime but on a Saturday – the Jewish sabbath. The teacher offered truly pathetic excuses why after school, during lunch and during the girl’s study period wouldn’t work. Sunday wouldn’t work because it was the teacher’s Christian sabbath! The girl’s mother had to call the principal and threaten to bring the ACLU into it before she got a proper time slot to retake the test.
I’ve never been pulled over for “looking like you’re out of your neighborhood” (unless you count the time I was lost in a snotty part of Beverly Hills in an American car, gasp!). I’m not nearly as likely to get pulled over for traffic violations as black or Latino people, even if they grew up with more money than I did. Taking things a step further, I’ve never felt pressured to join a gang just to survive. I’ve never worried I’m going to get shot in my own neighborhood (and I’ve lived in some neighborhoods the white middle class considers “bad”).
That white skin would get you a seat, if only you had a ticket
My approach is to look at all the types of privilege that affect an individual. Take me, for example. I have white privilege and heterosexual privilege and able-bodied privilege working for me; I have class privilege and male privilege working against me. In the case of poor whites, the class privilege often takes more from them than the white privilege gives them (i.e., the college admissions board prefer my skin color, but if I can’t somehow pay tuition, I’m not getting in). In my personal experience, white privilege may be a total bust, and I have the right to feel that way: I do not have the right to muddy a discussion of white privilege with all my anti-privileges. But before I learned to separate the types of privilege, I’m afraid I probably did that once or twice. Not in the “minorities have it so easy” tone that marks one type of troll; I just couldn’t figure out which part of this stuff I wasn’t getting.
Not a credit to our race
I will probably write a whole article on this someday, but I’ll leave you with one last point to consider. In my experience, poor whites are one group of people that even PC folks think it’s okay to take potshots at. Make a “dumb blonde” joke, and someone sooner or later will call you on your sexism; make a “you know you’re a redneck when…” joke, and chances are everyone will take it as good clean fun. This is something that makes me generally distrustful of the supposedly “progressive” thinkers out there, and I assume it affects other poor whites similarly. See, we’re an embarrassment to the white race. We’re proof that whites are not invulnerable to the repressions they’ve visited on other races. So we’re taught to keep quiet. On one level, we know we shouldn’t take that crap. On the other hand, experience has taught us if we take a stand, we’ll stand alone. I don’t know how many times I’ve endured jokes about my home state when a potential new friend asks me where I’m from. And if you know me, you know I’d never let an insult to my gender go by without comment.
And if we have an accent of any sort – many of us do, since by definition it’s the higher classes who get the privilege of their accent being declared “no accent” – we’re supposed to put up with being made fun of and/or being fetishized. Or being expected to change it, if we’re “serious” about getting certain jobs or promotions. We’re vulnerable to class assumptions that we’re ill-educated, lazy, immoral or even criminally perverse (only in redneck jokes is incest somehow a topic for humor!).
While these points still aren’t germane to a topic about white privilege, I’ve seen them get dismissed in discussions about privilege and bigotry in general, and in those cases they are relevant. Hopefully, something in this will help someone weed out trolls and/or communicate more effectively with sincere poor whites who mistake a lack of class privilege for a lack of white privilege.
by Jennifer Kesler
If you read about white privilege, you’re probably sick to death of people playing the “white trash” card in your comments. Their argument usually goes something like this:
“Being white didn’t give me all these privileges you’re talking about.”
“I know plenty of [minority] people who are better off than I am.”
And the advanced version, which I’m guilty of using myself: “It’s really more about class than it’s about race.”
I am “poor white trash”. I can relate to all of the statements above. I grew up looking the part of Average White Girl, but middle class white people always pegged me as “different”. This left me vulnerable to losing opportunities and even jobs to white people who “fit in” better. Also, after my family made its great escape from White Trash Hell into Middle Class Purgatory, I learned to my surprise that there were black kids in the world who’d grown up with more money than I ever had. And so on, and so forth.
Here’s where the confusion comes in. Yes, I have a legitimate grievance against the system. Yes, I’ve lost out on things because I didn’t have the $20 to invest or know the magic social password that would have marked me “normal” (read: “middle class, preferably white”). And yes, it hurts when you don’t fit in with your own race because of your class, and you don’t fit in with your class because of your race. It’s hard to see privilege around that stuff, but the examples are out there.
Wealth gets you a ticket, but it doesn’t guarantee you a seat
One of the black kids I went to school with whose family was richer than mine? We discovered we’d given identical answers on a test, and she’d gotten some of them marked wrong while I got 100%. When we examined her other papers, we realized the teacher had been doing this for some time: “giving” the black girl a lesser grade. And one of the Jewish girls I knew whose family was richer than mine? When she was absent for a Jewish holiday and missed a test, one of her teachers decided to teach her a lesson by refusing to let her make up that test anytime but on a Saturday – the Jewish sabbath. The teacher offered truly pathetic excuses why after school, during lunch and during the girl’s study period wouldn’t work. Sunday wouldn’t work because it was the teacher’s Christian sabbath! The girl’s mother had to call the principal and threaten to bring the ACLU into it before she got a proper time slot to retake the test.
I’ve never been pulled over for “looking like you’re out of your neighborhood” (unless you count the time I was lost in a snotty part of Beverly Hills in an American car, gasp!). I’m not nearly as likely to get pulled over for traffic violations as black or Latino people, even if they grew up with more money than I did. Taking things a step further, I’ve never felt pressured to join a gang just to survive. I’ve never worried I’m going to get shot in my own neighborhood (and I’ve lived in some neighborhoods the white middle class considers “bad”).
That white skin would get you a seat, if only you had a ticket
My approach is to look at all the types of privilege that affect an individual. Take me, for example. I have white privilege and heterosexual privilege and able-bodied privilege working for me; I have class privilege and male privilege working against me. In the case of poor whites, the class privilege often takes more from them than the white privilege gives them (i.e., the college admissions board prefer my skin color, but if I can’t somehow pay tuition, I’m not getting in). In my personal experience, white privilege may be a total bust, and I have the right to feel that way: I do not have the right to muddy a discussion of white privilege with all my anti-privileges. But before I learned to separate the types of privilege, I’m afraid I probably did that once or twice. Not in the “minorities have it so easy” tone that marks one type of troll; I just couldn’t figure out which part of this stuff I wasn’t getting.
Not a credit to our race
I will probably write a whole article on this someday, but I’ll leave you with one last point to consider. In my experience, poor whites are one group of people that even PC folks think it’s okay to take potshots at. Make a “dumb blonde” joke, and someone sooner or later will call you on your sexism; make a “you know you’re a redneck when…” joke, and chances are everyone will take it as good clean fun. This is something that makes me generally distrustful of the supposedly “progressive” thinkers out there, and I assume it affects other poor whites similarly. See, we’re an embarrassment to the white race. We’re proof that whites are not invulnerable to the repressions they’ve visited on other races. So we’re taught to keep quiet. On one level, we know we shouldn’t take that crap. On the other hand, experience has taught us if we take a stand, we’ll stand alone. I don’t know how many times I’ve endured jokes about my home state when a potential new friend asks me where I’m from. And if you know me, you know I’d never let an insult to my gender go by without comment.
And if we have an accent of any sort – many of us do, since by definition it’s the higher classes who get the privilege of their accent being declared “no accent” – we’re supposed to put up with being made fun of and/or being fetishized. Or being expected to change it, if we’re “serious” about getting certain jobs or promotions. We’re vulnerable to class assumptions that we’re ill-educated, lazy, immoral or even criminally perverse (only in redneck jokes is incest somehow a topic for humor!).
While these points still aren’t germane to a topic about white privilege, I’ve seen them get dismissed in discussions about privilege and bigotry in general, and in those cases they are relevant. Hopefully, something in this will help someone weed out trolls and/or communicate more effectively with sincere poor whites who mistake a lack of class privilege for a lack of white privilege.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Privilege Of Being A U.S. Citizen
According to Findlaw.com there are three ways to be considered a U.S. citizen:
Birth (being born in the U.S.), Blood (even if you're born outside of the U.S. if one parents is a citizen, you are as well), or Naturalization (the process of becoming a citizen if you have immigrated into the U.S. from another country and neither of your parents holds U.S. citizenship).
Individuals(Immigrants)who seek to obtain citizenship through Naturalization are not afforded the same privileges as those who are citizens due to birth or blood factors. Naturalization is a lengthy process and can take years. ( I was old enough to remember my father being sworn in as a citizen).
The privileges of being a U.S. citizen extend beyond what is entitled to us by the U.S. Constitution.
A site managed by Coloradans For Immigrant Rights provided this list of citizenship privileges:
1. Most if not all of the time I am able to surround myself with people who share a common or collective history, who understand the norms of U.S. society, who speak the same language that I do and who understand my culture.
2. I am not worried on a daily basis about being “discovered” and deported along with, or away from my family.*
3. I don’t have to worry that a small mis-step could lead to my deportation, even if I currently have legal papers to be in the U.S.
4. I can apply for a passport that will allow me to travel back and forth to most countries in the world.
5. I can think nothing of crossing the border to visit Tijuana, Mexico, for a day of shopping and sightseeing,while Mexican citizens must qualify economically to obtain even a tourist visa to enter the U.S., and there are a great many who do not qualify.
6. If I want to get a driver’s license, it’s a simple matter of bringing along my birth certificate, social security card, insurance card and taking the test. There’s no need to worry about whether I have the proper documents to get a driver’s license. Usually, a long line is all I have to worry about.
7. If I apply for a job, I do not have to worry about what to write under “Social Security Number.”
8. When Social Security and Medicare are taken out of my paycheck, I have a reasonable hope that someday either my dependents or I will receive the benefit of those taxes.
9. I can go in any bank and set up a checking account with out fear of discrimination, thus knowing my money is safer than on my person or elsewhere.
10. If a police officer pulls me over, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my perceived immigration status.
11. I can be reasonably sure that if I need legal, medical advice or help, my citizenship status will not be a consideration.
12. I can vote in any election on policies or on people who will make laws affecting my way of life and my community.
13. I may consider running for political office to serve my community.
14. I, or a member of my family,* can apply for scholarship aid to the institutions of higher education that are supported by my family’s tax dollars.
15. I have not been forced to ask myself what would compel me to risk my life, crossing a barren desert for days without food or water, or employing any other dangerous form of transport to enter the U.S., leaving my family,* my home, my roots behind me to enter into a country that not only feels hostile to my kind, but is
also at times difficult to understand.
16. If am treated violently or inappropriately by a federal entity I have some hope of legal recourse.
17. I can choose whether or not I take part in discussions surrounding how my lifestyle or the actions of my government have impacted the lives of those in other countries.
18. If I decide to organize or speak out about the policies my country has enacted or about any inaction or wrong doing, I am more likely to understand the systems I was brought up around and how they work. Those in power are more likely to listen to me and credit my arguments than a non citizen.
* On our use of the word “family”- “family” in most discourse on immigration policy is not used to describe unmarried, non-blood, and queer familial relations.
Here we recognize the inherent value, legitimacy and importance of these relationships regardless of state sanction.
Organizing Citizens to Support Immigrant Rights!
Website: http://www.afsc.org/central/colorado
Quote Taken From Article in The Portland Phoenix:
Should non-citizens vote?
Government Reform
By JEFF INGLIS February 17, 2010
"Legal immigrants typically take between eight and 10 years to earn citizenship, if they decide to. "Many of our immigrants are refugees" with legal status, Trevorrow says, who have kids in the public schools and pay property, income, and sales taxes yet at present lack a voice in how that money is spent — at least for the period before they become citizens. Some, for whom renouncing another citizenship would mean loss of property or ability to visit relatives abroad, never become US citizens and never have a voice in how their new home is governed."
Food For Thought:
Can you think of any other privileges afforded to U.S. citizens over non-citizens living in the U.S.?
What are your thoughts on non-citizens voting?
How do other factors such as race, sex, or poverty affect non-citizens, in particular, who are living in the US?
Should illegal immigrants be afforded the same chances as those immigrants who have moved here through legal channels or who are refugees?
FMI Please Visit:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
&
Requirements for Naturalization:
http://immigration.findlaw.com/immigration/immigration-citizenship-naturalization/immigration-citizenship-naturalization-overview.html
Individuals(Immigrants)who seek to obtain citizenship through Naturalization are not afforded the same privileges as those who are citizens due to birth or blood factors. Naturalization is a lengthy process and can take years. ( I was old enough to remember my father being sworn in as a citizen).
The privileges of being a U.S. citizen extend beyond what is entitled to us by the U.S. Constitution.
A site managed by Coloradans For Immigrant Rights provided this list of citizenship privileges:
1. Most if not all of the time I am able to surround myself with people who share a common or collective history, who understand the norms of U.S. society, who speak the same language that I do and who understand my culture.
2. I am not worried on a daily basis about being “discovered” and deported along with, or away from my family.*
3. I don’t have to worry that a small mis-step could lead to my deportation, even if I currently have legal papers to be in the U.S.
4. I can apply for a passport that will allow me to travel back and forth to most countries in the world.
5. I can think nothing of crossing the border to visit Tijuana, Mexico, for a day of shopping and sightseeing,while Mexican citizens must qualify economically to obtain even a tourist visa to enter the U.S., and there are a great many who do not qualify.
6. If I want to get a driver’s license, it’s a simple matter of bringing along my birth certificate, social security card, insurance card and taking the test. There’s no need to worry about whether I have the proper documents to get a driver’s license. Usually, a long line is all I have to worry about.
7. If I apply for a job, I do not have to worry about what to write under “Social Security Number.”
8. When Social Security and Medicare are taken out of my paycheck, I have a reasonable hope that someday either my dependents or I will receive the benefit of those taxes.
9. I can go in any bank and set up a checking account with out fear of discrimination, thus knowing my money is safer than on my person or elsewhere.
10. If a police officer pulls me over, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my perceived immigration status.
11. I can be reasonably sure that if I need legal, medical advice or help, my citizenship status will not be a consideration.
12. I can vote in any election on policies or on people who will make laws affecting my way of life and my community.
13. I may consider running for political office to serve my community.
14. I, or a member of my family,* can apply for scholarship aid to the institutions of higher education that are supported by my family’s tax dollars.
15. I have not been forced to ask myself what would compel me to risk my life, crossing a barren desert for days without food or water, or employing any other dangerous form of transport to enter the U.S., leaving my family,* my home, my roots behind me to enter into a country that not only feels hostile to my kind, but is
also at times difficult to understand.
16. If am treated violently or inappropriately by a federal entity I have some hope of legal recourse.
17. I can choose whether or not I take part in discussions surrounding how my lifestyle or the actions of my government have impacted the lives of those in other countries.
18. If I decide to organize or speak out about the policies my country has enacted or about any inaction or wrong doing, I am more likely to understand the systems I was brought up around and how they work. Those in power are more likely to listen to me and credit my arguments than a non citizen.
* On our use of the word “family”- “family” in most discourse on immigration policy is not used to describe unmarried, non-blood, and queer familial relations.
Here we recognize the inherent value, legitimacy and importance of these relationships regardless of state sanction.
Organizing Citizens to Support Immigrant Rights!
Website: http://www.afsc.org/central/colorado
Quote Taken From Article in The Portland Phoenix:
Should non-citizens vote?
Government Reform
By JEFF INGLIS February 17, 2010
"Legal immigrants typically take between eight and 10 years to earn citizenship, if they decide to. "Many of our immigrants are refugees" with legal status, Trevorrow says, who have kids in the public schools and pay property, income, and sales taxes yet at present lack a voice in how that money is spent — at least for the period before they become citizens. Some, for whom renouncing another citizenship would mean loss of property or ability to visit relatives abroad, never become US citizens and never have a voice in how their new home is governed."
Food For Thought:
Can you think of any other privileges afforded to U.S. citizens over non-citizens living in the U.S.?
What are your thoughts on non-citizens voting?
How do other factors such as race, sex, or poverty affect non-citizens, in particular, who are living in the US?
Should illegal immigrants be afforded the same chances as those immigrants who have moved here through legal channels or who are refugees?
FMI Please Visit:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
&
Requirements for Naturalization:
http://immigration.findlaw.com/immigration/immigration-citizenship-naturalization/immigration-citizenship-naturalization-overview.html
50 Examples of White Privilege
Focusing on White Privilege
submitted by Hannah Kelley (via Dave Taylor's account due to technical difficulties)
Week 8
As I was trying to find an area of privilege to focus on for my post, I stumbled upon Peggy McIntosh’s list of 50 examples of white privilege in daily life, (2007). She says in her introduction to this piece that many people think of the United States as a changing and progressive society where race, culture and other differences are not problems anymore. However I believe it is almost impossible to be colorblind and us as a society are certainly not. She goes on to explain that her as a white person was taught to see racism as something that puts others down and treats them unequally. But she never looked at it as something that put her and her skin color in the majority and gave her an advantage. I think this point is very interesting and I think it is important for people to understand that racism and privilege affect all of us in differing ways. She has compiled a list of white privileges that happen on a daily basis. For all of us it is challenging to understand what it is like to walk in someone else’ s shoes and live in a different race but this list was very informative to me. As an African American I understand personally what it is like and have had many of the things on the list happen to me or people I am close to. I hope this helps open peoples eyes and I think this list fits very well with the theme of the class which is about learning different cultures and ethnicities and learning about our selves in regards to biases.
Here is the list:
1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
3. 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.
4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.
11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.
12. 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 which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
16. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.
17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.
18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.
19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
22. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world's majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
23. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
24. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.
25. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.
26. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race.
27. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.
28. I can be pretty sure that an argument with a colleague of another race is more likely to jeopardize her/his chances for advancement than to jeopardize mine.
29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.
30. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.
31. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in any case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative consequences of any of these choices.
32. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other races.
33. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
34. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.
35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
36. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.
37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.
38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.
39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
42. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.
43. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.
44. I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.
45. I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.
46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
47. I can travel alone or with my spouse without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us.
48. I have no difficulty finding neighborhoods where people approve of our household.
49. My children are given texts and classes which implicitly support our kind of family unit and do not turn them against my choice of domestic partnership.
50. I will feel welcomed and "normal" in the usual walks of public life, institutional and social.
submitted by Hannah Kelley (via Dave Taylor's account due to technical difficulties)
Week 8
As I was trying to find an area of privilege to focus on for my post, I stumbled upon Peggy McIntosh’s list of 50 examples of white privilege in daily life, (2007). She says in her introduction to this piece that many people think of the United States as a changing and progressive society where race, culture and other differences are not problems anymore. However I believe it is almost impossible to be colorblind and us as a society are certainly not. She goes on to explain that her as a white person was taught to see racism as something that puts others down and treats them unequally. But she never looked at it as something that put her and her skin color in the majority and gave her an advantage. I think this point is very interesting and I think it is important for people to understand that racism and privilege affect all of us in differing ways. She has compiled a list of white privileges that happen on a daily basis. For all of us it is challenging to understand what it is like to walk in someone else’ s shoes and live in a different race but this list was very informative to me. As an African American I understand personally what it is like and have had many of the things on the list happen to me or people I am close to. I hope this helps open peoples eyes and I think this list fits very well with the theme of the class which is about learning different cultures and ethnicities and learning about our selves in regards to biases.
Here is the list:
1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
3. 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.
4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.
11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.
12. 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 which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
16. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.
17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.
18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.
19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
22. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world's majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
23. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
24. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.
25. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.
26. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race.
27. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.
28. I can be pretty sure that an argument with a colleague of another race is more likely to jeopardize her/his chances for advancement than to jeopardize mine.
29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.
30. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.
31. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in any case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative consequences of any of these choices.
32. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other races.
33. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
34. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.
35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
36. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.
37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.
38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.
39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
42. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.
43. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.
44. I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.
45. I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.
46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
47. I can travel alone or with my spouse without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us.
48. I have no difficulty finding neighborhoods where people approve of our household.
49. My children are given texts and classes which implicitly support our kind of family unit and do not turn them against my choice of domestic partnership.
50. I will feel welcomed and "normal" in the usual walks of public life, institutional and social.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The relative invisibility of systemic prejudice
I have included a link to part 1 of a 6 part talk given by Tim Wise on the Pathology of White Privilege. I think it is highly worthwhile to view all six parts, and they may be found on youtube. However, I have included only this first part as a good introduction to the idea of systemic racism and white privilege.
The clip discusses the many ways that privilege manifests in society, in politics and law enforcement, for example. The difficulty with privilege is that, by its inherent nature, it is invisible. Privilege is the status quo. It takes a level of cultural awareness and an appreciation for diversity to combat the power of privilege. This class has focused on building cultural awareness and awareness of our own biases and perspectives, our own ways of experiencing privilege in society. Just think, for a minute, about privilege in education, and how often we take a course that never, ever mentions issues of race and culture. Think of your latest history, science, or economics course, for example. Perhaps, if the teacher was especially culturally sensitive, there was a week where contributions from non-white races and non-western cultures were honored. Most likely, race and culture were never mentioned and whole segments of society and huge issues remained invisible. Assumptions of white privilege prevailed in textbooks, in classroom discussions, in research, and in philosophies. This is just one small example of how privilege colors our views of society, of everything. And this is true even if we are not members of the privileged class. A member of a non-privileged group experiences the same biased education, for example, as a member of the privileged group. Tim Wise talks about law enforcement and the biased beliefs of police officers despite data that contradicts those beliefs. Often, an officer of color holds the very same belief, even though it is biased against people of his/her race. The task of combatting this pervasive perspective of privilege seems overwhelming. How do we do it? What steps, no matter how small, can each individual take to combat the effects of such privilege? What is one's role as a member of the privileged culture? As a member of a non-privileged culture? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves.
The clip discusses the many ways that privilege manifests in society, in politics and law enforcement, for example. The difficulty with privilege is that, by its inherent nature, it is invisible. Privilege is the status quo. It takes a level of cultural awareness and an appreciation for diversity to combat the power of privilege. This class has focused on building cultural awareness and awareness of our own biases and perspectives, our own ways of experiencing privilege in society. Just think, for a minute, about privilege in education, and how often we take a course that never, ever mentions issues of race and culture. Think of your latest history, science, or economics course, for example. Perhaps, if the teacher was especially culturally sensitive, there was a week where contributions from non-white races and non-western cultures were honored. Most likely, race and culture were never mentioned and whole segments of society and huge issues remained invisible. Assumptions of white privilege prevailed in textbooks, in classroom discussions, in research, and in philosophies. This is just one small example of how privilege colors our views of society, of everything. And this is true even if we are not members of the privileged class. A member of a non-privileged group experiences the same biased education, for example, as a member of the privileged group. Tim Wise talks about law enforcement and the biased beliefs of police officers despite data that contradicts those beliefs. Often, an officer of color holds the very same belief, even though it is biased against people of his/her race. The task of combatting this pervasive perspective of privilege seems overwhelming. How do we do it? What steps, no matter how small, can each individual take to combat the effects of such privilege? What is one's role as a member of the privileged culture? As a member of a non-privileged culture? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves.
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