white privilege | Abagond

http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/white-privilege/

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white privilege
Fri 11 Jul 2008 by abagond

(http://abagond.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/0108toon.gif)White privilege is made up of the advantages that whites enjoy in American society, things that they take for granted that others, like blacks, cannot. Just like those with money take certain things for granted, so do those with a white skin. Most whites are blind to their own white privilege. It is the wind beneath their wings that they do not feel because it is always there, because they take it for granted. They do not have to know about it or be racist to benefit. Ampersand put it well:

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Privilege is driving a smooth road and not even knowing it. And when they go faster and farther than others they think it is because they are better drivers. Being white is not all peaches and cream, but it does have its advantages: The police will not stop you for no good reason. Or shoot you unless you are clearly armed. They will even keep your neighbourhood safe. Car salesmen will charge you less. Employers will pay you more. Even more than a black person with more experience and education than you have. At work your ideas will be listened to more, you will trusted with more important things, you will be able to move up more easily and people are less likely to doubt that you can do something. If you are rushed to the hospital, doctors will try harder to save your life. Poor whites in general live longer than middle-class blacks. If you go to public school, the government will spend more on your education. You are more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt by strangers, especially if you are well-dressed. You do not have to think about the colour of your skin. You can live in any nice part of town you can afford. If you are a woman, societys idea of beauty looks like you in terms of race. White History Month is the longest month it never seems to end. Not just history but the news is told from the white point of view and reports on things that interest white readers. Like missing white women. Those are just some examples and maybe not even the best ones at that Whites think they got to where they are from their own hard work and merit. Hard work and merit do matter, but it is not the whole story. It was easier for them to get to where they are now because it was easier to get a good education and easier even to just get work. American society has been built by and for white people. It favours them at every turn without even trying. Not because of some evil plot but just because of who builds and runs it. A good example of this: a white editor at a newspaper will think a shooting in a white part of town is more important than one in a black part of town. It just will seem that way to him. But then the black part of town gets underreported. And so on. See also: white people (http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/white-people/) What white people should know (../2008/07/02/2008/07/01/2008/06/26/what-white-people-shouldknow/) Whites are still racist (../2008/06/05/whites-are-still-racist/) colour-blind racism (../2008/07/02/2008/07/01/2008/06/26/2008/06/25/2008/06/05/2008/05/31/colourblind-racism/) Race in America (../2006/10/07/race-in-america/) missing white women (http://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/12/27/the-missing-white-womansyndrome/)
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white patriotism (../2008/07/30/white-patriotism/) Posted in 2000s, America, race, white people | 57 Comments

57 Responses
roger on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 13:26:46 And when they go faster and farther than others they think it is because they are better drivers. Car salesmen will charge you less. At work your ideas will be listened to more, you will trusted with more important things, If you are rushed to the hospital, doctors will try harder to save your life. do you ever tire of making unsubstantiated, flagrant generalizations. i gather that you see all whites at cut from the same cloth. if i said that blacks allow their neighborhoods to deteriorate at a fantastic rate, care not at all about education, and do nothing to prevent their young men from being murdered at four times the national average, and this because blacks do not value life and hate themselves, would this be an accurate description of blacks as an entire race or culture or population.

roger on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 13:37:27 Whites think they got to where they are from their own hard work and merit. janusz bardach wrote an excellent account of his experience as a prisoner in kolyma which is a far eastern region of siberia. he was forced to mine gold in extreme cold and in inhuman conditions. he immigrated to the united states and eventually a head physician at the university of iowa. tell me how to understand this account. did dr bardach achieve this success at the expense of blacks and could his achievement be defined in any terms other than that of white privilege. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/325/7369/906

nonserviam on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 16:57:39 American society has been built by and for white people. It favours them at every turn without even trying. Not because of some evil plot but just because of who builds and runs it. Think carefully about the implications of this, white folks. Taken to its logical end, this means than nothing less than total dismantling of our civilization (and cutting our own throats, for good measure) would rectify that historical injustice. And keep in mind that youve already gone, collectively, down this road further than any other group in todays world. Ask yourself: has it bought you much any at all goodwill in return? Ask

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yourself: is unilateral disarmament in a hostile environment such a prudent idea?

abagond on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 18:53:21 Every single one of those things in the list is backed up by things that either I have experienced (in or near New York) or one of my friends have or which are easy enough to document as fact. I tend to speak in absolutes but I did not make any of it up. Sad to say. I do not get my picture of white people from television or Hollywood but from what I have seen with my own two eyes and what I have heard from people I trust.

indigoblu on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 19:37:06 If you are rushed to the hospital, doctors will try harder to save your life. Id hate to think that is true, but I cant dismiss it.

indigoblu roger:

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 19:51:07

Dr. Bardach is just one man, one example, and Im sure that some white people have been put under extreme pressures and under unfavorable conditions and prevailed nevertheless, which is a wonderful success. However, that number would simply pale, almost diminish, when compared to those who are black and experience the same, almost catholic cycle just by default of their skin color because the fact remains that there is still privilege in being white.

abagond on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 21:21:41 nonserviam: I am not asking for the destruction of American society, just the end of its blind whiteness.

abagond indigoblu: about doctors:

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 21:25:09

My wife used to work in an E.R. in Newark. She said doctors do not treat everyone the same. Three things will help you to get better care: youth, insurance and a white skin. To take an extreme case: do you think doctors will try just as hard to save the life of a poor old drunk black man as they would the little white girl from a rich family?

indigoblu Aba:

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 21:43:00

I would assume the people who know best about these situations are doctors and nurses

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themselves, like your wife. I, personally, have never experienced it but I didnt intend to sound as if it is unfeasible. To a greater degree, I said it because it is very disheartening.

maverick on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:04:56 I think the problem here is that Abagond has portrayed a very complex situation as simply and succintly as he knows how. What gets on my nerves is when white people completely dismiss the frustrations and effects of racism on black people because they themselves have never seen it, experienced it, or perpetuated it themselves. Because its not relevant to them, it must obviously not exist and hence gets dismissed (insert eyeroll here). I dont need to say anything else because 1/2 the comments above have already proved my point.

maverick on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:08:18 Also, doctors and nurses themselves have published EXTENSIVE research on the health disparities present between white and other underserved populations (mostly white and hispanic), this is why the AAMC has announced, several times, the need for medical schools to diversify their classes, i.e., accept more black people. It has been documented that black physicians are more likely to serve in underserved populations than their white populations. Google it.

Olivia Tim Wise;

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:17:48

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roger on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:33:44 when white people completely dismiss the frustrations and effects of racism on black people because they themselves have never seen it, experienced it, or perpetuated it themselves. the doctrine of white privilege itself insists that white people have benefited from white privilege at the expense of nonwhites thus whites perpetuate oppression. further, whites perpetuate this oppression without being aware, to wit: Privilege is driving a smooth road and not even knowing it. i can understand the frustration of whites when they attempt to have a conversation about race and then are deemed culpable based on nothing more than being white. the default scenario is that a white person is racist and oppressive to nonwhites. no further discussion is allowed, regardless of attempts by whites to relate to the economic, social or racial plight of nonwhites. Because its not relevant to them, it must obviously not exist and hence gets dismissed (insert eyeroll here). if the comment was meant for me i would say that i do not dismiss these concerns and i would further ask the question: how do you know that racial frustration and effects of racism are no relevant to me and that i believe that the same do not exist.

roger on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:42:40 Also, doctors and nurses themselves have published EXTENSIVE research on the health disparities present between white and other underserved populations (mostly white and hispanic), so the reason that select populations are underserved is because of an expansive and vast number of racist physicians and nurses; or is the reason for this disparity deprivation as a function of class status and lack of access to quality health care.

roger on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:52:06 Dr. Bardach is just one man, one example, and Im sure that some white people have been put
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under extreme pressures and under unfavorable conditions and prevailed nevertheless, which is a wonderful success. my question was : would those on this board assume that dr bardach recovered from this horrifying experience and found success at the expense of nonwhites. if this is not the case then what does this sentence mean: Whites think they got to where they are from their own hard work and merit. typically when white privilege is discussed the connotation is that nonwhites are owed something from whites as a consequence of white privilege. is that the thinking in the case of dr bardach.

W.B. Reeves on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 00:07:15 typically when white privilege is discussed the connotation is that nonwhites are owed something from whites as a consequence of white privilege. is that the thinking in the case of dr bardach. This is a typical mode for derailing the discussion of white privilege. Once again, what is a systemic criticism requiring a systemic solution is forced into the cramped confines of an individual case. Its admitted that white privilege is not uniform and consistent in every situation. Consequently, it will always be possible to find individual exceptions to the general rule. I wouldnt presume to speak for others but for myself I would suggest that white folks, at minimum, owe to themselves and others a frank recognition that they inhabit a socially constructed identity that insulates them and limits their perspective as well as their ability to comprehend the larger social reality in which they exist. If they could accomplish just this much, we might begin to have a real conversation about the realities of the skin game as practiced in the US. This would require that white folks actually give weight to the perspectives and experiences of so-called non-Whites. In short, they would have to give up the presumption of the superiority of their own views and come to grips with realities outside their subjective experience, rather than wasting time and energy coming up with excuses for not doing so.

nonserviam on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 00:59:14 See, roger, defensiveness and trying to find anecdotal support for your positions simply means that youve already lost half, if not most, of the argument. You should take W.B.s advice and approach the issue conceptually and refuse to buy into the rhetorical game whose rules are rigged against you. Where youre guilty by virtue of being successful (or physically resembling the people who are), and where your very identity is nothing but a social construct with no purpose other than oppression and dispossession of others, however real it may seem to the unenlightened you.

lunchcountersitin on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 01:16:40 {do you ever tire of making unsubstantiated, flagrant generalizations. i gather that you see all whites at cut from the same cloth.} Actually, Ive seen empirical evidence throughout the years that does in fact substantiate just about
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all the comments made in the post. On Health Disparities: The health disparities between African Americans and other racial groups are striking and are apparent in life expectancy, infant mortality, and other measures of health status. For example, in 1999 the average American could expect to live 77.8 years, the average African American could only expect to live 73.1 years. Factors contributing to poor health outcomes among African Americans include discrimination, cultural barriers, and lack of access to health care. - Refer to : http://www.cdc.gov/omhd/Highlights/2007/HFeb07.htm On School Spending Disparities: This needs no further research. he vast majority of public schools are funding with property taxes primarily, with income or sales taxes next. Blacks have less housing wealth than whites, and make less, and spend less. Therefore, communities with large black populations (cites) have less to spend on schools than communities that don;t have a lot of whites (suburbs). On Car Dealer Disparities: A study on gender and racial price differentials for car sales found that car prices quoted for females and/or African-Americans were significantly higher than those given to their white male counterparts. African-American males fared the worst. They were socked with prices some $1,000 greater than those quoted their white counterparts. Go to: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/stonebrakerr/book/automobiles.htm The posts charges are not flimsy or silly. This is the REALITY that black people face. The facts are an Internet search away. PS: This does not mean all whites are racist. But it does reflect that whites are privileged as a group compared to blacks as a group. Visit my blog at http://allotherpersons.wordpress.com/

lunchcountersitin on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 01:30:13 {typically when white privilege is discussed the connotation is that nonwhites are owed something from whites as a consequence of white privilege. is that the thinking in the case of dr bardach.} typically define the great mass of people who are saying this typically. This is the mega-question: in a world where globalization is more and more marginalizing American power, can this country afford to maintain a structure where any group is under-privileged, and therefore, more likely to fail?
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I think we ALL want this country to be great. But how can this country be great when a substantial portion of its people are disadvantaged, as black Americans are compared to white Americans? The point is, its in white Americas interests to close the privilege gap and enable black Americans to have the same opportunities as white Americans. But before this gap can be closed, of course, we must first acknowledge that it exists. Visit my blog at http://allotherpersons.wordpress.com/

La Reyna on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 01:30:33 Why all the denials by nonblacks regarding white privilege? Why be so defensive about this issue? As I see it, the majority of nonblack people receive better treatment without secondguessing nor overworrying about it. La Reyna

indigoblu roger:

on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 02:02:20

No, I do not think Dr. Bardach owes anyone anything but he can probably credit some of his success in America, as a physician, to this whiteness. When I think of white privilege I do not think in terms of someone white owing me something because I am not white other than the same rights and privilege they are given by default. White privilege is something initiated by its people and maintained by the system. Society is constructed to favor whites and not other people and that obviously lacks balance. Recognition that it exist, as W. B. said, is an essential step forward to making a change in such social injustice. if this is not the case then what does this sentence mean: Whites think they got to where they are from their own hard work and merit. Since this is not the case, go back and read #6.

abagond lunchcountersitin: thank you for documenting some of this.

on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 03:28:21

abagond on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 03:43:28 roger: no one here, as far as I can tell, is trying to shut you down or not letting you have your say. And while nonserviam has been sarcastic to me, no one has been sarcastic to you as far as I can remember. But I can tell you that what drives much of the black comment and my own posts on this blog is not some kind of demonization of white people (white people suck ) but how you and white commenters are defensive, in denial and just plain blind.

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I would so love to write a post like this and have white people read it and see what I see. That would be so beautiful.

abagond Olivia: Thanks for the Tim Wise links. I know he is big on white privilege.

on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 04:02:31

roger on Mon 14 Jul 2008 at 12:57:28 Its admitted that white privilege is not uniform and consistent in every situation. this is certainly not the manner in which the issue is presented here. American society has been built by and for white people. It favours them at every turn without even trying. i gather that all white americans have built and have supported the building of a racist society for the perpetuation of white privilege. there are no whites which see racial injustice nor understand the austere violence of the emmitt till case nor the wickedness of the medgar evers case nor blind prejudice of the james meredith case. you speak in such absolute terms as if all whites hold just such prejudice as a function of having white skin. any discussion or criticism of this faulty thinking leads to cries of denial and racial blindness.

roger white privilege:

on Mon 14 Jul 2008 at 13:02:46

http://geekaygee.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisibleknapsack/ 50 individual characteristics of privilege. how many of these do you accept as articles of faith. how many of these do you accept without questioning. what is the depth of your belief in a pervasive, conspiratorial, racist society.

siditty on Wed 16 Jul 2008 at 11:44:04 tell me how to understand this account. did dr bardach achieve this success at the expense of blacks and could his achievement be defined in any terms other than that of white privilege. His white privilege got him into the country. His white privilege gave people the assumption he was smarter than black people. Plus using one example doesnt really show how much more hard working whites are than blacks. Remember we fought in your wars to come back and get treated like second class citizens, we were viewed as chattel and sub human by folks like you, and that thought process still lingers by the gross generalizations you just made to prove how bad agabonds view were, so I guess in reality you just proved your white privilege.

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siditty on Wed 16 Jul 2008 at 12:01:26 if the comment was meant for me i would say that i do not dismiss these concerns andi would further ask the question: how do you know that racial frustration and effects of racism are no relevant to me and that i believe that the same do not exist. Because you were quick to use black generalizations and then use an example of a white man who was able to overcome obstacles, which reeked of the very stereotypical, Why cant you pick yourself up by the bootstraps like others logic, which to me insinuates that you think most black people live in poverty and commit crime. typically when white privilege is discussed the connotation is that nonwhites are owed something from whites as a consequence of white privilege. is that the thinking in the case of dr bardach. Nothing is owed by whites, except respect, which is rarely if ever given. The problem with people like you is you think blacks feel entitled, I guess namely to be treated as equals.

roger on Thu 17 Jul 2008 at 21:56:43 we were viewed as chattel and sub human by folks like you, and that thought process still lingers by the gross generalizations you just made to prove how bad agabonds view were, so I guess in reality you just proved your white privilege. in other words, any intellectual evaluation of this categorical, emphatic, unmitigated, assumption that all whites, without exception, are born to be and remain racist oppressors, will be met with vile and unfounded racist accusations. as i have never considered another human being as being subhuman, you are incorrect in your assumptions. or perhaps i suffer from a grasp reality so feeble that my entire weltanschauung is deluded. http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/james-baldwin-on-deluded-white-people/

roger on Thu 17 Jul 2008 at 22:12:24 Because you were quick to use black generalizations and then use an example of a white man who was able to overcome obstacles, which reeked of the very stereotypical, Why cant you pick yourself up by the bootstraps like others logic, which to me insinuates that you think most black people live in poverty and commit crime. no, im not asking about the self reliance of nonwhites. again, the question was: is dr bardachs success a function of white privilege at the expense of nonwhites or did he succeed as a function of hard work and resilience. you seem intent on assuming too much.

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roger The Pirate Privilege Checklist http://scarletdemon.livejournal.com/190338.html

on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 13:24:43

W.B. Reeves on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 17:25:30 in other words, any intellectual evaluation of this categorical, emphatic, unmitigated, assumption that all whites, without exception, are born to be and remain racist oppressors, will be met with vile and unfounded racist accusations. as i have never considered another human being as being subhuman, you are incorrect in your assumptions. Not in other words. In your words. If you cant argue your position without projecting your fantasies and fabrications onto others, there really isnt much point in talking to you.

roger on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 18:35:46 I experience privilege. I am college educated. I have a steady, salaried job. I am heterosexual. I have a house and a mortgage. Two cars. Two kids. One dog. I am able bodied. My husband and I are married. Both of my parents are still alive and well. I have health insurance. I have privilege. this was linked to alas. while i fail to appreciate the toolbox segway, i found the article enlightening. http://www.antiracistparent.com/2008/06/09/is-privilege-offensive/ i have a similar experience. my parents were working poor and my mother died when i was six months of age. i graduated from high school and moved to a medium size city in the west and started with nothing. none of this background is intended to elicit pity. i worked in manual labor positions for many years. i applied for and was admitted to the university. i worked nights to get through school and graduated after five years. after graduation i worked a series of jobs and now have a reasonably comfortable position with health insurance, a mortgage, a couple of old cars, and some kids. this has been done from scratch hundreds of thousands of times. i acknowledge that there is privilege in being of european decent. my question is, how much of the success of this journey: mine and thousands of others can be attributed to race and how much is attributed to hard work and determination. plz feel free to address the question with references which do not categorically insist that i must of necessity see blacks as subhuman, references which do not insist that my understanding of the world and my understanding of class struggle and my grasp of reality is so feeble that i am by definition of whiteness deluded, references which have me projecting undefined fantasy and fabrication upon others, references which insist that whiteness will not under circumstance allow for an individual to empathize with the plight and anguish if those who suffer.

W.B. Reeves on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 20:46:10 plz feel free to address the question with references which do not categorically insist that i must of necessity see blacks as subhuman, references which do not insist that my understanding of the world and my understanding of class struggle and my grasp of reality is so feeble that i am by definition of whiteness deluded, references which have me projecting
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undefined fantasy and fabrication upon others, references which insist that whiteness will not under circumstance allow for an individual to empathize with the plight and anguish if those who suffer. Here I was prepared to give you the benefit of a doubt and you go off the deep end again. There was nothing undefined in my criticism. I quoted the relevant passage. You couldnt find ammunition for your argument in what was actually written, So you were forced into interpretation. Said interpretation consisting of imposing your view of the issues rather than interrogating the opinions actually expressed. There are a number of words that can describe a person who insists that their own perception trumps all others to the extreme of privileging their subjective opinion of what is said over the the actual statements and expressed intent of others. Delusional is among them. i acknowledge that there is privilege in being of european decent. my question is, how much of the success of this journey: mine and thousands of others can be attributed to race and how much is attributed to hard work and determination. If you want a pat on the back for being a hard working stiff and to be told that you deserve whatever success youve managed to acrue, I have no real objection. Of course, the world is full of people whove worked just as hard or harder, have faced as great or greater challenges and have ended up with nada. Your hard work and determination may borne fruit but that isnt true for everyone. Contrary to what we prefer to believe, hard work and determination are not inevitably rewarded. Given that you now say that you recognize that being of European descent does in fact confer privileges, Im not certain what the point of your question is. Why is it so important for you to have some formula for calculating your own degree of privilege? Why would you expect anyone on this blog to provide you with one? The only person here with anything approaching the proper data set for such a calculation is yourself. You seem to have a real sense of victimization around your social identity as a white person. Not really suprising, a lot of white folks feel victimized by the constrictive identity of whiteness. However, for white folks, the wages of whiteness are largely, if not entirely, psychological and self enforced. For non-white people they are material as well as psychological and imposed from without. This distinction in how people experience white supremacy is fundamental to their divergent views of racism. Whites tend to think of racism as a philosophical or ethical choice. Non-whites experience racism as an abiding social and material reality. The former enjoy the luxury pf reducing it to a question of individual choice. The latter must endure it as an imposed collective judgement. You seem to be caught up in the self referential ethical morass. What is the exact degree of my privilege? What exact degree of my success is attributable to privilege? These are legitimate questions to ask oneself but unless they a part of a larger inquiry into the social, institutional and economic realities of racism, they are irrelevant to anyone other than yourself. Outside the charmed circle of whiteness what is important is not how you feel about yourself but what your material response to the continuing legacy of white supremacy is.

roger on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 23:12:06 my question is, how much of the success of this journey: mine and thousands of others can be attributed to race and how much is attributed to hard work and determination.
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i posed the question to ask: of the hundreds of thousands of persons who have had success, how much of this success is accomplished by means of oppressing persons of another race. i believe that this was a larger inquiry into the institutional realities of race. nevertheless, let me pose a further question. It seems to me that obliviousness about white advantage, like obliviousness about male advantage, is kept strongly inculturated in the United States so as to maintain the myth of meritocracy, the myth that democratic choice is equally available to all. Keeping most people unaware that freedom of confident action is there for just a small number of people props up those in power and serves to keep power in the hands of the same groups that have most of it already. and One factor seems clear about all of the interlocking oppressions. They take both active forms, which we can see, and embedded forms, which as a member of the dominant groups one is taught not to see. In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth. do you agree with the author that the dominant group (her language) is indoctrinated not to see racism and that some force enculterates the citizens of any given society to be intentionally oblivious to privilege. the thing reads like a grand conspiracy theory. i would agree that hard work and determination does not always pay. however are we then justified in saying that the dominant group is at once oblivious to their privilege and indoctrinated to overlook racism to such a degree that vast numbers of persons not within the dominant group are crushed under the feet of these delusional, oblivious, brainwashed racists. would you be willing to tell me how to understand this or am i still stuck in some manner of self referential morass. http://geekaygee.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack/

abagond Yes, most white people are blind to their privilege and racism.

on Sat 19 Jul 2008 at 06:20:15

It is not a conspiracy but it is not an accident either because when you point it out to them they are a bit too artful in how they deny it. That means it is a learned blindness.

W.B. Reeves on Sat 19 Jul 2008 at 13:32:46 i posed the question to ask: of the hundreds of thousands of persons who have had success, how much of this success is accomplished by means of oppressing persons of another race. i believe that this was a larger inquiry into the institutional realities of race. Except that you gave your own life experience as an example. Indeed, that experience is the only hard data you supplied. I dont see how broadening the query to whites in general makes this an inquiry into institutional realities. To even attempt such a calculus you would have to focus on countless individual
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experiences allowing for plethora of idiosyncratic circumstances. This is the antithesis of an institutional or systemic investigation. Again, what would be the purpose? Are you planning on setting up some tribunal which will assess the specific degree of complicity in white supremacy of every white person? That would be an ambitious, not to say quixotic, undertaking. Far more extreme than anything suggested here. As I indicated earlier, my own hopes are more circumspect. Id like to see white folks stop pretending that they somehow stand outside or above the racism that permiates our history and continues to blight our present. In my view, white folks ought to start taking responsibility for the system bequeathed to them since it advantages them at the expense of others. It is beyond bizarre that in every conversation about white supremacy and racism we hear, in one form or another, a demand that everyone except white people take resposibility for providing solutions. Do you agree with the author that the dominant group (her language) is indoctrinated not to see racism and that some force enculterates the citizens of any given society to be intentionally oblivious to privilege. the thing reads like a grand conspiracy theory. i would agree that hard work and determination does not always pay. however are we then justified in saying that the dominant group is at once oblivious to their privilege and indoctrinated to overlook racism to such a degree that vast numbers of persons not within the dominant group are crushed under the feet of these delusional, oblivious, brainwashed racists. If you think this reads like a grand conspiracy theory? I can only imagine what you would make of studies in anthropology or sociology. Its a given that the institutions, customs and mores of any society serve some practical purpose. Otherwise they and/or the society in which they operate would cease to be. Slavery endured in the US until it became apparent that it threatened the continue existence of the social system it served. Jim Crow endured until it likewise was perceived to threaten the continued health of the system. In both instances, these institutions were defended by hundreds of thousands of whites who not only denied that they were unjust or inhumane but who argued that these institutions were the epitome of justice and humanity. Now, would you consider such people to have been cynical hypocrites or delusional? Further, is it realistic to suggest that such modes of thinking just happened and that any contrary view amounts to a conspiracy theory? To put it in historical terms that you may find more palatable; for centuries it was an article of faith in Europe that witches and witchcraft were real. As a consequence, tens of thousands were brutally tortured and killed in the name of righteousness and Christian charity. Was this belief and the resulting carnage the product of a grand conspiracy? Does recognizing the delusional nature of this belief as well as the material interests it served constitute a grand conspiracy theory?. The point here is that people can talk themselves into damn near anything, as long as it serves their interests. Why is this commonplace observation so disturbing when applied to the questions of white supremacy and racism? Is it possible that it is the old principle of whose ox is being gored in action? Anthropology and sociology to the side, conspiracies by white people against non-white people are a fact of history, not the product of fevered imaginations. The Atlantic slave trade didnt just

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happened. European Imperialism didnt just happen. Jim Crow and the disenfranchisement of African Americans didnt just happen. The Tuskeegee VD experiment didnt just happen. All of these events were planned and organized by white people to serve the interest of white people. To behave as though this were not true or as though these experiences shouldnt inform our judgement of present day events is a working definition of delusional.

abagond on Sun 20 Jul 2008 at 07:18:24 Part of the nature of white privilege and the way it works in American society is that you do not have to be racist to benefit. You do not have to be aware of it to benefit. You just have to be white.

Emerson on Tue 16 Mar 2010 at 23:17:19 What I have seen on this board is an abundance of disgruntled people. I guess that some people will never ever assimilate into a Eurocentric society. Funny how all of the first immigrants came to America (back in the Ellis Island days) and they have assimilated into America. But some people just cant do it. It is amazing how Asian americans can come to America (knowing no English) and there children somehow learn English. First generation Asian Americans can be very successful. I guess that racism can only harm one group and not another? hmmm Those darn racist white people!!! Blame Whitey!!! RAAAACISM!!! Every white person is RAAAACIST!!!

abagond on Tue 16 Mar 2010 at 23:57:02 The difference between you and me is that I know I am racist. You are racist and do not appear to know it. To paraphrase Jesus, just because you say Bob Marley, One Love! does not mean you are not racist.

Natasha W on Wed 17 Mar 2010 at 00:05:46 Am I the only one who has never heard the term whitey used, except from a white person? And whats all this talk about assimilation? Assimilate into what?

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313 Okay, so you openly admit that you are racist Heil Hitler!!!

on Wed 17 Mar 2010 at 00:05:51

Herneith Those darn racist white people!!! Blame Whitey!!! RAAAACISM!!! Every white person is RAAAACIST!!! You said it not anyone else!!!!!!!!! Read before your write Einstein!

on Wed 17 Mar 2010 at 00:20:44

Am I the only one who has never heard the term whitey used, except from a white person? Probably not. I know I havent, hahaha! There must be something in the air, all the loons seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Is it a full moon?

Mik on Tue 14 Dec 2010 at 01:19:41 and there are no black racism? My brother in law who is white on white want to a black volunteer orgainziation for boys and girls that was primerly black kids and he was turned down becuase he was WHITE. The guy said we need more black role models. Now my brother in law is smart and could have taught a young person who just happens to be black a lot of things but since the director was racist who loses the black kid child or my brother in law who happens to be WHITE. Racism is a two way street not one street and there is no such thing as WHite priveliage

Mik on Tue 14 Dec 2010 at 01:22:20 Emerson What I have seen on this board is an abundance of disgruntled people. I guess that some people will never ever assimilate into a Eurocentric society. Funny how all of the first immigrants came to America (back in the Ellis Island days) and they have assimilated into America. But some people just cant do it. It is amazing how Asian americans can come to America (knowing no English) and there children somehow learn English. First generation Asian Americans can be very successful. I guess that racism can only harm one group and not another? hmmm Those darn racist white people!!! Blame Whitey!!! RAAAACISM!!!
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Every white person is RAAAACIST!!! Well the next generation wants to be more chinese or Japanese like myself. Plus where is there European Heritiage month? I would love to learn about my scottish welsh English and chinese ancestors

jas0nburns on Wed 2 Feb 2011 at 14:51:41 The other day I was at the gym playing basketball and unlike usual everyone playing was white. (there were only 3 of us) Well it didnt take long for someone to mention them and how they always start some bullsh*t and how every one of them thinks that they are the best player on the court. We all knew well enough what was meant by them without saying so out loud. I was told that I should show up at a certain time because thats when the good game was. If we wanted to play with some good people we should show up at x oclock. I knew that if I did show up at that suggested time everyone there would be white. This was communicated to me without anyone saying so out loud. That got me thinking. Even though them (BP) is who I usually play with and associate with at the gym, this WP I was talking to didnt see me as one of them of course. That incident illustrated to me what is probably the most important white privilege of all. Automatic inclusion into the right group. The ability to blend right in with the good people.

serpentus on Sun 22 May 2011 at 19:43:06 The world is not fair. People take advantage of other peoples goodness.

leigh204 on Wed 11 Apr 2012 at 11:49:18 Many white people find it difficult to believe they have white privilege in society. You take any POC and a white person, that white person will have more advantages. How hard is that to understand?

Adeen Danica Mckenzie on Wed 11 Apr 2012 at 11:59:50 @Mik That situation sucks! I would have still allowed your brother in law in anyways. Race doesnt matter. @Leigh204 You are right. I agree.

Sondis on Sat 28 Jul 2012 at 14:33:17 http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/savannah-dietrich-twitter-sexual-assault-louisville174732753.html?_esi=1&bcmt_s=e

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This is a response that i posted on a yahoo article about a teenage white girl, that broke the law by tweeting the names of her rapists. Heres what i had to say on the topic: Morpheous is my screen on yahoo by the way. Ill say this, if she was black,she would be thrown, under the jail for breaking the law by releasing the rapists name to the public. This white girl, will either get the charged dropped or get a slap on the wrists. White people,constantly get off the hook or slap on the wrists but when the person is black or any other minority group,they get the worst penalty,the law has to offer. The justice system was made to punish,African Americans and every other minority group and protect white Europeans. Thats why you see over and over again,white people that commit crimes,get off with slaps on the wrists or get nothing at all, lets not forget that having the ability to buy justice is a reason white people, get off easy. Case in point: Casey Anthony has been found not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. She was also found not guilty of aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child. But she was convicted on charges of misleading law enforcement. WHAT?, HOW COULD SHE BE GUILTY OF MISLEADING LAW ENFORCEMENT BUT NOT GUILTY OF MURDERING HER 2 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER? Do you think i was surprised? Nope! I expected for her to be found,not guilty. Young white girl,attractive,crying every single time the camera was pointed at her,quite easily got the sympathy of white America. Heres the all too, common result for black people: Floridas Stand Your Ground Law No Help For Black Woman Sentenced To 20 Years Jail For Firing Warning Shot On Abusive Husband: We dont understand how the state allows criminals like George Zimmerman and Casey Anthony to run around free while putting a black woman who hasnt killed or even injured anyone behind bars for 20 years. Marissa Alexander, the 31-year-old Florida woman who fired what her family calls a warning shot at her abusive husband, was sentenced Friday morning to 20 years in prison. This is just one of 100s of examples, that point to the unequal justice in the country, between black and white people. Ill get thumbed down,because white people hate, when black people point out, the obvious inequality and discrepancy. So ill be called a racist,because i am calling out racism and discrimination, when i see it. I can care less,when i get thumbed down by all the racist white people.

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Because, white people are the only people in this country, that can call out racism,if they dont see it,then every black person is playing the race card. Silly, isnt it? White people arent the oppressed but they have the nerve to say to black people,stop playing the race card,every time you feel,youre being discriminated against. Dont you think we would know? history and present gives us the ability to call it out,when we experience it. How would a white person,know when another white person is being racist,toward a black person?,YOU WOULDNT KNOW,SO WHY DO YOU ALWAYS SAY WE ARE PLAYING THE RACE CARD? Then you say,why does it always have to be about race? ummmwhen isnt everything about race in the country? Poor people,blacks and other minority groups,get no justice,because they have no money to pay for justice, plus the justice system, preys on poor blacks and Latinos and other minority groups, the justice system is a cash cow,states across the country,get 20,000 per inmate for their jails and prisons,arresting poor blacks and Latinos and other minority groups is big business in this country. Like i said,this white girl is brave enough,to talk smack to a judge and brake the law,because she knows that nothing with happen to her,this is what every single white person knows and does. WHITE PRIVILEGE MUST BE GOOD,EH? I wish i could talk like that to a judge and break the law,without worrying the judge would lock me up forever,because i am a black man,living in America. Responding to my post was this person: Pierre San Bruno, California Morpheous, the United States is the first major country with a black president, a black attorney general and, in the Bush administration, the first black Secretary of State. If the U.S. government has instituted some kind of official racism policy dont you think it would be quite unlikely that these black Americans would have risen to such heights in public office. Its likely that more blacks are prosecuted because they live in neighborhoods and communities with higher rates of violence due in part to a breakdown in the black family. While American culture in general started deteriorating in the last half of the 20th century it has collapsed especially hard in the black community. Rather than stir up the spector of racism your comments would be more helpful if you offered support to her and other victims of legitimate crime. Be part of the solution not the problem. This is my response to Pierre: Pierre,so youre saying, just because we have a black president( which has been disrespected in a manner,from which no other president in history,( even bush was treated with more respect ) has been. President Obama has gotten, no support from REPUBLICANS by blocking every single thing he tries to accomplish and a black attorney general( which is being targeted for the color of his skin, being he

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is the very first Attorney general in history to be held in contempt by congress ,i guess its just a coincidence, that he happens to be African-American,right? ), that should be enough and black people should stay in their place and accept inequality? So you think that racism doesnt exist or happens, because our president is African-American and have a handful of African-Americans in high levels of office? 100s of years of institutional racism, that is still in place today in 2012, isnt wiped away, simply because we have a black president in office and have a black attorney general. It also needs to be noted,that whenever African-Americans, are ever in a high level of government,institutional racism, shows its ugly head by means of political sabotage,Eric holder ( Fast and furious ) and Obama ( health care reform ) is being quickly dealt with,so they can get ousted of out office. Obama is the 1st president in history,to accomplish health care reform and for that,republicans are trying to do everything in their power,to repeal his health care reform, legislation ,so i guess its yet again,a coincidence that he happens to be a black president,right? This country,doesnt want the 1st African-American president of the united states to be remembered or go down in history as reforming healthcare,something no white president has done,until now. They want that reserved for a white president,if Obama loses his second term, Romney will pick up, where Obama left off and get the credit for health care reform,because then he will have the cooperation of his fellow Republicans and even some democrats that really dont feel comfortable,having a black president in office and dont want to see him success in his flag ship,healthcare reform bill. So by your logic,Im part of the problem simply because i point out,inequality among blacks and whites in the country. This is what we went through,back in the 50s and 60s with the civil rights movement,when we fought for equal rights,we were, considered trouble makers and werepart of the problem and we were accused of stirring up the specter of racism as you put it! I dont condone what happened to the girl,i hate rapists and Im glad they will go to jail for what they done to the young girl. I just cant accept, that if she had been black or any other minority group,she would have no sympathy and the only thing, white people will see, is that she broke the law,despite the despicable act of being raped, while sleep but when a white person, brakes the law in this senerio,white people sympathize with her and will look the other way and justify her actions,because what was done to her. He didnt reply back.

Linda Morrison on Fri 31 Aug 2012 at 14:55:18 Tim Wise is a suspect, refined racist and not to be trusted. Blacks (non-whites) are easily fooled once again.

poetess on Tue 25 Sep 2012 at 21:32:16 Why do some whites assume talking about discrimination by the dominant society is a personal attack on them? Thats what Id like to know. Its as if they feel guilty. My feeling is, if you personally have done nothing wrong, why do you feel guilty? No one is talking about you, a particular white person, as an individual. Some whites also fail to understand that white skin
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privilege does not necessarily mean economic advantage or class, though that is often a part of it. Like my husband wondered how poor Appalachian whites have any privilege. Their privileges are cultural in a society built by and for white people.

truthbetold @ poetess

on Tue 25 Sep 2012 at 22:28:59

Whites do not feel any emotion remotely akin to guilt. Do not be fooled by the forked tongue and teary-eyed beings that want your sympathy. And if you think that whites do not understand that they have privilege, you are mistaken. Deception is a tool that they used to keep you uninformed and confused. From the moment of conception, they know the game, how to play it and how to use it against us. http://diaryofanegress.com/2012/05/13/the-plan/

Sondis Green Thank you @ truthbetold It was a good read, that link.

on Tue 25 Sep 2012 at 22:43:59

Legion (formerly SW6) Here is an example that is very powerful:

on Sun 30 Sep 2012 at 08:46:35

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/19/science/19nih.html?_r=3&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto

leigh204 @ Abagond: Have you checked this out yet?

on Wed 23 Jan 2013 at 03:18:23

http://thegrio.com/2013/01/17/white-privilege-lesson-in-wisconsin-high-school-draws-nationalattention/

Symphonic Zambophones on Wed 17 Apr 2013 at 05:15:46 Growing up in New York nice, liberal, mostly white ladies were my mentors and teachers (mighty whitey) and had a big influence on me and my worldview. Since being on my own Ive come to see the world is even harsher than they led me to think. I wasnt completely clueless nor misled to be entirely naive and I was warned about the dangers of being black and the ways blacks get treated and looked down on, but they had led me to think this (and heres an idea for a post, Abagond): Racism isnt that much of a problem anymore. We were agreed that racism still exists, but they had me thinking it was on the run. For instance in history books they discuss racism as a dwindling thing as you read toward more current time. You now that saying? The devils greatest trick is to make the world believe he doesnt exist? Well, that white people, or as angrier people call them the white d well, Im not gonna go there Anyway, yeah, white people are still racist, still want the biggest piece of the pie, but they also want us to believe theyre nice and thats its not racist. Looking back over my life I can see a bunch of instances
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now where Id been maltreated and made excuses for it, wondering why, thinking like they had indoctrinated me into thinking could not have been racist because racism had supposedly become A RARE THING. Between believing black people or whites on how mean white people can be, are, I thought to give the whites the BOTD, not that there werent whites who had negative opinions of their own people as well. I was living under the delusion that I was an individual overall and could be respected as such, not just superficial details, especially ones I had no control over, like my race or name. Long story short: I used to think white racists were rare, a small percentage of that part of the populace, like 4% or less maybe, just a fringe group. Now I see its the opposite. The MAJORITY of white Americans, and probably white people in general are racist, theyre the normal ones. The non-racists whites, sadly, are the fringe group. Also, Abagond, when are you gonna make a post about Accidental Racist? And I havent noticed a post with your take on blacks like Bill Cosby, who criticize black America? I agree with them to my own extent. While America might be a hopelessly racist nation at least black people could try to be more respectable, referring to the ones who seem to confirm the negative stereotypes.

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