Do You Recognize Your Privilege?

The other day, my partner said to me, "scott, I haven't met anyone who hates being white as much as you."  I don't think I hate being white, persay, but instead try to consistently acknowledge the privilege that goes along with being white - hence even the naming of my blog "Angry White Kid."  (And I do happen to think that the "white race" is the most boring, but that's not what's important here.)

Later on, I was mentioning the implications of race, class and gender supremacy/privilege, and my friends looked at me like I was nuts.

Then yesterday I went to an class on multi-systems anarchism and combating white supremacy, and got a copy of a handy White Benefits Checklist.  The list below is abridged, the full one is here.

Those three events, plus the overall failure of the white, middle-class "Left" to address racism (among many other things), made me want to post on this issue.  Lack of time and a decent internet connection means all you get is the list below.  Enjoy.  For good in-depth workshops and more, see Challenging White Supremacy, Colours of Resistance and Training for Change.  (And before someone gets all huffity-puffity, I'm not saying I'm perfect, I just think that instead of relying on people of color to consistently explain our own racism to us, maybe we should be checking ourselves.)

Look at the following benefits checklist, noting any benefit that you enjoy that a person of color of your age, gender, and class probably does not. Think about what effect not having that benefit would have had on your life.

My ancestors were legal immigrants to this country during a period when immigrants from Asia, South and Central America, or Africa were restricted.        

My ancestors came to this country of their own free will and have never had to relocate unwillingly once here.

I live on land that formerly belonged to Native Americans.   

I lived or live in a neighborhood that people of color were discouraged or discriminated from living in.      

I live in a school district or metropolitan area where more money is spent on the schools that white children go to than on those that children of color attend.

My ancestors were immigrants who took jobs in railroads, streetcars, construction, shipbuilding, wagon and coach driving, house painting, tailoring, longshore work, bricklaying, table waiting, working in the mills, furriering, dressmaking, or any other trade or occupation where people of color were driven out or excluded.

I have worked in a job where people of color were hired last or fired first.

I work in a job, career, or profession or in an agency or organization in which there are few people of color.

My parents were able to vote in any election they wanted without worrying about poll taxes, literacy requirements, or other forms of discrimination.       

I can always vote for candidates who reflect my race.

I live in a neighborhood that has better police protection and municipal services, and is safer than one where people of color live.

I see people who look like me in a wide variety of roles on television and in movies.       

A substantial percentage of the clothes I wear are made by poorly paid women and children of color in this country and abroad.

The house, office building, school, hotels and motels, or other buildings and grounds I use are cleaned or maintained by people of color.

I don’t need to think about race and racism every day. I can choose when and where I want to respond to racism.

Comments

[Skippy McGee]

Let's hope little Scotty catches a case of Q-Rid from his down low brothers shortly.

Scotty, I can see why you'd hate the white race since it has proven capable of producing genes like your own. Lead the way to a fairer world by taking your own life, set a good example for all your other insane homo leftwing buddies.

Every time this kind of self-hating scum finally implodes, it makes our race just a little better by weeding that strain out of our superb genetic inheritance.

If you really feel you want to do something about your own color, Scotty, do away with yourself.

[Skippy McGee]

The little flit says our evil society is an empty culture based on "capitalism," then on his about page is begging for a job.

Scotty, make up your mind. You can't have it both ways. If you have a better idea than the free market system that whites successfully managed for the past ten centuries, tell us all so we can improve our lot in life.

This century's talmudist exchange and fiat currency fake economy doesn't count, by the way. That's not the way we whites did things previously.

[Garrett]

Sorry if you cannot handle being part of the best race this planet has ever seen. Go live in your local ghetto and be a nigger lover. You would probably run back to your lily-white neighborhood in a heartbeat, you ignorant pussy.

[John]

You don't have to worry about feeling bad about being white. You and your race will soon become extinct. You are presently being exterminated in all of your countries by massive non-white immigration, miscegenation, anti-white brainwashing in the schools, on the jewish media and by idiots like you! I suspect that the Chineese will soon rule the world in spite of what the jews have planned! So be happy, asshole!

[WEM]

What kind of moron thinks Shakespeare, Goethe and Mozart are "boring"?

". . .I just think that instead of relying on people of color to consistently explain our own racism to us, maybe we should be checking ourselves."

And the checklist is then meant to establish whether we are racists? How can it, when not a single question probes our thoughts or beliefs?

I'm curious why your quoted statement precedes the list; do you believe that privilege and racism are one and the same? It seems to me that your ideology relies on a presumption of guilt on the part of all western whites.

[be]

Who do you think you're fooling, WEM? You're not watching Shakespeare and listening to Mozart; you're watching Foxworthy and listening to Toby Keith.

[Dr. H. Lecter]

Being somewhat of a gourmand, let me say, without reservation, caucasians are the ultimate in gastronomic delight.

[Phineas]

"What kind of moron thinks Shakespeare, Goethe and Mozart are 'boring'?"

Dude, I could be wrong, but I think he was talking about popular, contemporary culture.

[ash]

Wow...white people really do suck.

[Bethka]

Over here from Atrios' site and I just want to thank you for providing a space so those of us interested can see clearly the face of racism reflected in many of your posters. They are quite helpful in illustrating what we are up against, what attitudes of racism look like, and their comments point out that racism is still very much a problem. Not that many of us don't know that already, but the SCLM has managed to create a common wisdom, shared by many, that issues of racism have mostly been solved.

The sooner we see that race is just a tool used by the ruling class to keep us ignorant, divided, and ineffective, the sooner we can get past it.

It's not about race, it's about class and money. White Walmart shoppers have more in common with Brown/Black/etc Walmart shoppers than they EVER will with the Sam Walton family.

[chup]

Just came here from Atrios and I do belive I am gettin a case of the vapors. What an exicting thing to see how you rabble carry on. Its just like visiting the primate cages at the Nation Zoo in DC. What and exotic bunch of wild things you are!

[actus]

"No. If you are white in today's world you have EARNED privilege."

At best, someone earned something, and they're the same color as you.

[RobG]

If all else fails, blame the Jews.

[apostate]

I doubt there's any more racist trolls on the site.. but here's an interesting question...

I am an atheist, but I have always believed that I was 'born Jewish' (how the fact that your mother's uterus is what determines your belief in God/theology is beyond me...).

But, it turns out, that my great-grandmother converted to Judaism after giving birth to my grandmother (mom side). Which means, my grandmother was not 'born Jewish'...

So, Mr. Supremacist, do you hate me because I'm not-quite-but-almost-Jewish?

[Otter]

Assholes come in every color.

[CaseyL]

I came here from Atrios, too, and have to compliment Angry White Kid on his open posting rules, which have apparently attracted some Wite Xtian Soopremisist pantloads from LGF.

There's racism and there's race supremacism. Racism is universal; the paleskinned are hardly the only racists, and it's juvenile to say there's something uniquely awful about US racism. Ours is hardly the only country to commit racial genocide. Ask a Pict. Or a Carib.

But racial supremacism is a highly toxic form of racism. What I've noticed about its practitioners (nicely illustrated by the screeds posted above) is that they have no identity beyond their hatreds. They're not particularly intelligent, or accomplished, or competent in anything. All they have is their mythical belief in racial supremacy to keep them warm.

[jillian]

I, too, ventured over from Atrios. Thank you, Scott for posting an honest, direct posting and for allowing people see the racisct trolls that exist in our society.

[zoe kentucky]

I recall being pretty consumed with this issue, especially when I was in college many years ago. How to reconcile priviledge you didn't earn and you can't do anything about? It's not like you can volunteer to give it up. And occasionally the shame is palatable, you don't want to be associated with the historical oppression of non-whites in America. (Which is only exacerbated by the existance of people like the neo-Nazi mo-fo's who you've attracted to this site.)

However, while I still recognize that racism in the U.S. still exists, I also realize that it is often trumped by class. Plus there are other divisions that make identity so much more complicated, for instance, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, and so on. It helps to recognize that white people can be plenty marginalized-- and always have been-- by other white people who think for some reason that they are superior to the "other" because of class, religion, etc. (Ever look at the history of immigration and racism in the U.S.? Groups that are thought of as white now haven't always been.) I eventually became much more interested in the intersection of multiple identities-- which is the future of America, after all.

Personally, I can tell you that as a white person of German-Norweigan-Irish descent who is also Jewish and lesbian that some of the other wingnuts who have posted here would gladly stomp my ass. It really doesn't all come down to just whiteness-- humans are far too complicated.

What I do find entirely counter-productive is the battle over the heirarchy of oppression that often exists within leftist circles. Eventually none of this will matter much, within the next few decades whites will no longer be the majority anways. Personally I find this quite satisfying, a kind of organic justice.

[Steve J.]

A good book to cur through some of the fog on this issue is GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL by Jared Diamond.

bumper sticker review: ecology is destiny

[R. King]

Can't we all just get along?

[Wally and the Beaver]

"Come on! Let's get Whitey!"

[Eric]

Yeah, Scott I'd second reading Guns Germs and Steel. I'm not an anarchist, but from an anarchist's perspective, I believe that the book would suggest that the luck of the draw (the resources available to your culture) are what created a system of complex social hierarchy. Therefore, an anarchist might be in favor of sharing these limited resources (limited by place and amount) that are currently benefiting the people that were able to sieze and exploit those resources.

[R.J.Olivaw]

Steve J points out author Jared Diamond's work in covering this topic.
This is an excellent way to start the debate.
Diamond shows quite well that where we live and work is almost 100% the reason for why we are what we are today. The location, it's climate, it's proximity to other diverse regions, it's proximity to diverse cultures, and finally the land's resources and capacity for agricultural development are the evolutionary influences that gave the western Eurasian continent an advantage over others. That people of pale skin happened to evolve there after migrating from a common evolutionary ancestor in the eastern segment of Africa is pure chance. So essentially race has nothing to do with it. If people want to identify with the grouping that best differentiates them from others it is place of birth. West European cultures, plus the options and few restrictions made them ascendent over other races whose home region was more restricted.
Right now I think the problem scott has when he authored this post is that all he sees around him are the problems causes by white people in a white society. Should he travel or spend more time in a non-white, non-american society, he will see the same problems and the same faults. The only difference will be the options those people have to get around those problems. We have more here in the states. They probably have less. But that is not necesarily a white problem. We can only juggle so much. But to say that white people aren't grateful or are the cause for the world's problems is an uneducated guess.
I think there is more to this issue than what most here are willing or able to admit. So much more information needs to be learned and taken into account.
Then someone can be bold enough to judge.