Power, Privilege and Guilt

A second post by guest writer and fellow angry white kid Joshua Deutsch.

Why do privileged people feel guilty? Is it a genuine feeling of empathy and remorse? I don’t think so. Personally, I’m white, from a wealthy background, American, male, and heterosexual, making me one of the more privileged people in the world. I used to be extremely insecure about my background, and wished I had a hardship to fall back on to prove that I’m really down for the cause. Mostly, I worried that my privileged background would cause people to dismiss my progressive worldview as nothing but insincere rhetoric. More recently, I feel comfortable talking about my privileged background with people I meet. This change occurred because I feel confident that I am using my power and privilege to make the world a better place and undermine the power structure that benefits me.

The median income for Whites is $18,000 higher than for Blacks in America. This means that if you grew up in an average Black family rather than an average White family, you would be making $18,000 less. Yet very few Whites would admit that $18,000 of their income is solely attributable to the color of their skin. They feel guilty about racial disparities, yet they have a hard time acknowledging that this extra income is a product of a racial hierarchy and therefore completely illegitimate. If I lived in Malawi, I’d probably make less than $2 per day. That means that 98% of my money is the result of living in the heart of the empire. If we took the money, resources, and freedoms that we get for being among the powerful and used them to benefit the disempowered, the feelings of guilt would most certainly disappear. The guilt stems from the fact that the disempowered deserve more than our sympathy and our charity, they deserve an equal share. As long as we hoard our privileges, we cannot be in solidarity with the oppressed, and we are condemned to that feeling of guilt.

A final example to illustrate this point: Let’s say that I live in Malawi and someone offers me a pill that will transform me into an American citizen of Anglo descent. Would I take the pill? Absolutely. And from my experiences living in Morocco and Senegal, so would most of the entire African continent. But there’s a catch. Taking that pill in no way disrespects my heritage. It would not change my love of my dark skin and African ancestry and possibly my hatred for white skin and Anglo-American ancestry. I would take the pill as a sacrifice. Because gaining the power of whiteness and American citizenship would allow me to do more for my family and my community than saving my identity. Consequently, I would use all of that power and privilege to advance the causes that I believed in but was previously powerless to affect. But if instead I saw my new powers as an entitlement and used them to advance my personal interests, I would feel guilty every day of my life for letting down my people.

Powerful people are much more capable of making change, even though their selfishness makes them much less likely to push for change in the first place. The paradox is that you can’t both have the power but be part of the powerless group. If you want to have the power to make change, you have to come to terms with your privileged identity. There’s nothing wrong, on an individual level, with being born into privilege. Most underprivileged people would trade places with you. The catch is that you must dedicate the entirety of your illegitimate privileges to benefit the people who have been harmed to put you and me where we are today.

Comments

[Echo Hunter]

Hey AWK (That's Angry White Kid ;) )! I would like to say that you're not angry at all. On your bicycle, you ride like a dog, happy trail! The color of sharp is what entails your future of inconcluding rhetoric plauses. I, personally feel as if you are the one who set the fire on jack-O' farm house. I was sad day. Touch the angel's feather and you too may give life to trees. Sad monkey! I like the banana in the monkey's paws are nice and soft like court date tomorrow! I better not skip it, or I'll have to spend time in the cell with bugus the snail clown demon beast. He likes fish, so I hear, and I'm what he considers the fresh meat. Who are you to... okay. You're the orange poor golderstaphen mein fliegen schigelrety. Compton her softer mock pretzel. With CHEESE! I like warm turkey stuffers in my bed so I can sing in a high voice. No! Daddy! That's not a good touch. I need to clean the mess. Daddy loves me more than you. I'm rich. Ha ha ha. Thrusting the blade deep into your belly, ripping apart your spine for emotional reconciliation of the parties breath. Vote democratic! Freedom is a myth that you create yourself. What we have is a social system of the masses that seems to work as well as my watch? Lick the puter ammulet for magical feelings of shame and guilt! Don't you know the FSM will punish you for all of your selfless sacrifices to the rightious? I have a belly button. I love kittens. Do you have ambition? I have a long thought on that. Fight the power. Listen to punk music! I hate life because my mom had a divorce and that means she doesn't love me.I hate life because my mom had a divorce and that means she doesn't love me.I hate life because my mom had a divorce and that means she doesn't love me. Are you the first?
"Honey, can you come in here?" Your mother says with a bloody lip and black eye.
"Yes mommy." you say as you rush into the bloodbath that your abusive father had created.
"Hey son." your dad says between shot of scotch.
"Honey. Your father and I have done a lot of talking. We have made a decision." she begins to smile.
"What is it mommy? Daddy?" you say as you begin to cry.
"We decided that we don't love you, so we're getting a divorce and you'll live in both of our homes, all the time rushed here and there." she begins to laugh and count money.
As you cry, your dad vomits and looks at you in a filthy manner. "You're mine on Saturdays and Sundays."
"Don't worry honey. You can hate the government and society. You're white and male. You can do anything and not be killed."

THE END