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

Actually, I think the white race may be the most exciting and interesting. Likely, it's only your innate familiarity with it that bores you and shames you. It's OK to be proud to be white, just as black pride, Latino pride, whatever, are OK. The liberal and conservative race errors are 2 sides of the same coin -- one attributes nothing but blame and evil (exempting other races from their own lengthy list, and every race has one) and the other no blame at all.

[adwred]

Check out this upcoming conference:

http://www.incite-national.org/conf/

Its the 3rd gathering of INCITE! Women of Color against Violence. A really amazing organization and one that confronts the reality of racism and its innate relationship to violence directly.

[scott]

Thanks for pointing us to that conference, adwred, it looks kick ass. If you go, give us a reportback.

Anonymous, I was just throwing out that I think the white race is boring as a side note. It in part is due to my familiarity with it, but I also feel like it is probably the most culturally empty, especially if you look at EuroAmerican culture - which is essentially a culture defined by capitalism.

I don't really think there is anything wrong with having pride in your heritage, but it's important to recognize that race is a social construct created by Europeans and EuroAmericans to oppress and exploit people of color. As a result, those of us who are white have a special responsibility to recognize the privilege we have simply by the virtue of the color of our skin. Sometimes it is difficult for white people to see that, because it is not obvious to them unless they really sit and think about it, which is why I posted the checklist.

I don't think the blame game is what is important here, instead what needs to happen is the recognition and deconstruction of race and white supremacy. How do we do that and then once we have what do we do? I don't know, I'm not too well versed on the topic. But I think we do need to have these discussions.

[MN]

This is a real interesting post. I remember reading about Noel Igantievs "Race Traitor". I loved the tagline "Treason to the white race is loyalty to humanity."

You can read more at racetraitor.org

I think you'll enjoy it...

[Womble]

" I was just throwing out that I think the white race is boring as a side note. It in part is due to my familiarity with it, but I also feel like it is probably the most culturally empty, especially if you look at EuroAmerican culture - which is essentially a culture defined by capitalism."

You do, of course, realize that the non-white cultures were also shaped by the systems in which they existed. I see no superiority of tribal, feudal or Communist economic structure over capitalism as far as cultural influences are concerned.

[MK]

well .. as an extension... we should realise our privilege of class, social status, etc. and exmaple would be "Che" Guevera. I disagree with Womble though. Previous cultures were very innovative in defining their way of life and Culture.

White Culture was defined by its capitalist economy which by it's innate nature promotes greed and money hoarding, and hence.. an innate oppression against others and themselves. That's why you see such a great anti-corporate movement in the US and UK.

Peace.
M.

[Womble]

"White Culture was defined by its capitalist economy which by it's innate nature promotes greed and money hoarding, and hence.. an innate oppression against others and themselves."
Oh please. Greed and money hoarding is typical for all cultures in existence, and capitalism is the least opressive way of doing that, if we're out to compare. Remind me of a culture where the ruling class would not be disproportionaetly rich, and where the poor would be happy being poor. The difference between Capitalism and systems with centralized economy is that while Capitalism tempts you with candy into perpetuating the system, centralized economy systems herds you with a whip. Or are you going to tell me with a straight face that the Islamic world is less fond of enforcing cultural unification inside the territory it controls and of exporting it wherever they can? Or was the Russian Empire/Soviet Union/Russian Federation not doing the same thing?
Give me a break. Your very own anarchist ideology was spawned by the ability of the Euro-American culture to tolerate even the most deranged and destructive of subcultures until they go on a violent spreee.

[adwred]

The question is not so much of "greed and money hoarding" but of a system designed to promote and celebrate inequity.

The post addresses to race as a anthropological construct of an inequitable economic system. Ascribing value, innate ability, morality, citizenship, to social groups with similar outward appearance and cultural history to justify their position (or lack thereof) in an economic system. Obviously, the American experience is a good example of this; without justification for the genocide of indigenous people and the free labor from slavery, the development of the United States would not have happened.

The point is, if you are white in today's world, you have privelege. Intense, real, everyday privelege, and white people have a moral obligation to recognize it. Beyond recognizing it, we need to act as allies to people of color in deconstructing inequity.

Unfortunately, many keepers of the gate justify current conditions on the basis of "there is no better than this system" and "show me an example of a just society". Sadly, its a prevelent perspective, especially considering the historical point we've reached. Its also ahistorical and a form of historical racism; there are bountiful examples of pre-industrial societies, and bountiful examples of collective activity in today's world that demonstrate humanity's capacity to act collective, fairly, and without racism.

[Womble]

Sorry adwred, but your posts are so heavy on the jargon it is difficult to actually analyse what you are saying. I suppose if we strip it down to the essence, it will boil down to the following paragraph:

"The point is, if you are white in today's world, you have privelege. Intense, real, everyday privelege, and white people have a moral obligation to recognize it".

To say that this is an oversimplified view on the problem would be an understatement of the century. I can immediately, off the top of my head, suggest two different explanations that do not involve the race factor. First off, I suggest that you examine the economic situation of certain groups of white immigrants from the former Communist block. I guarantee that you will find them no different than Mexicans, Arabs or Asians as far as their social and economic status is concerned. This is not a race based factor, but that of having an infrastructure of support inside the society- friends, family ties, connections, familiarity with how the host society works. The second factor is that of the strength of the tradition. Ethnic groups that are more entrenched in their traditional values and occupations and without a long standing tradition of total literacy and education will always have harder time adopting to the process of industrialization. This, again, is not as much a racial as a cultural factor. The ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union, are facing this exact problem upon immigrating to Germany, and seem to be less successful economically, socially and in terms of political influence than the Turkish immigrants.
In other words, what you are really trying to oppose here is the very process of industrialization, the scientific and technological advancement that creates the need for adaptation of cultures to the new conditions. Trying to stop progress seems like a futile and counterproductive task to me.

"there are bountiful examples of pre-industrial societies, and bountiful examples of collective activity in today's world that demonstrate humanity's capacity to act collective, fairly, and without racism."
Where, pray tell, have you seen a "bountiful" example of a pre-industrial society free of racism? On the contrary, the more technologically backwards a society is, the more xenophobic and segregationist it tends to be.

[adwred]

So let me see, Womble... you strip it down because you don't understand my "jargon"...

" I suppose if we strip it down to the essence, it will boil down to the following paragraph:

"The point is, if you are white in today's world, you have privelege. Intense, real, everyday privelege, and white people have a moral obligation to recognize it".

To say that this is an oversimplified view on the problem would be an understatement of the century."

I would agree that if you strip it down you do have a very oversimplified view. In fact you view is so simple, the remainder of your post makes no sense. And if your only comparative sample is "the former Communist block", you are missing it, buddy.

[scott]

I wish I could be around more to comment here, but I have very limited internet and I want to post on Lebanon.

It's funny to see that Womble is able to carry his disagreements with us across the various topics. If we're stuck in a supposed "Utopian mindset," then perhaps Womble has entrenched himself in a firm "anti-Utopian mindset" and just hangs around here to disagree on whatever topic comes up.

The point is not economic situation, obviously there are more facets than just race involved in that. The point, as adwred stated, is that being white in an of itself is a form of privilege. I was mainly talking about the US and Western Europe, I am not as familiar with race dynamics in other parts of the world.

One thing that I'd like to add is that in most cultures prior to capitalism there was not a formal separation of economy from everyday life. I can't remember the author who wrote about that off the top of my head. Talking about communism in this sense is almost pointless as it arrived so late while capitalism had the opportunity to spread and the discourse of race became further and further institutionalized to such an extent that I don't know of a single example of it being successfully deconstructed.

Finally, in terms of white migration from Communist countries, the very fact that they were allowed into the US while specific laws were passed to keep non-whites out, as well as the fact that these immigrants who were originally seen as the "other" were eventually included in the definition of "white" is an example of white privilege, regardless of the class issues at hand.

[Womble]

Awdred-
"So let me see, Womble... you strip it down because you don't understand my "jargon"..."
Not because I don't understand, mind you. I've taken enough sociology classes, and most of my university teachers were of the neo-Marxist variety, so jargon is nothing new to me. However, the way you chose to use the terms reduces your post to a version of a pseudo-sociological conspiracy theory of the kind that not even the neo-Marxists use these days.

"I would agree that if you strip it down you do have a very oversimplified view. In fact you view is so simple, the remainder of your post makes no sense."
Well, Scott seems to think it does, since unlike you, he actually did adress some of my points.

"And if your only comparative sample is "the former Communist block", you are missing it, buddy."
The former Communist block is excellent for comparing, actually, since it provides an example of white migration from poor societies so we could see if race really plays a role in the way they are treated in the host countries.

"Race is a European social construct"? Are you completely ignorant of the racial divisions that exist and have existed all throughout the world? The Han superiority in China? Japanese superiority over Koreans? Arabs vs. Persians? Tutsi & Hutu? These are all peoples who viewed the objects of the hatred as others, aliens, people of another race, and killed and subjegated them for it. Honestly, what a load of anti-Western crap. "White culture"? What is that? White Manhattanites? Boers? Greeks? Finns? All these things can be boiled down, reduced to, simplified to greedy capitalism? Yes, and I guess "black culture" can be reduced to crack, fried chicken, and ho's. Chinese culture to Chinee Laundry, chop suey, and Charlie Chan. Looking for racism? Look in the mirror.

[Womble]

Scott,

"It's funny to see that Womble is able to carry his disagreements with us across the various topics. If we're stuck in a supposed "Utopian mindset," then perhaps Womble has entrenched himself in a firm "anti-Utopian mindset" and just hangs around here to disagree on whatever topic comes up."

Oh it's not funny, its only natural for us to disagree on most issues. Your views are part of a certain ideological package that dictates your choices on a broad spectrum of issues. I do my best to not subsicribe to any ideology or social theory (since all of them are founded on a dogma of some kind, and I abhore dogmatic thinking), but I have also been influenced by things and people, and I guess I carry an ideological package of my own, that for the most part is opposite to yours.

"The point is not economic situation, obviously there are more facets than just race involved in that. The point, as adwred stated, is that being white in an of itself is a form of privilege."
This is pretty much the good old Christian concept of the original sin as applied to race. If being white- something you are born with and have no control over- is itself seen as a form of privilege, there is no way one can give it up, unless you're willing to become an inverted Michael Jackson. Therefore, there is no way to be a "good white man". Moreover, even if one finds a way to give up his "whiteness", whatever it is, and engages in honest servitude to benefit the non-whites, you can still judge him guilty for the sins of his forefathers from the historical perspective, as your list of privileges does. Guilt becomes inescapable, and your theory becomes a classic racist thesis.

"I was mainly talking about the US and Western Europe, I am not as familiar with race dynamics in other parts of the world."
Actually, I suspect that you're not all that familiar with the situation in Western Europe either. See below.

"in most cultures prior to capitalism there was not a formal separation of economy from everyday life."
First off, this is a false assumption. Separation of economy from the everyday life began pretty much with the invention of currency, which separated the product value from the product itself. All slavery based and feudal societies and even many tribal ones used currency in one form or another.

"Talking about communism in this sense is almost pointless as it arrived so late while capitalism had the opportunity to spread and the discourse of race became further and further institutionalized to such an extent that I don't know of a single example of it being successfully deconstructed."
Why do you keep assuming that capitalism is a race specific development?

"Finally, in terms of white migration from Communist countries, the very fact that they were allowed into the US while specific laws were passed to keep non-whites out, as well as the fact that these immigrants who were originally seen as the "other" were eventually included in the definition of "white" is an example of white privilege, regardless of the class issues at hand."
I will not claim to know the history of the US specifically well enough to counter the above claim, but for the Western Europe it certainly does not hold true. European states like Germany, France, Britain and Netherlands have accepted much less white migrants during the 20 century than they have accepted non-white migrants. In fact, the only two cases of Europe ever accepting a significantly big white immigration were first in the beginning of the century when many refugees from the communist revolution were allowed in, and then in the 90-s, when Germany applied the immigration privileges previously reserved for the Vietnamese and other non-white refugees from disaster zones to ethnic Germans and Jews from the former Soviet Union. Aside from that, the overwhelming majority of the immigrants in Europe have always been Arab (France, Netherlands, Belgium, Britain, Spain) or Turkish (Germany, Austria) rather than "white".

[Yehudit]

"I also feel like it is probably the most culturally empty, especially if you look at EuroAmerican culture - which is essentially a culture defined by capitalism."

As a big fan of British Isles traditional music and folklore, I can say unequivocally that you are full of shit. Like everything else you say on this blog. . . .

[Michael Brenner]

Jason Fleetwood-Bolt, an alum of Vassar, used to rant and rave about stuff like this a lot.

I am all for recognizing one's own privilege. I make sure to remember how lucky I am at least once a day.

I think forcing all white people to go along with this is ridiculous. I'm Jewish, and my people have been persecuted by white people as much as anyone's. In fact, it is almost amusing, after centuries of being excluded from the European definition of whiteness in Europe, we are now called white colonialists in a hypocritical and sordid attempt by certain guilt-ridden people in order to relieve their own guilt for historical barbarity. It is the irony of irony that Israel, one of the most multi-racial societies in the world, is targetted for this sort of attack.

I have no idea how any of this makes life better for people of color, and I have no idea how defining one by one's race, whether boring white people or whatever is helpful. And this little game leftists play of seeing who can bash themselves the hardest I find to be a self-indulgent sadomasichitic self-righteousness fest rather than serious soul-searching as to how society may be improved.

[shannon]

False parallels ahoy! You guys may have been persucuted in the past, but now you are able to partake in good ol' white privlege. We can never do that- I'll never automatically be accepted as deserving to go to college, deserving to have a job, deserving to live in this country. The big part of being white is that you are always seen as people who have a right to things. Like being a minority, someone is always telling you that you have to move to the back of the line, that you don't deserve basic things. But whites don't even have to have a real greivance and they are always served first.

If you understand yourself how you benefit from things other do not, you can bring down the system. If you see how having crappy education in black neighborhoods hurts us all, you can stop it. But if you just think blacks are inferior, well, you can't do anything.

[angryblackMAN]

I think your web address is blatantly racist, and I resent any whiteman who attempts to coopt my peoples pain and rage at 400 years of your oppression to make you feel less guilty about your inborn evil. The black MAN can talk for himself, white isn't even a race! Thats why only whites can be racist! Calling yourself angrywhitekid sounds like you a NAZI, you insult all colored peoples with that and your whining.

[kelrommel]

God what a load of crap. Never have so many thought so well of themselves, and with so little reason to do so.

To the jew who posted earlier, you got it half right. The whole point of this exercise is not to "bash themselves," rather it is to bash other whites. It is a variaion on the old Southern Baptist "fire and brimstone" preacher theme. When he's talking about "evil sinners," he's not talking about himself, he's talking about you and all the other sorry sods.

The same is true for the little Holier-Than-Thou leftist pukes who post on this board, preaching their religion of Social Marxism. All those OTHER white people are evil, Boy, it sure is good there are a FEW whites like me who understand this. Oh why, oh why can't everyone be as wonderful as me!

In a larger sense, this is simply another example of what biologist call "status seeking," The desire for one little monkey to be a little higher on the branch and have a little bit bigger banana than the next monkey.

In humans this manifest itself in many different ways, from trying to have the fanciest car, or the biggest house, or the prettiest girlfriend.

The ardent Marxist, trying to expunge the absurdly termed "white priveledge" is just another example of this pathology. It's just another fad by intellectually and morally vain kids with no experience in life.

Grow up kids. Maybe one day you'll have the good grace to be embarrassed by the crap you wrote on this board. I suggest as a way of expanding your consciousness, you try selling this crap to the Japanese, or the Chinese or the Indians , or just about any other race or nationality on this planet. You will find, that only stupid well off white kids with an overestimation of their intellectual endowment actually believe this nonesense. Though of course, the non-whites are happy for YOU to believe it.

KR

[nowhitemansburden]

(Batman theme) Pow. Smash. Ker-smack.

" You will find, that only stupid well off white kids with an overestimation of their intellectual endowment actually believe this nonesense. Though of course, the non-whites are happy for YOU to believe it."

Amen, brother, amen! That is my quote of the year!

[Antinomy]

"The point is, if you are white in today's world, you have privelege"

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

In fact, white men have been so productive, so culturally and politically sophisticated, so technologically advanced and materially prosperous they can now afford the luxury of a whole collection of fools who do nothing but criticise their own race while producing nothing themselves.

All those things grouped under the heading "privilege" are in fact the material manifestation of centuries of white labor, innovation and culture, not some childish cargo cult where these things dropped from the sky. Now to be thrown away by the most worthless generation of whites since they crawled from the slime (that's you btw)

[pale and pleased]

I grew tired of reading these lengthy post. What a shame that such intellectual people would exert energies on abstract issues like "white privilege". I suppose people who are butchered on farms in Zimbabwe are getting their just deserts, for their evil filthy white privilege. And what a blessing that evil white Russian school children were murdered by the exalted terrorist- oh excuse me freedom fighters. Someone mentioned Racetraitor.org. Well check the founders surname, it's Ignatiev. Deep in his psyche it is probable that he doesn't identify as white, despite what he claims. (Same goes for Susan Sontag {surname Rosenblatt} who said "The white race is the cancer of human history") This means his motives are rooted in hateful bigotry and an unbridled hatred for whites. Then, like children mesmerized by the Pied Piper, stupid white people follow his genocidal philosophical ramblings. White guilt is as cancerous and stupid as white supremacism. And as for privilege- well I'm white and if that grants me a type of privilege, not only am I not guilty about it, I'm running out to buy sunblock and a large sombrero and will demand even more of this so called privilege in the future!

[Thor Elfdail]

"Euro-American culture... essentially a culture defined by Capitalism."

You are close -- very close -- to the truth, yet your unfortunate White-guilt complex clouds your vision. Yes, America is a terrible place and it didn't have to be that way; it's sad that America missed its chance to become the Flower of European culture and tradition; it's not very likely we'll receive another chance.

However, the Capitalism of which you complain, while every bit as objectionable as you believe it is, should rightly be called by another name: TALMUDISM. After all, what is America but the compounded group psyche of current Americans, all of whom have learned almost everthing they "know" (including much that isn't 'so') from the Jew's media, particularly via the mind-rotting, culture-distorting televitx box! The current America amounts to very little except a sort of distilled essence of Talmudic, anti-human, anti-nature, mammmon-worshipping materialism, liberally based upon the three legs of the Abrahamic hate-demon, that foul and unclean spirit sometimes known as "The Lord Your God."

Summarizing the above, "Capitalism" may be a symptom (indeed, it's one of many), but the name of the disease is Jew, and there is only one way out: through the Jews. Free your mind from its jew-daze and you'll recognize the solution to most of the world's problems.

You might start your studies by delving into exactly who ran the African slave trade.... and who runs the White slave trade today, dealing in the souls and bodies of naive Eastern European women. Please give it a little thought and study! My website link is the best place to begin.

[Johann]

Go fuck yourself, you self-hating little turd.

[orik]

Scott, I'm sure you like black dick better than white dick, so there is no way anyone can get through to you. You are just parroting back jew Noel Ignatiev's 'social construct' crap.
Privelege! Any privelege we have is the result our father's and our own hard work, not some affirmative action handout. You are a worthless piece of dog shit. You shoud definitely not take any privelege, because in your case it would be ancestor exploitation. Or maybe you are a jew.
jews love to pretend that they are white so they can sound sincere and self deprecating to people, instead of sounding like the white-race-hating supremacists that they really are.