White Privilege

anonymous

MOD NOTE: Since this topic is not specific to Fort Greene, it's been moved off of the neighborhood specific board.


Shit need to be told. He just told the truth. The best description I heard of white privilege was "white people are like fish in the water who do not realize they are swimming in the water" They respond quickly that they do not know what the fuck you are talking about but once confronted with their whiteness they cannot stand it.

June 2, 2008 by brotherpeacemaker
http://brotherpeacemaker.wordpress.com/

A white internet surfer was lamenting the fact that white people are being treated like second class citizens. This person felt this way despite the fact that white people control the vast majority of wealth in the United States. He or she felt this way despite the fact that white people obtain the majority of educational opportunities at the majority of institutions for higher learning. This person felt this way even though white people occupy the vast majority of upper, middle, and lower echelons of government positions. And the number of white people who are in executive, middle, and lower management positions in corporate America overwhelms any other racial minority.

This person felt this way despite the vast majority of white actors and actresses in movies and television programs that dwarf their black counterparts. For every black actress there must be a hundred white ones. For every Halley Berry, who claims not to be fully black because her mother was white, there are dozens of Kate Hudsons, Angelina Jolies, Kate Blanchettes, Gwen Stefanis, Reese Witherspoons, and Hillary Swanks. For every Will Smith there are dozens of Joaquin Phoenixes, Jack Blacks, Russell Crowes, Viggo Mortensens, Dennis Quaids, Ben Afflecks, Matt Damons, and Jake Gyllenhaals. But white people who want to go into acting can’t catch a break these days because of all the movies and television programs that don’t feature white people.

Across America there are thousands and thousands of companies with office staffs that are predominantly white. Many of these companies don’t even have a black employee in the office. And many of these companies don’t even have a black person on the payroll. Let one of these companies take proactive steps to racially diversify their workforce and the next white person who doesn’t get a job will be suing with claims of reverse discrimination. White people who apply for jobs at predominantly white companies can’t find a job these days.

From the perspective of a lot of people, white people are treated like second class citizens for having to share social resources with nonwhites. The moment some white people realize that they don’t have an exclusive choke hold on opportunities, these people begin to feel that white existence is under attack. Some people have yet to learn that white privilege is not a god given right but an artificial construct of a culture so dominating that it thinks nothing of locking nonwhites in chains for the crime of being not white.

One of the most evil institutions that ran contrary to the great establishment of white privilege was affirmative action. Wikipedia describes affirmative action as a set of policies and/or programs intended to promote access to education and/or employment opportunities aimed at historically socially or politically oppressed groups, typically minority men and/or women of all races. The motivation for affirmative action policies is to help rectify the effects of wrongful discrimination in the past and to encourage public institutions to be more representative of a racially diverse population.

But the protectors of white privilege countered affirmative action with claims of reverse discrimination. Suddenly, institutions that tried to correct their history of focusing on providing opportunities exclusively to the white community are being too unfair to white people. Companies with beaucoup white people on the payroll are suddenly unfair to white people and are being successfully sued for not hiring even more white people. But white people never sue an institution because an inferior white person is hired. However, it is a near given when black people are involved.

It’s not fair to do anything to correct the hundreds of years white privilege has enjoyed at the expense of the other races. It’s much better to keep the status quo and let white privilege continue rather than give affirmative action any legitimacy. In fact, everyday more and more black people are convinced that affirmative action is more hurtful to the black community than helpful. The fact that many black people calling for its demise actually benefited from these affirmative action programs is just an awful coincidence best overlooked. People who are benefiting from white privilege will support anyone who will promote the end of affirmative action and other concepts that can threaten white privilege. Black people who call for an end to affirmative action are one of this world’s greatest ironies.

White privilege is in no danger of disappearing. It is strong and it is flourishing to greater limits each and every day. No matter what measure a person applies to success white people are overwhelmingly represented.

It must be admitted that white privilege is much more satisfying and/or more gratifying for white people when other races do without. Black people getting jobs mean fewer jobs for white people. It doesn’t matter if white people who make up seventy percent of the population and are already getting ninety five percent of the jobs and the educational opportunities. White privilege needs it all. White privilege needs every last opportunity in order to make sure other people better understand their place in the social, economic, political ladder. White privilege does not thrive when it has to indulge the black community or the Latino community or any other non white community. In order to be secure in itself white privilege needs to make sure it has it all. Anything less is an attack on white privilege.

gtrain

enough already.
isn't this tiring? doesn't your brain beg to think about other things? aren't people bored yet with these sorts of topics?

it is what it is. focus on you and the changes that you can make in the world around you. not this nonsense.

and i'm not white btw... just thought i'd toss that fact in there.

queencallipygos

Subject: Re: White Privilege

Anonymous wrote: Shit need to be told. He just told the truth. The best description I heard of white privilege was "white people are like fish in the water who do not realize they are swimming in the water" They respond quickly that they do not know what the fuck you are talking about but once confronted with their whiteness they cannot stand it.

June 2, 2008 by brotherpeacemaker
http://brotherpeacemaker.wordpress.com/

A white internet surfer was lamenting the fact that white people are being treated like second class citizens. This person felt this way despite the fact that white people control the vast majority of wealth in the United States. He or she felt this way despite the fact that white people obtain the majority of educational opportunities at the majority of institutions for higher learning. This person felt this way even though white people occupy the vast majority of upper, middle, and lower echelons of government positions. And the number of white people who are in executive, middle, and lower management positions in corporate America overwhelms any other racial minority.

This person felt this way despite the vast majority of white actors and actresses in movies and television programs that dwarf their black counterparts. For every black actress there must be a hundred white ones. For every Halley Berry, who claims not to be fully black because her mother was white, there are dozens of Kate Hudsons, Angelina Jolies, Kate Blanchettes, Gwen Stefanis, Reese Witherspoons, and Hillary Swanks. For every Will Smith there are dozens of Joaquin Phoenixes, Jack Blacks, Russell Crowes, Viggo Mortensens, Dennis Quaids, Ben Afflecks, Matt Damons, and Jake Gyllenhaals. But white people who want to go into acting can’t catch a break these days because of all the movies and television programs that don’t feature white people.

Across America there are thousands and thousands of companies with office staffs that are predominantly white. Many of these companies don’t even have a black employee in the office. And many of these companies don’t even have a black person on the payroll. Let one of these companies take proactive steps to racially diversify their workforce and the next white person who doesn’t get a job will be suing with claims of reverse discrimination. White people who apply for jobs at predominantly white companies can’t find a job these days.

From the perspective of a lot of people, white people are treated like second class citizens for having to share social resources with nonwhites. The moment some white people realize that they don’t have an exclusive choke hold on opportunities, these people begin to feel that white existence is under attack. Some people have yet to learn that white privilege is not a god given right but an artificial construct of a culture so dominating that it thinks nothing of locking nonwhites in chains for the crime of being not white.

One of the most evil institutions that ran contrary to the great establishment of white privilege was affirmative action. Wikipedia describes affirmative action as a set of policies and/or programs intended to promote access to education and/or employment opportunities aimed at historically socially or politically oppressed groups, typically minority men and/or women of all races. The motivation for affirmative action policies is to help rectify the effects of wrongful discrimination in the past and to encourage public institutions to be more representative of a racially diverse population.

But the protectors of white privilege countered affirmative action with claims of reverse discrimination. Suddenly, institutions that tried to correct their history of focusing on providing opportunities exclusively to the white community are being too unfair to white people. Companies with beaucoup white people on the payroll are suddenly unfair to white people and are being successfully sued for not hiring even more white people. But white people never sue an institution because an inferior white person is hired. However, it is a near given when black people are involved.

It’s not fair to do anything to correct the hundreds of years white privilege has enjoyed at the expense of the other races. It’s much better to keep the status quo and let white privilege continue rather than give affirmative action any legitimacy. In fact, everyday more and more black people are convinced that affirmative action is more hurtful to the black community than helpful. The fact that many black people calling for its demise actually benefited from these affirmative action programs is just an awful coincidence best overlooked. People who are benefiting from white privilege will support anyone who will promote the end of affirmative action and other concepts that can threaten white privilege. Black people who call for an end to affirmative action are one of this world’s greatest ironies.

White privilege is in no danger of disappearing. It is strong and it is flourishing to greater limits each and every day. No matter what measure a person applies to success white people are overwhelmingly represented.

It must be admitted that white privilege is much more satisfying and/or more gratifying for white people when other races do without. Black people getting jobs mean fewer jobs for white people. It doesn’t matter if white people who make up seventy percent of the population and are already getting ninety five percent of the jobs and the educational opportunities. White privilege needs it all. White privilege needs every last opportunity in order to make sure other people better understand their place in the social, economic, political ladder. White privilege does not thrive when it has to indulge the black community or the Latino community or any other non white community. In order to be secure in itself white privilege needs to make sure it has it all. Anything less is an attack on white privilege.

tl;dr

limestonekid

Man up and register Punk instead of always posting as a guest.

After you've done that sit yourself down and learn the difference between "class" and "race".

When you've done that you might have something of value to offer.

Until then, STFU.

anonymous

Challenging Racism and (White) Privilege


CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: This website contains a number of resources on racism, antiracism, and Whiteness, but there's lots of room for expansion! SCRAP encourages anyone who would like to explore creative means of communicating about racism to submit to this site. Send us your comics, stories, essays, slogans, posters, web-ready multimedia presentations, etc! Email contributions to Janelle Orsi: [email protected].


The Mission of SCRAP:

SCRAP, through various forms of media, seeks to communicate a comprehensive understanding of racism: how it works on many levels (institutionally and individually), how it functions at the level of everyday assumptions, actions, and representations, how White people benefit from the disadvantages of people of color, and how not discussing or confronting racism is the best way to perpetuate it. Instead of taking a colorblind or "multiculturalist" approach to racism, SCRAP would like to promote more awareness of the structures of racism and their relation to power and privilege. Examining and deconstructing Whiteness is a large part of this. SCRAP would also like to empower more people to act against racism and build coalitions to deconstruct systems of oppression. SCRAP encourages White people and other privileged members of society to be honest with themselves about their involvement in systems of oppression, so that we all may confront racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia in every aspect of our lives.





DEFINING RACISM

The following definitions, provided by educator Louise Derman-Sparks, may be helpful in gaining a better understanding of why prejudice and racism are not synonymous:

PREJUDICE: belief in stereotypes
BIGOTRY: belief in White supremacy
RACISM: attitude, action, or way of life whose outcome oppresses people of color and benefits White people, regardless of stated intent.
WHITE PRIVILEGE: the consequences of historical institutionalized racism; the benefits that Whites receive (economic, social, cultural, political).
(Source: Derman-Sparks, Louise, and Carol Brunson Phillips. Teaching/Learning Anti-Racism: A Developmental Approach. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1997, page 74.)




THE MYTH OF REVERSE RACISM

REVERSE RACISM?
"Why is it so difficult for many white folks to understand that racism is oppressive not because white folks have prejudicial feelings about blacks, but because it is a system that promotes domination and subjugation? The prejudicial feelings some blacks may express about whites are in no way linked to a system of domination the affords us any power to coercively control the lives and well-being of white folks. That needs to be understood" (bell hooks 1995: 154).

SEPARATISM?
"Concurrently, all social manifestations of black separatism are often seen by whites as a sign of anti-white racism, when they usually represent an attempt by black people to construct places of political sanctuary where we can escape, if only for a time, white domination" (bell hooks 1995: p155).

BLAMING THE VICTIM
“People who have not thought about or refuse to acknowledge this imbalance of power/privilege often want to talk about the racism of people of color. But then, that is one of the ways racism is able to continue to function. You look for someone to blame and you blame the victim, who will nine times out of ten accept the blame out of habit” (Gloria Yamato 2001: p93).


References:
hooks, bell. Killing Rage: Ending Racism. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995.

Yamoto, Gloria. "Something About the Subject Makes it Hard to Name" in in Race, Class, and Gender: An Anthology, 4th Edition. by Margaret L. Andersen, and Patricia Hill Collins, eds. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2001.
Brought to you by Claremont SCRAP – Students Challenging Racism and (White) Privilege. www.canopyweb.com/racism
THE MYTH OF REVERSE RACISM…AT POMONA?

White Pomona Students Give Examples of “Racism” at Pomona College:*
“I feel like I am left to associate with most by my race because others are more exclusive.”
“Organizations (such as AAMP) that discuss racial issues, but serve to promote uni-racial mingling, don't really help.”
“I have experienced a kind of reverse racism because I am white. It was a surprise that I wasn't racist, that I had dated people of other races, and thought it was ok.”
“The only incidents I have been privy to are from some members of Asian organizations not wanting to interact with outsiders from their class.”
“Lunchroom: entirely white except for one table with only Black kids and scattered Asians in small groups.”
“In my hall, the one Black kid tends to chill with only the other darker-skinned girl.”
“Why do the Black students get together? Why are Asians so annoying in groups?”
Are these students really describing racism….or the effects of it?
*Source of Quotes: Pomona College Students’ Opinions on Race and Racism, 2002.










The Perils of Colorblindness


1. “When whites claim to not notice others’ race, as in ‘I didn’t even notice she was Black,’ there is an implicit ideology of white as the norm” (O’Brien 46).

2. “With [colorblindness], we are told that all people are the same under the skin and that we all have the same equal chances of making it. Therefore, the 'logic' continues, if a minority person fails to achieve, then the blame lies solely with the individual” (Rodriguez 8).

3. “The rhetoric of colorblindness enables Whites to erase from consciousness not only the history of racism and how that history plays itself out economically, politically, socially, and culturally in the present; such an insidious discourse also dissuades both the individual and institutions from engaging in antiracist strategies for dismantling white privilege and for reworking the terrain of whiteness” (Rodriguez 8).

4. “Colorblindness justifies withdrawal from social action by assuming that racism will cease to exist when people stop noticing racial and cultural differences” (Dernman-Sparks and Phillips 52).

5. “Colorblindness obscures the reality of institutional racism by attributing the source of the problem to seeing differences rather than to a system that denies certain racial groups equitable economic and political gain” (Dernman-Sparks and Phillips 52).

References:
Derman-Sparks, Louise, and Carol Brunson Phillips. Teaching/Learning
Anti-Racism: A Developmental Approach. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1997.
O'Brien, Eileen. Whites Confront Racism: Antiracists and Their Paths to Action. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2001.
Rodriguez, Nelson M. "Projects of Whiteness in a Critical Pedagogy." in Dismantling White Privilege: Pedagogy, Politics, and Whiteness, by Nelson M. Rodriguez and Leila E. Villaverde, eds., New York: Peter Lang, 2000.




Understanding is Empowering


Talking about racism is often scary, and many people want to avoid such discussions at all costs. However, as some students have discovered, talking about race and racism can be empowering. Gaining the right language and analytical tools for understanding racism is the starting point for honestly confronting and challenging it.

1. “My classes gave me a much fuller and more nuanced view of racism and how it can function within society.”
2. “Uncovered to me the idea of White privilege as the driving force behind racism, not personal prejudice.”
3. “These classes have helped me better understand what difficulties others face and how I may have unconsciously benefited from and contributed to the problem.”
4. “Made me realize maybe "colorblindness" isn't the answer.”
5 “I have learned a lot about my own assumptions and interactions with people of other races. I've also learned about my advantages as a "white" person as well as my disadvantages.”
6 “It really made me reconsider how I viewed racism and helped me see it was something that directly affected me instead of some distant evil.”
7. “I have become much more aware of specific social institutions and history that inhibit minorities and of what can be done to change them.”
*Source of Quotes and Data: Pomona College Students’ Opinions on Race and Racism, 2002. [A total of 257 Pomona College students responded to this survey.]




WHAT IS WHITENESS?


“White in America has always signified who is entitled to privilege. In this sense, the phrase ‘white privilege’ is a redundancy [since] Whiteness has always signified worthiness, inclusion and acceptance” (John A. Powell, quoted in Roediger.)

"The white privilege of universalizing its characteristics as the 'proper ways to be' has continuously undermined the efforts of non-Whites in a variety of spheres. At times such universal norms have produced self-loathing among individual members of minority groups, as they internalize the shibboleths of the white traditions - 'I wish my eyes were blue and my hair were blond and silky'" (Kincheloe and Steinberg 179).

"Whiteness has historically been appropriated in unmarked ways by strategically maintaining as colorless its color (and hence its values, belief systems, privileges, histories, experiences, and modes of operation) behind its constant constructions of otherness" (Rodriguez 1).

“It must be remembered that the white group of laborers, while they received a low wage, were compensated in part by a sort of public and psychological wage. They were given public deference and titles of courtesy because they were white” (W.E.B. Du Bois, quoted in Roediger).

“Whiteness, as a set of normative cultural practices, is visible most clearly to those it definitively excludes and those whom it does violence. Those who are securely housed within its borders usually do not examine it” (Frankenberg 228-229).


WHY SHOULD WE TALK ABOUT WHITENESS?

“Whiteness refers to a set of locations that are historically, socially, politically, and culturally produced and, moreover, are intrinsically linked to unfolding relations of domination. Naming ‘whiteness’ displaces it from the unmarked, unnamed status that is itself an effect of dominance….To look at the social construction of whiteness, then, is to look head-on at a site of dominance. (And it may be more difficult for white people to say ‘Whiteness has nothing to do with me – I’m not white’ than to say ‘Race has nothing to do with me – I’m not racist.’) To speak of whiteness is, I think, to assign everyone a place in the relations of racism. It is to emphasize that dealing with racism is not merely an option for white people – that, rather, racism shapes white people’s lives and identities in a way that is inseperable from other facets of daily life” (Frankenberg 6).

References:
Frankenberg, Ruth. White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993.

Kincheloe, Joe L. and Shirley R. Steinberg. "Constructing a Pedagogy of Whiteness for Angry White Students." in Dismantling White Privilege: Pedagogy, Politics, and Whiteness, by Nelson M. Rodriguez and Leila E. Villaverde, eds., New York: Peter Lang, 2000.

Rodriguez, Nelson M. and Leila E. Villaverde, eds. Dismantling White Privilege: Pedagogy, Politics, and Whiteness. New York: Peter Lang, 2000.

Roediger, David R., ed. Black on White: Black Writers on What it Means to Be White. New York: Schocken Books, 1998.





TALKING ABOUT RACE:

Pomona College Students Say:
“The discussions of racism and the power structure that maintains it shouldn't be one day or one event, and can't really be addressed by taking one class that looks at these issues. It should be a daily, ongoing discussion inherent to our classes and our social lives.”

“Pomona College needs to have professors included in the dialogue to educate people on [race and racism] issues. And people of color should not have to shoulder the burden to teach the White people.”

“I feel that White (racially privileged) individuals, myself included, should step up and organize events addressing race issues.”

“I think Pomona should continue race dialogue, but give positive suggestions for things that can be done. Nothing is accomplished when White people just feel guilty. Guilt paralyzes, it doesn't produce action.”

“Many students, especially White ones, don't want to talk about race. If we can't deal with it in the classroom, how can we face it in the ‘Real World’?”

“Day of Dialogue is good in its intention but doesn't usually accomplish anything because people of both sides are too afraid of offending each other.”




Anti-Racism Checklist
Are you ready to start actively challenging racism? Have you already started? Here’s a checklist to keep you on the right track. Check all that apply.*



I have aggressively sought out more information in an effort to enhance my own awareness and understanding of racism (talking with others, reading, listening).


I have spent time recently in looking at my own attitudes and behavior as they contribute to or combat racism around me.


I have reevaluated my use of terms or phrases that may be perceived as degrading or hurtful to others.


I have openly disagreed with a racist comment, joke, or action by someone around me.


I have made a personal contract with myself to take a positive stand, even at some possible risk, when the chance occurs.


I have become aware of racist TV programs, advertising, and news broadcasts, and I have complained to those responsible.


I have taken steps to implement discussions with friends, colleagues, social clubs, or church groups, aimed at understanding racism.


I have been investigating political candidates at all levels in terms of their stance and activity against racist government practices.


I have investigated local school curricula in terms of their treatment of the issue of racism (also textbooks, assemblies, faculty, staff, administration).


I have contributed time and/or money to an agency, fund, or program that actively confronts the problems of racism.
My school or other place of employment is a target for my educational efforts in responding to racism.


I have become seriously dissatisfied with my own level of activity in combating racism.


Additional ideas from Claremont SCRAP:
I have kept a close eye on assumptions I make about other students based on their skin color.


I have asked my professors to address the topics of racism and Whiteness in my classes.


I have made it a point to notice inequalities in society and critically question their origins and underlying causes.


I am cultivating my ability to feel empathy for all people. Racism makes me mad!


I don’t assume that all students at the Claremont Colleges are all middle to upper class, or that they have had all the same opportunities I had growing up.


I have gone to events, lectures, or workshops that address racism.


I read all of SCRAP’s table tents and have visited their website.


I challenge White students to rethink their assumptions when they say things like: “It’s reverse racism when all the students of color hang out together. Why do they have those separatist cultural organizations? There should be a Caucasian American Mentor Program!”


I challenge students who think that the problem of racism will just “go away” if we could all just become “colorblind.”


I have realized that it is not the job of people of color to educate the world about racism.



* Source of checklist:

National Education Association. Education and Racism: An Action Manual.





http://canopyweb.com/racism/

limestonekid

Still a PUNK, eh Guest.

I didn't think you were MAN enough to risk registering and possibly identifying yourself.

Come back when you've grown up.

BTW, is there an area on the web site that answer the question:

WHAT IS BLACKNESS?

anonymous

LimestoneKid wrote: Still a PUNK, eh Guest.

I didn't think you were MAN enough to risk registering and possibly identifying yourself.

Come back when you've grown up.

How would a made up internet moniker possibly identify me? I think you need to grow up. The words are the same regardless.

jimmylegs

looks like somebody's taken their first black studies class!

anonymous

jimmylegs wrote: looks like somebody's taken their first black studies class!

nah clearly some of these people desperately need to read this stuff. its the comments i read here that made me make this thread.

eberri

Well said, truth hurts especially for those who think they are so liberal and don't contribute to / benefit from their privilege.

Funny how some postings are instantly moved and others aren't....

queencallipygos

eberri wrote: Well said, truth hurts especially for those who think they are so liberal and don't contribute to / benefit from their privilege.

Funny how some postings are instantly moved and others aren't....

In the first place, this post was moved because it was posted in a Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill/BedStuy board, and dealt with a broader topic. So it was given a WIDER audience with this move.

In the second place -- how can anyone be sure who is and is not contributing to or benefiting from their privilege? For that matter, how do we know who is or is not black or white?

In the third place -- class, not race, is a factor in many of Guest's complaints, but Guest is so blinded by racism that he cannot see that.

eberri, you're doing important work, but in other threads, it looks like Guest just has a bug up his butt.

eberri

Guest just has a bug up his butt?

Not from where I sit, but I don't expect you to see things from my perspective....

Guest is blinded by racism?
Maybe guest is just sharing a perspective (thats different from yours). People who never have to see or experience racism, never want to discuss it and are so offended when others bring it up...

People who want to discuss it seem to always be attacked on this board. The hostility is palpable and just shows how much farther (despite the fact that Obama is a real contender) we have to go...

This country still has HUGE race issues and no one (not a minority) ever want to address/discuss them... That is not progress...

There is nothing in guests post that should be offensive. WHITE PEOPLE ARE PRIVILEGED. This is not news people. But thats such a sensitive topic it can't even be discussed.....

queencallipygos

eberri wrote: Guest just has a bug up his butt?

Not from where I sit, but I don't expect you to see things from my perspective....

Guest is blinded by racism?
Maybe guest is just sharing a perspective (thats different from yours). People who never have to see or experience racism, never want to discuss it and are so offended when others bring it up...

People who want to discuss it seem to always be attacked on this board. The hostility is palpable and just shows how much farther (despite the fact that Obama is a real contender) we have to go...

This country still has HUGE race issues and no one (not a minority) ever want to address/discuss them... That is not progress...

There is nothing in guests post that should be offensive. WHITE PEOPLE ARE PRIVILEGED. This is not news people. But thats such a sensitive topic it can't even be discussed.....

Actually, I was talking more about the tap-dancing "Guest" was doing about how white people "had to go" and how white people were the cause of all violence in society. THAT kind of thing.

The good he IS saying is being shouted down by the BAD he's saying. But hey, if you want to shoot yourselves in the foot...

daver

This isn't offered as a discussion, this is a lecture.

Oh well.

I wish you peace and hope that your way brings you happiness.

boogieknight

eberri wrote: Guest just has a bug up his butt?

Not from where I sit, but I don't expect you to see things from my perspective....

Guest is blinded by racism?
Maybe guest is just sharing a perspective (thats different from yours). People who never have to see or experience racism, never want to discuss it and are so offended when others bring it up...

People who want to discuss it seem to always be attacked on this board. The hostility is palpable and just shows how much farther (despite the fact that Obama is a real contender) we have to go...

This country still has HUGE race issues and no one (not a minority) ever want to address/discuss them... That is not progress...

There is nothing in guests post that should be offensive. WHITE PEOPLE ARE PRIVILEGED. This is not news people. But thats such a sensitive topic it can't even be discussed.....

OK, for the sake of discussion (although I love daver pointing out that the OP was a lecture, not a discussion. I would also submit that its a harangue), lets agree that there is WHITE PRIVILEGE.

So the next thing White people should do is..............????

If there are steps to be followed then do please tell White people how to offset their White privilege.

Also tell them how to atone for thousands of years of White atrocity.

Also let us readers know if the steps are to be followed by every single White person in the US, or just some. If only some, what criteria will be used to differentiate amongst different types of White people (assuming White people come in different varieties and aren't all the same anyway).

karka

Well I'll put out there that the biggest problem with overcoming white privilege is trying to define what people should be. Right now you have the situation of years of Civil Rights activists who were more interested in allowing Blacks to be free to be like whites rather than to allow Blacks to be free.

You have a similar situation in Iraq (ya I took it there) where America is fighting for Iraqis to be free to be like Americans.

So you have a situation where the one with power expects those without to play their game. They owe it to the benevolent masters.