Things Many White People Seem To Not Understand

[320 Years of History]

I ask myself on a daily basis, "What do I have that I didn’t earn?"
-- Peggy MacIntosh​

1. White Privilege is being able to move into a new neighborhood and being fairly sure that your neighbors will be pleasant to you and treat you with respect.
   
2. White Privilege is being able to watch a movie, read a book and open the front page of a newspaper and assume that unless otherwise indicated, you and every white person whom you know or can imagine could well be the protagonist; you and your race is widely represented and spoken for. It's also being about to encounter any narrative about non-whites and empathetically dissociate yourself from it.
3. White Privilege is being able to seek legal, financial and medical help without having your race work against you.
4. White Privilege is living in a world where you are taught that people with your skin tone hold the standard for beauty.
5. White Privilege is never being told to, “get over slavery”.
6. White Privilege is having the prevalence and importance of the English language and finding amusement in ridiculing people of color/immigrants for their accents and their difficulty in speaking a language that is not their native tongue.
7. White Privilege is arrogantly believing that reverse racism actually exists and believing it is something other than racism.
8. White Privilege is being able to stay ignorant to the fact that racial slurs are part of a systematic dehumanization of entire groups of people who are and have historically been subjugated and hated just for being alive.
9. White Privilege is not having your name turned into an easier-to-say Anglo-Saxon name.
10. White Privilege is being able to fight racism one day, then ignore it the next.
11. White privilege is having your words and actions attributed to you as an individual, rather than have them reflect members of your race.
12. White Privilege is being able to talk about racism without appearing self-serving.
13. White Privilege is being able to be articulate and well-spoken without people being surprised.
14. White Privilege is being pulled over or taken aside and knowing that you are not being singled out because of your race/colour.
15. White Privilege is not having to teach your children to be aware of systematic racism for their own protection.
16. White Privilege is not having to acknowledge the fact that we live in a system that treats people of color unfairly politically, socially and economically and being able to choose, instead, -- if/when it suits you -- to believe that people of color are inherently less capable.
17. White Privilege is not having your people and their culture stereotyped and subsequently appropriated, romanticized or eroticized for the gain and pleasure of other white people.
18. White Privilege is being able to ignore the consequences of race.

Now, if as or after you read the list above, what crossed your mind was/were:

• ways to discredit the statement(s) rather than ways in which the statement(s) is so, and/or
• whether a statement is binarily applicable either in general or specifically,
• whether the inapplicability of one statement -- broadly or specifically -- to you or the white people whom you know has something to do with whether White Privilege exists,
• whether a single statement or the whole list sought to describe or label you specifically or white people in general rather than a body of cultural attitudes and experiences,

well, that's not white privilege, it's an outcome of White Privilege. What that is at least one of thee things -- white guilt, denial or racial bias -- but not knowing you personally, I can't say which. I suppose it could also be be incomprehension, but there's no "fancy" language there, so hopefully none of the literalists (or anyone else) here show us that they truly didn't get the substantive themes and contexts of the statements.

Lastly, to be clear, I didn't create the OP seeking to irk folks, truly. I want folks -- black and white -- to recognize that on a daily basis, whites enjoy a set of advantages and immunities that are a direct result of the oppression of people of color. I also want blacks to realize that often enough and unconsciously they feed the beast too and to that end, they aren't helping eradicate it. That's how deeply ingrained White Privilege is in American culture.

Interestingly, I didn't actually come to understand White Privilege until I discovered my own angst and apprehension when I spent a year living and traveling in places where there were no white people, or if there were I never saw them. And to be honest, it was some months later that I understood the emotions I'd felt . It was years later before the term "White Privilege" made its way to me and I came to have a tidy little label for what I'd experienced and discovered.

How you perceive the notion of that even being possible and indeed happening? Makes you squirm in your chair a bit and maybe feel a little uncomfortable, right? But here’s the thing – I’m not "on about" White Privilege to make you feel comfortable, that’s not my aim. I've created this thread to ideally erase the invisibility of the privileges you have that continue to help maintain white supremacy, yet I realize that's probably far too optimistic an objective. I’m trying merely to offer a few palpable illustrations of what White Privilege is in the hope that maybe one day, not necessarily one day soon, when you see it manifest, you'll recognize it for what it is and maybe even know that it's not fair that we enjoy a privilege no other Americans do, and in recognition of that, do something about ending it.


Additional Reading:

• THE ORIGINS OF “PRIVILEGE” -- An interview
  
• WHITE PRIVILEGE AND MALE PRIVILEGE: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies
  
• UNDERSTANDING WHITE PRIVILEGE
  
• The Invisibility of White Privilege

 

[Sunni Man]

......................................................

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

What a load of horse shit....

 

[ptbw forever]

I ask myself on a daily basis, "What do I have that I didn’t earn?"
-- Peggy MacIntosh​

1. White Privilege is being able to move into a new neighborhood and being fairly sure that your neighbors will be pleasant to you and treat you with respect.
   
2. White Privilege is being able to watch a movie, read a book and open the front page of a newspaper and assume that unless otherwise indicated, you and every white person whom you know or can imagine could well be the protagonist; you and your race is widely represented and spoken for. It's also being about to encounter any narrative about non-whites and empathetically dissociate yourself from it.
3. White Privilege is being able to seek legal, financial and medical help without having your race work against you.
4. White Privilege is living in a world where you are taught that people with your skin tone hold the standard for beauty.
5. White Privilege is never being told to, “get over slavery”.
6. White Privilege is having the prevalence and importance of the English language and finding amusement in ridiculing people of color/immigrants for their accents and their difficulty in speaking a language that is not their native tongue.
7. White Privilege is arrogantly believing that reverse racism actually exists and believing it is something other than racism.
8. White Privilege is being able to stay ignorant to the fact that racial slurs are part of a systematic dehumanization of entire groups of people who are and have historically been subjugated and hated just for being alive.
9. White Privilege is not having your name turned into an easier-to-say Anglo-Saxon name.
10. White Privilege is being able to fight racism one day, then ignore it the next.
11. White privilege is having your words and actions attributed to you as an individual, rather than have them reflect members of your race.
12. White Privilege is being able to talk about racism without appearing self-serving.
13. White Privilege is being able to be articulate and well-spoken without people being surprised.
14. White Privilege is being pulled over or taken aside and knowing that you are not being singled out because of your race/colour.
15. White Privilege is not having to teach your children to be aware of systematic racism for their own protection.
16. White Privilege is not having to acknowledge the fact that we live in a system that treats people of color unfairly politically, socially and economically and being able to choose, instead, -- if/when it suits you -- to believe that people of color are inherently less capable.
17. White Privilege is not having your people and their culture stereotyped and subsequently appropriated, romanticized or eroticized for the gain and pleasure of other white people.
18. White Privilege is being able to ignore the consequences of race.

Now, if as or after you read the list above, what crossed your mind was/were:

• ways to discredit the statement(s) rather than ways in which the statement(s) is so, and/or
• whether a statement is binarily applicable either in general or specifically,
• whether the inapplicability of one statement -- broadly or specifically -- to you or the white people whom you know has something to do with whether White Privilege exists,
• whether a single statement or the whole list sought to describe or label you specifically or white people in general rather than a body of cultural attitudes and experiences,

well, that's not white privilege, it's an outcome of White Privilege. What that is at least one of thee things -- white guilt, denial or racial bias -- but not knowing you personally, I can't say which. I suppose it could also be be incomprehension, but there's no "fancy" language there, so hopefully none of the literalists (or anyone else) here show us that they truly didn't get the substantive themes and contexts of the statements.

Lastly, to be clear, I didn't create the OP seeking to irk folks, truly. I want folks -- black and white -- to recognize that on a daily basis, whites enjoy a set of advantages and immunities that are a direct result of the oppression of people of color. I also want blacks to realize that often enough and unconsciously they feed the beast too and to that end, they aren't helping eradicate it. That's how deeply ingrained White Privilege is in American culture.

Interestingly, I didn't actually come to understand White Privilege until I discovered my own angst and apprehension when I spent a year living and traveling in places where there were no white people, or if there were I never saw them. And to be honest, it was some months later that I understood the emotions I'd felt . It was years later before the term "White Privilege" made its way to me and I came to have a tidy little label for what I'd experienced and discovered.

How you perceive the notion of that even being possible and indeed happening? Makes you squirm in your chair a bit and maybe feel a little uncomfortable, right? But here’s the thing – I’m not "on about" White Privilege to make you feel comfortable, that’s not my aim. I've created this thread to ideally erase the invisibility of the privileges you have that continue to help maintain white supremacy, yet I realize that's probably far too optimistic an objective. I’m trying merely to offer a few palpable illustrations of what White Privilege is in the hope that maybe one day, not necessarily one day soon, when you see it manifest, you'll recognize it for what it is and maybe even know that it's not fair that we enjoy a privilege no other Americans do, and in recognition of that, do something about ending it.


Additional Reading:

• THE ORIGINS OF “PRIVILEGE” -- An interview
  
• WHITE PRIVILEGE AND MALE PRIVILEGE: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies
  
• UNDERSTANDING WHITE PRIVILEGE
  
• The Invisibility of White Privilege

And you wonder why white people don't vote Democrat.....

 

[TNHarley]

I ask myself on a daily basis, "What do I have that I didn’t earn?"
-- Peggy MacIntosh​

1. White Privilege is being able to move into a new neighborhood and being fairly sure that your neighbors will be pleasant to you and treat you with respect.
   
2. White Privilege is being able to watch a movie, read a book and open the front page of a newspaper and assume that unless otherwise indicated, you and every white person whom you know or can imagine could well be the protagonist; you and your race is widely represented and spoken for. It's also being about to encounter any narrative about non-whites and empathetically dissociate yourself from it.
3. White Privilege is being able to seek legal, financial and medical help without having your race work against you.
4. White Privilege is living in a world where you are taught that people with your skin tone hold the standard for beauty.
5. White Privilege is never being told to, “get over slavery”.
6. White Privilege is having the prevalence and importance of the English language and finding amusement in ridiculing people of color/immigrants for their accents and their difficulty in speaking a language that is not their native tongue.
7. White Privilege is arrogantly believing that reverse racism actually exists and believing it is something other than racism.
8. White Privilege is being able to stay ignorant to the fact that racial slurs are part of a systematic dehumanization of entire groups of people who are and have historically been subjugated and hated just for being alive.
9. White Privilege is not having your name turned into an easier-to-say Anglo-Saxon name.
10. White Privilege is being able to fight racism one day, then ignore it the next.
11. White privilege is having your words and actions attributed to you as an individual, rather than have them reflect members of your race.
12. White Privilege is being able to talk about racism without appearing self-serving.
13. White Privilege is being able to be articulate and well-spoken without people being surprised.
14. White Privilege is being pulled over or taken aside and knowing that you are not being singled out because of your race/colour.
15. White Privilege is not having to teach your children to be aware of systematic racism for their own protection.
16. White Privilege is not having to acknowledge the fact that we live in a system that treats people of color unfairly politically, socially and economically and being able to choose, instead, -- if/when it suits you -- to believe that people of color are inherently less capable.
17. White Privilege is not having your people and their culture stereotyped and subsequently appropriated, romanticized or eroticized for the gain and pleasure of other white people.
18. White Privilege is being able to ignore the consequences of race.

Now, if as or after you read the list above, what crossed your mind was/were:

• ways to discredit the statement(s) rather than ways in which the statement(s) is so, and/or
• whether a statement is binarily applicable either in general or specifically,
• whether the inapplicability of one statement -- broadly or specifically -- to you or the white people whom you know has something to do with whether White Privilege exists,
• whether a single statement or the whole list sought to describe or label you specifically or white people in general rather than a body of cultural attitudes and experiences,

well, that's not white privilege, it's an outcome of White Privilege. What that is at least one of thee things -- white guilt, denial or racial bias -- but not knowing you personally, I can't say which. I suppose it could also be be incomprehension, but there's no "fancy" language there, so hopefully none of the literalists (or anyone else) here show us that they truly didn't get the substantive themes and contexts of the statements.

Lastly, to be clear, I didn't create the OP seeking to irk folks, truly. I want folks -- black and white -- to recognize that on a daily basis, whites enjoy a set of advantages and immunities that are a direct result of the oppression of people of color. I also want blacks to realize that often enough and unconsciously they feed the beast too and to that end, they aren't helping eradicate it. That's how deeply ingrained White Privilege is in American culture.

Interestingly, I didn't actually come to understand White Privilege until I discovered my own angst and apprehension when I spent a year living and traveling in places where there were no white people, or if there were I never saw them. And to be honest, it was some months later that I understood the emotions I'd felt . It was years later before the term "White Privilege" made its way to me and I came to have a tidy little label for what I'd experienced and discovered.

How you perceive the notion of that even being possible and indeed happening? Makes you squirm in your chair a bit and maybe feel a little uncomfortable, right? But here’s the thing – I’m not "on about" White Privilege to make you feel comfortable, that’s not my aim. I've created this thread to ideally erase the invisibility of the privileges you have that continue to help maintain white supremacy, yet I realize that's probably far too optimistic an objective. I’m trying merely to offer a few palpable illustrations of what White Privilege is in the hope that maybe one day, not necessarily one day soon, when you see it manifest, you'll recognize it for what it is and maybe even know that it's not fair that we enjoy a privilege no other Americans do, and in recognition of that, do something about ending it.


Additional Reading:

• THE ORIGINS OF “PRIVILEGE” -- An interview
  
• WHITE PRIVILEGE AND MALE PRIVILEGE: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies
  
• UNDERSTANDING WHITE PRIVILEGE
  
• The Invisibility of White Privilege

YES! Please let the white guy tell us about it!

 

[TNHarley]

White Privilege is never being told to, “get over slavery”.
White Privilege is arrogantly believing that reverse racism actually exists and believing it is something other than racism.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

Ah a really racist and stupid thread...that needs to go to the Rubber Room

 

[SassyIrishLass]

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

I ask myself on a daily basis, "What do I have that I didn’t earn?"
-- Peggy MacIntosh​

1. White Privilege is being able to move into a new neighborhood and being fairly sure that your neighbors will be pleasant to you and treat you with respect.
   
2. White Privilege is being able to watch a movie, read a book and open the front page of a newspaper and assume that unless otherwise indicated, you and every white person whom you know or can imagine could well be the protagonist; you and your race is widely represented and spoken for. It's also being about to encounter any narrative about non-whites and empathetically dissociate yourself from it.
3. White Privilege is being able to seek legal, financial and medical help without having your race work against you.
4. White Privilege is living in a world where you are taught that people with your skin tone hold the standard for beauty.
5. White Privilege is never being told to, “get over slavery”.
6. White Privilege is having the prevalence and importance of the English language and finding amusement in ridiculing people of color/immigrants for their accents and their difficulty in speaking a language that is not their native tongue.
7. White Privilege is arrogantly believing that reverse racism actually exists and believing it is something other than racism.
8. White Privilege is being able to stay ignorant to the fact that racial slurs are part of a systematic dehumanization of entire groups of people who are and have historically been subjugated and hated just for being alive.
9. White Privilege is not having your name turned into an easier-to-say Anglo-Saxon name.
10. White Privilege is being able to fight racism one day, then ignore it the next.
11. White privilege is having your words and actions attributed to you as an individual, rather than have them reflect members of your race.
12. White Privilege is being able to talk about racism without appearing self-serving.
13. White Privilege is being able to be articulate and well-spoken without people being surprised.
14. White Privilege is being pulled over or taken aside and knowing that you are not being singled out because of your race/colour.
15. White Privilege is not having to teach your children to be aware of systematic racism for their own protection.
16. White Privilege is not having to acknowledge the fact that we live in a system that treats people of color unfairly politically, socially and economically and being able to choose, instead, -- if/when it suits you -- to believe that people of color are inherently less capable.
17. White Privilege is not having your people and their culture stereotyped and subsequently appropriated, romanticized or eroticized for the gain and pleasure of other white people.
18. White Privilege is being able to ignore the consequences of race.

Now, if as or after you read the list above, what crossed your mind was/were:

• ways to discredit the statement(s) rather than ways in which the statement(s) is so, and/or
• whether a statement is binarily applicable either in general or specifically,
• whether the inapplicability of one statement -- broadly or specifically -- to you or the white people whom you know has something to do with whether White Privilege exists,
• whether a single statement or the whole list sought to describe or label you specifically or white people in general rather than a body of cultural attitudes and experiences,

well, that's not white privilege, it's an outcome of White Privilege. What that is at least one of thee things -- white guilt, denial or racial bias -- but not knowing you personally, I can't say which. I suppose it could also be be incomprehension, but there's no "fancy" language there, so hopefully none of the literalists (or anyone else) here show us that they truly didn't get the substantive themes and contexts of the statements.

Lastly, to be clear, I didn't create the OP seeking to irk folks, truly. I want folks -- black and white -- to recognize that on a daily basis, whites enjoy a set of advantages and immunities that are a direct result of the oppression of people of color. I also want blacks to realize that often enough and unconsciously they feed the beast too and to that end, they aren't helping eradicate it. That's how deeply ingrained White Privilege is in American culture.

Interestingly, I didn't actually come to understand White Privilege until I discovered my own angst and apprehension when I spent a year living and traveling in places where there were no white people, or if there were I never saw them. And to be honest, it was some months later that I understood the emotions I'd felt . It was years later before the term "White Privilege" made its way to me and I came to have a tidy little label for what I'd experienced and discovered.

How you perceive the notion of that even being possible and indeed happening? Makes you squirm in your chair a bit and maybe feel a little uncomfortable, right? But here’s the thing – I’m not "on about" White Privilege to make you feel comfortable, that’s not my aim. I've created this thread to ideally erase the invisibility of the privileges you have that continue to help maintain white supremacy, yet I realize that's probably far too optimistic an objective. I’m trying merely to offer a few palpable illustrations of what White Privilege is in the hope that maybe one day, not necessarily one day soon, when you see it manifest, you'll recognize it for what it is and maybe even know that it's not fair that we enjoy a privilege no other Americans do, and in recognition of that, do something about ending it.


Additional Reading:

• THE ORIGINS OF “PRIVILEGE” -- An interview
  
• WHITE PRIVILEGE AND MALE PRIVILEGE: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies
  
• UNDERSTANDING WHITE PRIVILEGE
  
• The Invisibility of White Privilege

I suggest you find the nearest "safe space" and shelter in place immediately.

 

[Uncensored2008]

I ask myself on a daily basis, "What do I have that I didn’t earn?"
-- Peggy MacIntosh​

1. White Privilege is being able to move into a new neighborhood and being fairly sure that your neighbors will be pleasant to you and treat you with respect.

Ooh look, a leftist who is a racist fuck - how unusual...

So racist fuck, if a white person moves in to a Compton neighborhood, they will be treated with respect? If they move into a Boyle Heights neighborhood all will be Bueno?

What is that racist fuck? I missed your answer.

1. White Privilege is being able to watch a movie, read a book and open the front page of a newspaper and assume that unless otherwise indicated, you and every white person whom you know or can imagine could well be the protagonist; you and your race is widely represented and spoken for. It's also being about to encounter any narrative about non-whites and empathetically dissociate yourself from it.

Especially those "Spike Jones joints.."

You're brilliant, as racist fucks go...

What a moron you are - racist fuck.

 

[Ozone]

What a load of horse shit....

without load after load of horse shit, all these politics would be very boring.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

I ask myself on a daily basis, "What do I have that I didn’t earn?"
-- Peggy MacIntosh​

1. White Privilege is being able to move into a new neighborhood and being fairly sure that your neighbors will be pleasant to you and treat you with respect.
   
2. White Privilege is being able to watch a movie, read a book and open the front page of a newspaper and assume that unless otherwise indicated, you and every white person whom you know or can imagine could well be the protagonist; you and your race is widely represented and spoken for. It's also being about to encounter any narrative about non-whites and empathetically dissociate yourself from it.
3. White Privilege is being able to seek legal, financial and medical help without having your race work against you.
4. White Privilege is living in a world where you are taught that people with your skin tone hold the standard for beauty.
5. White Privilege is never being told to, “get over slavery”.
6. White Privilege is having the prevalence and importance of the English language and finding amusement in ridiculing people of color/immigrants for their accents and their difficulty in speaking a language that is not their native tongue.
7. White Privilege is arrogantly believing that reverse racism actually exists and believing it is something other than racism.
8. White Privilege is being able to stay ignorant to the fact that racial slurs are part of a systematic dehumanization of entire groups of people who are and have historically been subjugated and hated just for being alive.
9. White Privilege is not having your name turned into an easier-to-say Anglo-Saxon name.
10. White Privilege is being able to fight racism one day, then ignore it the next.
11. White privilege is having your words and actions attributed to you as an individual, rather than have them reflect members of your race.
12. White Privilege is being able to talk about racism without appearing self-serving.
13. White Privilege is being able to be articulate and well-spoken without people being surprised.
14. White Privilege is being pulled over or taken aside and knowing that you are not being singled out because of your race/colour.
15. White Privilege is not having to teach your children to be aware of systematic racism for their own protection.
16. White Privilege is not having to acknowledge the fact that we live in a system that treats people of color unfairly politically, socially and economically and being able to choose, instead, -- if/when it suits you -- to believe that people of color are inherently less capable.
17. White Privilege is not having your people and their culture stereotyped and subsequently appropriated, romanticized or eroticized for the gain and pleasure of other white people.
18. White Privilege is being able to ignore the consequences of race.

Now, if as or after you read the list above, what crossed your mind was/were:

• ways to discredit the statement(s) rather than ways in which the statement(s) is so, and/or
• whether a statement is binarily applicable either in general or specifically,
• whether the inapplicability of one statement -- broadly or specifically -- to you or the white people whom you know has something to do with whether White Privilege exists,
• whether a single statement or the whole list sought to describe or label you specifically or white people in general rather than a body of cultural attitudes and experiences,

well, that's not white privilege, it's an outcome of White Privilege. What that is at least one of thee things -- white guilt, denial or racial bias -- but not knowing you personally, I can't say which. I suppose it could also be be incomprehension, but there's no "fancy" language there, so hopefully none of the literalists (or anyone else) here show us that they truly didn't get the substantive themes and contexts of the statements.

Lastly, to be clear, I didn't create the OP seeking to irk folks, truly. I want folks -- black and white -- to recognize that on a daily basis, whites enjoy a set of advantages and immunities that are a direct result of the oppression of people of color. I also want blacks to realize that often enough and unconsciously they feed the beast too and to that end, they aren't helping eradicate it. That's how deeply ingrained White Privilege is in American culture.

Interestingly, I didn't actually come to understand White Privilege until I discovered my own angst and apprehension when I spent a year living and traveling in places where there were no white people, or if there were I never saw them. And to be honest, it was some months later that I understood the emotions I'd felt . It was years later before the term "White Privilege" made its way to me and I came to have a tidy little label for what I'd experienced and discovered.

How you perceive the notion of that even being possible and indeed happening? Makes you squirm in your chair a bit and maybe feel a little uncomfortable, right? But here’s the thing – I’m not "on about" White Privilege to make you feel comfortable, that’s not my aim. I've created this thread to ideally erase the invisibility of the privileges you have that continue to help maintain white supremacy, yet I realize that's probably far too optimistic an objective. I’m trying merely to offer a few palpable illustrations of what White Privilege is in the hope that maybe one day, not necessarily one day soon, when you see it manifest, you'll recognize it for what it is and maybe even know that it's not fair that we enjoy a privilege no other Americans do, and in recognition of that, do something about ending it.


Additional Reading:

• THE ORIGINS OF “PRIVILEGE” -- An interview
  
• WHITE PRIVILEGE AND MALE PRIVILEGE: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies
  
• UNDERSTANDING WHITE PRIVILEGE
  
• The Invisibility of White Privilege

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

I ask myself on a daily basis, "What do I have that I didn’t earn?"
-- Peggy MacIntosh​

1. White Privilege is being able to move into a new neighborhood and being fairly sure that your neighbors will be pleasant to you and treat you with respect.
   
2. White Privilege is being able to watch a movie, read a book and open the front page of a newspaper and assume that unless otherwise indicated, you and every white person whom you know or can imagine could well be the protagonist; you and your race is widely represented and spoken for. It's also being about to encounter any narrative about non-whites and empathetically dissociate yourself from it.
3. White Privilege is being able to seek legal, financial and medical help without having your race work against you.
4. White Privilege is living in a world where you are taught that people with your skin tone hold the standard for beauty.
5. White Privilege is never being told to, “get over slavery”.
6. White Privilege is having the prevalence and importance of the English language and finding amusement in ridiculing people of color/immigrants for their accents and their difficulty in speaking a language that is not their native tongue.
7. White Privilege is arrogantly believing that reverse racism actually exists and believing it is something other than racism.
8. White Privilege is being able to stay ignorant to the fact that racial slurs are part of a systematic dehumanization of entire groups of people who are and have historically been subjugated and hated just for being alive.
9. White Privilege is not having your name turned into an easier-to-say Anglo-Saxon name.
10. White Privilege is being able to fight racism one day, then ignore it the next.
11. White privilege is having your words and actions attributed to you as an individual, rather than have them reflect members of your race.
12. White Privilege is being able to talk about racism without appearing self-serving.
13. White Privilege is being able to be articulate and well-spoken without people being surprised.
14. White Privilege is being pulled over or taken aside and knowing that you are not being singled out because of your race/colour.
15. White Privilege is not having to teach your children to be aware of systematic racism for their own protection.
16. White Privilege is not having to acknowledge the fact that we live in a system that treats people of color unfairly politically, socially and economically and being able to choose, instead, -- if/when it suits you -- to believe that people of color are inherently less capable.
17. White Privilege is not having your people and their culture stereotyped and subsequently appropriated, romanticized or eroticized for the gain and pleasure of other white people.
18. White Privilege is being able to ignore the consequences of race.

Now, if as or after you read the list above, what crossed your mind was/were:

• ways to discredit the statement(s) rather than ways in which the statement(s) is so, and/or
• whether a statement is binarily applicable either in general or specifically,
• whether the inapplicability of one statement -- broadly or specifically -- to you or the white people whom you know has something to do with whether White Privilege exists,
• whether a single statement or the whole list sought to describe or label you specifically or white people in general rather than a body of cultural attitudes and experiences,

well, that's not white privilege, it's an outcome of White Privilege. What that is at least one of thee things -- white guilt, denial or racial bias -- but not knowing you personally, I can't say which. I suppose it could also be be incomprehension, but there's no "fancy" language there, so hopefully none of the literalists (or anyone else) here show us that they truly didn't get the substantive themes and contexts of the statements.

Lastly, to be clear, I didn't create the OP seeking to irk folks, truly. I want folks -- black and white -- to recognize that on a daily basis, whites enjoy a set of advantages and immunities that are a direct result of the oppression of people of color. I also want blacks to realize that often enough and unconsciously they feed the beast too and to that end, they aren't helping eradicate it. That's how deeply ingrained White Privilege is in American culture.

Interestingly, I didn't actually come to understand White Privilege until I discovered my own angst and apprehension when I spent a year living and traveling in places where there were no white people, or if there were I never saw them. And to be honest, it was some months later that I understood the emotions I'd felt . It was years later before the term "White Privilege" made its way to me and I came to have a tidy little label for what I'd experienced and discovered.

How you perceive the notion of that even being possible and indeed happening? Makes you squirm in your chair a bit and maybe feel a little uncomfortable, right? But here’s the thing – I’m not "on about" White Privilege to make you feel comfortable, that’s not my aim. I've created this thread to ideally erase the invisibility of the privileges you have that continue to help maintain white supremacy, yet I realize that's probably far too optimistic an objective. I’m trying merely to offer a few palpable illustrations of what White Privilege is in the hope that maybe one day, not necessarily one day soon, when you see it manifest, you'll recognize it for what it is and maybe even know that it's not fair that we enjoy a privilege no other Americans do, and in recognition of that, do something about ending it.


Additional Reading:

• THE ORIGINS OF “PRIVILEGE” -- An interview
  
• WHITE PRIVILEGE AND MALE PRIVILEGE: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies
  
• UNDERSTANDING WHITE PRIVILEGE
  
• The Invisibility of White Privilege

Your low self esteem is not my problem.

Signed,
White Guy

 

[ptbw forever]

What a load of horse shit....

without load after load of horse shit, all these politics would be very boring.

This is much more than politics.

"White privilege" bullshit is very much institutionalized.

 

[Sunni Man]

​

1. White Privilege is being able to move into a new neighborhood and being fairly sure that your neighbors will be pleasant to you and treat you with respect.

Be a white person and move into South Chicago, most of Detroit, Philly, or any other predominately black area of a major city, and let me know how pleasant and respectful your neighbors are to you. .......

 

[TNHarley]

 

[320 Years of History]

I ask myself on a daily basis, "What do I have that I didn’t earn?"
-- Peggy MacIntosh​

1. White Privilege is being able to move into a new neighborhood and being fairly sure that your neighbors will be pleasant to you and treat you with respect.
   
2. White Privilege is being able to watch a movie, read a book and open the front page of a newspaper and assume that unless otherwise indicated, you and every white person whom you know or can imagine could well be the protagonist; you and your race is widely represented and spoken for. It's also being about to encounter any narrative about non-whites and empathetically dissociate yourself from it.
3. White Privilege is being able to seek legal, financial and medical help without having your race work against you.
4. White Privilege is living in a world where you are taught that people with your skin tone hold the standard for beauty.
5. White Privilege is never being told to, “get over slavery”.
6. White Privilege is having the prevalence and importance of the English language and finding amusement in ridiculing people of color/immigrants for their accents and their difficulty in speaking a language that is not their native tongue.
7. White Privilege is arrogantly believing that reverse racism actually exists and believing it is something other than racism.
8. White Privilege is being able to stay ignorant to the fact that racial slurs are part of a systematic dehumanization of entire groups of people who are and have historically been subjugated and hated just for being alive.
9. White Privilege is not having your name turned into an easier-to-say Anglo-Saxon name.
10. White Privilege is being able to fight racism one day, then ignore it the next.
11. White privilege is having your words and actions attributed to you as an individual, rather than have them reflect members of your race.
12. White Privilege is being able to talk about racism without appearing self-serving.
13. White Privilege is being able to be articulate and well-spoken without people being surprised.
14. White Privilege is being pulled over or taken aside and knowing that you are not being singled out because of your race/colour.
15. White Privilege is not having to teach your children to be aware of systematic racism for their own protection.
16. White Privilege is not having to acknowledge the fact that we live in a system that treats people of color unfairly politically, socially and economically and being able to choose, instead, -- if/when it suits you -- to believe that people of color are inherently less capable.
17. White Privilege is not having your people and their culture stereotyped and subsequently appropriated, romanticized or eroticized for the gain and pleasure of other white people.
18. White Privilege is being able to ignore the consequences of race.

Now, if as or after you read the list above, what crossed your mind was/were:

• ways to discredit the statement(s) rather than ways in which the statement(s) is so, and/or
• whether a statement is binarily applicable either in general or specifically,
• whether the inapplicability of one statement -- broadly or specifically -- to you or the white people whom you know has something to do with whether White Privilege exists,
• whether a single statement or the whole list sought to describe or label you specifically or white people in general rather than a body of cultural attitudes and experiences,

well, that's not white privilege, it's an outcome of White Privilege. What that is at least one of thee things -- white guilt, denial or racial bias -- but not knowing you personally, I can't say which. I suppose it could also be be incomprehension, but there's no "fancy" language there, so hopefully none of the literalists (or anyone else) here show us that they truly didn't get the substantive themes and contexts of the statements.

Lastly, to be clear, I didn't create the OP seeking to irk folks, truly. I want folks -- black and white -- to recognize that on a daily basis, whites enjoy a set of advantages and immunities that are a direct result of the oppression of people of color. I also want blacks to realize that often enough and unconsciously they feed the beast too and to that end, they aren't helping eradicate it. That's how deeply ingrained White Privilege is in American culture.

Interestingly, I didn't actually come to understand White Privilege until I discovered my own angst and apprehension when I spent a year living and traveling in places where there were no white people, or if there were I never saw them. And to be honest, it was some months later that I understood the emotions I'd felt . It was years later before the term "White Privilege" made its way to me and I came to have a tidy little label for what I'd experienced and discovered.

How you perceive the notion of that even being possible and indeed happening? Makes you squirm in your chair a bit and maybe feel a little uncomfortable, right? But here’s the thing – I’m not "on about" White Privilege to make you feel comfortable, that’s not my aim. I've created this thread to ideally erase the invisibility of the privileges you have that continue to help maintain white supremacy, yet I realize that's probably far too optimistic an objective. I’m trying merely to offer a few palpable illustrations of what White Privilege is in the hope that maybe one day, not necessarily one day soon, when you see it manifest, you'll recognize it for what it is and maybe even know that it's not fair that we enjoy a privilege no other Americans do, and in recognition of that, do something about ending it.


Additional Reading:

• THE ORIGINS OF “PRIVILEGE” -- An interview
  
• WHITE PRIVILEGE AND MALE PRIVILEGE: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies
  
• UNDERSTANDING WHITE PRIVILEGE
  
• The Invisibility of White Privilege

I suggest you find the nearest "safe space" and shelter in place immediately.

TY for your input.

 

[Mac1958]

Rather than shaming whites (especially white kids) over the color of their skin, perhaps we could put more effort into challenging minorities to improve their own lives.

This strategy of tearing one group down to make another rise by default, while much easier than actually doing some heavy lifting, is not in the best interest of either minorities or the country.

And no, my white half feels no guilt for saying that.
.

 

[daws101]

you can always tell when a thread is spot on, the usual I'm not a racist racists are attracted to it like flies to shit.

 

[320 Years of History]

Rather than shaming whites (especially white kids) over the color of their skin, perhaps we could put more effort into challenging minorities to improve their own lives.

This strategy of tearing one group down to make another rise by default, while much easier than actually doing some heavy lifting, is not in the best interest of either minorities or the country.
.

That goes directly to my parting remarks in the OP. There's no need to internalize the OP's statements. It's not tearing anyone down to say "such and such" exists. Did I blame someone for something in my OP? No. So who got "shamed" or "torn down" as you put it? Nobody.