White Priviledge

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Abagond

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white privilege

Fri 11 Jul 2008 by abagond

(http://abagond.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/0108toon.gif)White privilegeis made up ofthe

advantages that whites enjoyin American society, things that they take for granted that others, like

blacks, cannot. Just like those with money take certain things for granted, so do those with a white skin.

Most whites are blind to their own white privilege. It is the wind beneath their wings that they do not

feel because it is always there, because they take it for granted. They do not have to know about it or

be racist to benefit.

Ampersand put it well:

privilege | Abagond http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/white-p

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Privilege is driving a smooth road and not even knowing it.

And when they go faster and farther than others they think it is because they are better drivers.

Being whiteis not all peaches and cream, but it does have its advantages:

The police will not stop you for no good reason. Or shoot you unless you are clearly armed. They

will even keep your neighbourhood safe.

Car salesmenwill charge you less.Employerswill pay you more. Even more than a black person with more experience and education

than you have. At work your ideas will be listened to more, you will trusted with more important

things, you will be able to move up more easily and people are less likely to doubt that you can do

something.

If you are rushed to the hospital, doctorswill try harder to save your life.

Poor whites in general live longer than middle-class blacks.

If you go to public school, the government will spend more on your education.

You are more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt by strangers, especially if you are

well-dressed.

You do not have to think about the colour of your skin.

You can live in any nice part of town you can afford.

If you are a woman, societysidea of beautylooks like you in terms of race.

White History Monthis the longest month it never seems to end.

Not just history but the newsis told from the white point of view and reports on things that interest

white readers. Like missing white women.

Those are just some examples and maybe not even the best ones at that

Whites think they got to where they are from their own hard work and merit. Hard work and merit

do matter, but it is not the whole story. It was easier for them to get to where they are now because it

was easier to get a good education and easier even to just get work.

American society has been built by and for white people . It favours them at every turn without even

trying. Not because of some evil plot but just because of who builds and runs it.

A good example of this:a white editor at a newspaper will think a shooting in a white part of town is

more important than one in a black part of town. It just will seem that way to him. But then the black par

of town gets underreported.

And so on.

See also:

white people (http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/white-people/)

What white people should know (../2008/07/02/2008/07/01/2008/06/26/what-white-people-should-

know/)

Whites are still racist (../2008/06/05/whites-are-still-racist/)

colour-blind racism (../2008/07/02/2008/07/01/2008/06/26/2008/06/25/2008/06/05/2008/05/31/colou

blind-racism/)

Race in America (../2006/10/07/race-in-america/)

missing white women (http://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/12/27/the-missing-white-woman-

syndrome/)


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on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 13:26:4

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 13:37:2

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 16:57:3

white patriotism (../2008/07/30/white-patriotism/)

Posted in 2000s, America, race, white people | 57 Comments

57 Responses

roger

And when they go faster and farther than others they think it is because they are better

drivers.

Car salesmen will charge you less.

At work your ideas will be listened to more, you will trusted with more important things,

If you are rushed to the hospital, doctors will try harder to save your life.

do you ever tire of making unsubstantiated, flagrant generalizations. i gather that you see all whitesat cut from the same cloth.

if i said that blacks allow their neighborhoods to deteriorate at a fantastic rate, care not at all about

education, and do nothing to prevent their young men from being murdered at four times the nationa

average, and this because blacks do not value life and hate themselves, would this be an accurate

description of blacks as an entire race or culture or population.

roger

Whites think they got to where they are from their own hard work and merit.

janusz bardach wrote an excellent account of his experience as a prisoner in kolyma which is

a far eastern region of siberia. he was forced to mine gold in extreme cold and in inhuman conditions

he immigrated to the united states and eventually a head physician at the university of iowa.

tell me how to understand this account. did dr bardach achieve this success at the expense of black

and could his achievement be defined in any terms other than that of white privilege.

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/325/7369/906

nonserviamAmerican society has been built by and for white people. It favours them at every turn without

even trying. Not because of some evil plot but just because of who builds and runs it.

Think carefully about the implications of this, white folks. Taken to its logical end, this means than

nothing less than total dismantling of our civilization (and cutting our own throats, for good measure)

would rectify that historical injustice.

And keep in mind that youve already gone, collectively, down this road further than any other group

in todays world. Ask yourself: has it bought you much any at all goodwill in return? Ask


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on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 18:53:2

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 19:37:0

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 19:51:0

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 21:21:4

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 21:25:0

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 21:43:0

yourself: is unilateral disarmament in a hostile environment such a prudent idea?

abagond

Every single one of those things in the list is backed up by things that either I have

experienced (in or near New York) or one of my friends have or which are easy enough to

document as fact.

I tend to speak in absolutes but I did not make any of it up. Sad to say.

I do not get my picture of white people from television or Hollywood but from what I have seen with

my own two eyes and what I have heard from people I trust.

indigoblu

If you are rushed to the hospital, doctors will try harder to save your life.

Id hate to think that is true, but I cant dismiss it.

indigoblu

roger:

Dr. Bardach is just one man, one example, and Im sure that some white people have been

put under extreme pressures and under unfavorable conditions and prevailed nevertheless, which is

a wonderful success.

However, that number would simply pale, almost diminish, when compared to those who are black

and experience the same, almost catholic cycle just by default of their skin color because the fact

remains that there is still privilege in being white.

abagond

nonserviam: I am not asking for the destruction of American society, just the end of its blind

whiteness.

abagond

indigoblu: about doctors:

My wife used to work in an E.R. in Newark. She said doctors do not treat everyone the same.

Three things will help you to get better care: youth, insurance and a white skin.

To take an extreme case: do you think doctors will try just as hard to save the life of a poor old drunk

black man as they would the little white girl from a rich family?

indigoblu

Aba:

I would assume the people who know best about these situations are doctors and nurses


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on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:04:5

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:08:1

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:17:4

themselves, like your wife.

I, personally, have never experienced it but I didnt intend to sound as if it is unfeasible. To a greater

degree, I said it because it is very disheartening.

maverick

I think the problem here is that Abagond has portrayed a very complex situation as simply

and succintly as he knows how. What gets on my nerves is when white people completelydismiss the frustrations and effects of racism on black people because they themselves have

never seen it, experienced it, or perpetuated it themselves. Because its not relevant to them, it must

obviously not exist and hence gets dismissed (insert eyeroll here). I dont need to say anything else

because 1/2 the comments above have already proved my point.

maverick

Also, doctors and nurses themselves have published EXTENSIVE research on the health

disparities present between white and other underserved populations (mostly white and

hispanic), this is why the AAMC has announced, several times, the need for medical schools

to diversify their classes, i.e., accept more black people. It has been documented that black

physicians are more likely to serve in underserved populations than their white populations.

Google it.

Olivia

Tim Wise;


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on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:33:4

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:42:4

on Fri 11 Jul 2008 at 22:52:0

roger

when white people completely dismiss the frustrations and effects of racism on black people

because they themselves have never seen it, experienced it, or perpetuated it themselves.

the doctrine of white privilege itself insists that white people have benefited from white privilege at th

expense of nonwhites thus whites perpetuate oppression. further, whites perpetuate this oppression

without being aware, to wit: Privilege is driving a smooth road and not even knowing it.

i can understand the frustration of whites when they attempt to have a conversation about race and

then are deemed culpable based on nothing more than being white. the default scenario is that a

white person is racist and oppressive to nonwhites. no further discussion is allowed, regardless of

attempts by whites to relate to the economic, social or racial plight of nonwhites.

Because its not relevant to them, it must obviously not exist and hence gets dismissed (insert

eyeroll here).

if the comment was meant for me i would say that i do not dismiss these concerns and i would furthe

ask the question: how do you know that racial frustration and effects of racism are no relevant to me

and that i believe that the same do not exist.

roger

Also, doctors and nurses themselves have published EXTENSIVE research on the healthdisparities present between white and other underserved populations (mostly white and

hispanic),

so the reason that select populations are underserved is because of an expansive and vast number

of racist physicians and nurses; or is the reason for this disparity deprivation as a function of class

status and lack of access to quality health care.

roger

Dr. Bardach is just one man, one example, and Im sure that some white people have been put


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on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 00:07:1

on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 00:59:1

on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 01:16:4

under extreme pressures and under unfavorable conditions and prevailed nevertheless,

which is a wonderful success.

my question was : would those on this board assume that dr bardach recovered from this horrifying

experience and found success at the expense of nonwhites. if this is not the case then what does th

sentence mean: Whites think they got to where they are from their own hard work and merit.

typically when white privilege is discussed the connotation is that nonwhites are owed something

from whites as a consequence of white privilege. is that the thinking in the case of dr bardach.

W.B. Reeves

typically when white privilege is discussed the connotation is that nonwhites are owed

something from whites as a consequence of white privilege. is that the thinking in the case of

dr bardach.

This is a typical mode for derailing the discussion of white privilege. Once again, what is a systemic

criticism requiring a systemic solution is forced into the cramped confines of an individual case. Its

admitted that white privilege is not uniform and consistent in every situation. Consequently, it will

always be possible to find individual exceptions to the general rule.

I wouldnt presume to speak for others but for myself I would suggest that white folks, at minimum,

owe to themselves and others a frank recognition that they inhabit a socially constructed identity tha

insulates them and limits their perspective as well as their ability to comprehend the larger social

reality in which they exist.

If they could accomplish just this much, we might begin to have a real conversation about the

realities of the skin game as practiced in the US.

This would require that white folks actually give weight to the perspectives and experiences of

so-called non-Whites. In short, they would have to give up the presumption of the superiority of the

own views and come to grips with realities outside their subjective experience, rather than wasting

time and energy coming up with excuses for not doing so.

nonserviam

See, roger, defensiveness and trying to find anecdotal support for your positions simply

means that youve already lost half, if not most, of the argument.

You should take W.B.s advice and approach the issue conceptually and refuse to buy into the

rhetorical game whose rules are rigged against you. Where youre guilty by virtue of being successf(or physically resembling the people who are), and where your very identity is nothing but a social

construct with no purpose other than oppression and dispossession of others, however real it may

seem to the unenlightened you.

lunchcountersitin

{do you ever tire of making unsubstantiated, flagrant generalizations. i gather that you see all

whites at cut from the same cloth.}

Actually, Ive seen empirical evidence throughout the years that does in fact substantiate just about


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on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 01:30:1

all the comments made in the post.

On Health Disparities:

The health disparities between African Americans and other racial groups are striking and are

apparent in life expectancy, infant mortality, and other measures of health status.

For example, in 1999 the average American could expect to live 77.8 years, the average African

American could only expect to live 73.1 years.

Factors contributing to poor health outcomes among African Americans include discrimination,

cultural barriers, and lack of access to health care.

- Refer to :

http://www.cdc.gov/omhd/Highlights/2007/HFeb07.htm

On School Spending Disparities:

This needs no further research. he vast majority of public schools are funding with property taxes

primarily, with income or sales taxes next.

Blacks have less housing wealth than whites, and make less, and spend less. Therefore,

communities with large black populations (cites) have less to spend on schools than communitiesthat don;t have a lot of whites (suburbs).

On Car Dealer Disparities:

A study on gender and racial price differentials for car sales found that car prices quoted for female

and/or African-Americans were significantly higher than those given to their white male counterparts

African-American males fared the worst. They were socked with prices some $1,000 greater than

those quoted their white counterparts.

Go to:

http://faculty.winthrop.edu/stonebrakerr/book/automobiles.htm

The posts charges are not flimsy or silly. This is the REALITY that black people face. The facts are

an Internet search away.

PS: This does not mean all whites are racist. But it does reflect that whites are privileged as a group

compared to blacks as a group.

Visit my blog at

http://allotherpersons.wordpress.com/

lunchcountersitin

{typically when white privilege is discussed the connotation is that nonwhites are owed

something from whites as a consequence of white privilege. is that the thinking in the case of

dr bardach.}

typically define the great mass of people who are saying this typically.

This is the mega-question: in a world where globalization is more and more marginalizing American

power, can this country afford to maintain a structure where any group is under-privileged, and

therefore, more likely to fail?


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on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 01:30:3

on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 02:02:2

on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 03:28:2

on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 03:43:2

I think we ALL want this country to be great. But how can this country be great when a substantial

portion of its people are disadvantaged, as black Americans are compared to white Americans?

The point is, its in white Americas interests to close the privilege gap and enable black Americans

to have the same opportunities as white Americans. But before this gap can be closed, of course, we

must first acknowledge that it exists.

Visit my blog athttp://allotherpersons.wordpress.com/

La Reyna

Why all the denials by nonblacks regarding white privilege? Why be so defensive about this

issue? As I see it, the majority of nonblack people receive better treatment without second-

guessing nor overworrying about it.

La Reyna

indigoblu

roger:

No, I do not think Dr. Bardach owes anyone anything but he can probably credit some of his

success in America, as a physician, to this whiteness.

When I think of white privilege I do not think in terms of someone white owing me something

because I am not white other than the same rights and privilege they are given by default.

White privilege is something initiated by its people and maintained by the system. Society is

constructed to favor whites and not other people and that obviously lacks balance. Recognition that exist, as W. B. said, is an essential step forward to making a change in such social injustice.

if this is not the case then what does this sentence mean: Whites think they got to where they are

from their own hard work and merit.

Since this is not the case, go back and read #6.

abagond

lunchcountersitin: thank you for documenting some of this.

abagond

roger: no one here, as far as I can tell, is trying to shut you down or not letting you have your

say. And while nonserviam has been sarcastic to me, no one has been sarcastic to you as far

as I can remember.

But I can tell you that what drives much of the black comment and my own posts on this blog is not

some kind of demonization of white people (white people suck ) but how you and white commenter

are defensive, in denial and just plain blind.


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on Sat 12 Jul 2008 at 04:02:3

on Mon 14 Jul 2008 at 12:57:2

on Mon 14 Jul 2008 at 13:02:4

on Wed 16 Jul 2008 at 11:44:0

I would so love to write a post like this and have white people read it and see what I see. That would

be so beautiful.

abagond

Olivia:

Thanks for the Tim Wise links. I know he is big on white privilege.

roger

Its admitted that white privilege is not uniform and consistent in every situation.

this is certainly not the manner in which the issue is presented here.

American society has been built by and for white people. It favours them at every turn without even

trying.

i gather that all white americans have built and have supported the building of a racist society for the

perpetuation of white privilege. there are no whites which see racial injustice nor understand theaustere violence of the emmitt till case nor the wickedness of the medgar evers case nor blind

prejudice of the james meredith case. you speak in such absolute terms as if all whites hold just suc

prejudice as a function of having white skin. any discussion or criticism of this faulty thinking leads to

cries of denial and racial blindness.

roger

white privilege:

http://geekaygee.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-

knapsack/

50 individual characteristics of privilege. how many of these do you accept as articles of faith. how

many of these do you accept without questioning. what is the depth of your belief in a pervasive,

conspiratorial, racist society.

siditty

tell me how to understand this account. did dr bardach achieve this success at the

expense of blacks and could his achievement be defined in any terms other than that

of white privilege.

His white privilege got him into the country. His white privilege gave people the assumption he was

smarter than black people.

Plus using one example doesnt really show how much more hard working whites are than blacks.

Remember we fought in your wars to come back and get treated like second class citizens, we were

viewed as chattel and sub human by folks like you, and that thought process still lingers by the gross

generalizations you just made to prove how bad agabonds view were, so I guess in reality you just

proved your white privilege.


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on Wed 16 Jul 2008 at 12:01:2

on Thu 17 Jul 2008 at 21:56:4

on Thu 17 Jul 2008 at 22:12:2

siditty

if the comment was meant for me i would say that i do not dismiss these concerns andi

would further ask the question: how do you know that racial frustration and effects of

racism are no relevant to me and that i believe that the same do not exist.

Because you were quick to use black generalizations and then use an example of a white man wh

was able to overcome obstacles, which reeked of the very stereotypical, Why cant you pick

yourself up by the bootstraps like others logic, which to me insinuates that you think most blackpeople live in poverty and commit crime.

typically when white privilege is discussed the connotation is that nonwhites are owed

something from whites as a consequence of white privilege. is that the thinking in the case o

dr bardach.

Nothing is owed by whites, except respect, which is rarely if ever given. The problem with people lik

you is you think blacks feel entitled, I guess namely to be treated as equals.

roger we were viewed as chattel and sub human by folks like you, and that thought process still

lingers by the gross generalizations you just made to prove how bad agabonds view were, so

I guess in reality you just proved your white privilege.

in other words, any intellectual evaluation of this categorical, emphatic, unmitigated, assumption tha

all whites, without exception, are born to be and remain racist oppressors, will be met with vile and

unfounded racist accusations. as i have never considered another human being as being subhuman

you are incorrect in your assumptions.

or perhaps i suffer from a grasp reality so feeble that my entire weltanschauung is deluded.

http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/james-baldwin-on-deluded-white-people/

roger

Because you were quick to use black generalizations and then use an example of a white

man who was able to overcome obstacles, which reeked of the very stereotypical, Why

cant you pick yourself up by the bootstraps like others logic, which to me insinuates that you

think most black people live in poverty and commit crime.

no, im not asking about the self reliance of nonwhites.

again, the question was: is dr bardachs success a function of white privilege at the expense of

nonwhites or did he succeed as a function of hard work and resilience. you seem intent on assuming

too much.


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on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 13:24:4

on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 17:25:3

on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 18:35:4

on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 20:46:1

roger

The Pirate Privilege Checklist

http://scarletdemon.livejournal.com/190338.html

W.B. Reeves

in other words, any intellectual evaluation of this categorical, emphatic, unmitigated,

assumption that all whites, without exception, are born to be and remain racist oppressors,will be met with vile and unfounded racist accusations. as i have never considered another

human being as being subhuman, you are incorrect in your assumptions.

Not in other words. In your words. If you cant argue your position without projecting your fantasies

and fabrications onto others, there really isnt much point in talking to you.

roger

I experience privilege. I am college educated. I have a steady, salaried job. I am

heterosexual. I have a house and a mortgage. Two cars. Two kids. One dog. I am able

bodied. My husband and I are married. Both of my parents are still alive and well. I havehealth insurance. I have privilege.

this was linked to alas. while i fail to appreciate the toolbox segway, i found the article enlightening.

http://www.antiracistparent.com/2008/06/09/is-privilege-offensive/

i have a similar experience. my parents were working poor and my mother died when i was six

months of age. i graduated from high school and moved to a medium size city in the west and starte

with nothing. none of this background is intended to elicit pity. i worked in manual labor positions for

many years. i applied for and was admitted to the university. i worked nights to get through school

and graduated after five years. after graduation i worked a series of jobs and now have a reasonably

comfortable position with health insurance, a mortgage, a couple of old cars, and some kids. this has

been done from scratch hundreds of thousands of times.

i acknowledge that there is privilege in being of european decent. my question is, how much of the

success of this journey: mine and thousands of others can be attributed to race and how much is

attributed to hard work and determination.

plz feel free to address the question with references which do not categorically insist that i must of

necessity see blacks as subhuman, references which do not insist that my understanding of the

world and my understanding of class struggle and my grasp of reality is so feeble that i am bydefinition of whiteness deluded, references which have me projecting undefined fantasy and

fabrication upon others, references which insist that whiteness will not under circumstance allow for

an individual to empathize with the plight and anguish if those who suffer.

W.B. Reeves

plz feel free to address the question with references which do not categorically insist that i

must of necessity see blacks as subhuman, references which do not insist that my

understanding of the world and my understanding of class struggle and my grasp of reality is

so feeble that i am by definition of whiteness deluded, references which have me projecting


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on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 23:12:0

undefined fantasy and fabrication upon others, references which insist that whiteness will not under

circumstance allow for an individual to empathize with the plight and anguish if those who suffer.

Here I was prepared to give you the benefit of a doubt and you go off the deep end again. There was

nothing undefined in my criticism. I quoted the relevant passage. You couldnt find ammunition for

your argument in what was actually written, So you were forced into interpretation. Said

interpretation consisting of imposing your view of the issues rather than interrogating the opinions

actually expressed.

There are a number of words that can describe a person who insists that their own perception trump

all others to the extreme of privileging their subjective opinion of what is said over the the actual

statements and expressed intent of others. Delusional is among them.

i acknowledge that there is privilege in being of european decent. my question is, how much of the

success of this journey: mine and thousands of others can be attributed to race and how much is

attributed to hard work and determination.

If you want a pat on the back for being a hard working stiff and to be told that you deserve whatever

success youve managed to acrue, I have no real objection. Of course, the world is full of people

whove worked just as hard or harder, have faced as great or greater challenges and have ended upwith nada. Your hard work and determination may borne fruit but that isnt true for everyone. Contrar

to what we prefer to believe, hard work and determination are not inevitably rewarded.

Given that you now say that you recognize that being of European descent does in fact confer

privileges, Im not certain what the point of your question is. Why is it so important for you to have

some formula for calculating your own degree of privilege? Why would you expect anyone on this

blog to provide you with one? The only person here with anything approaching the proper data set f

such a calculation is yourself.

You seem to have a real sense of victimization around your social identity as a white person. Notreally suprising, a lot of white folks feel victimized by the constrictive identity of whiteness.

However, for white folks, the wages of whiteness are largely, if not entirely, psychological and sel

enforced. For non-white people they are material as well as psychological and imposed from

without. This distinction in how people experience white supremacy is fundamental to their divergen

views of racism. Whites tend to think of racism as a philosophical or ethical choice. Non-whites

experience racism as an abiding social and material reality. The former enjoy the luxury pf reducing

to a question of individual choice. The latter must endure it as an imposed collective judgement.

You seem to be caught up in the self referential ethical morass. What is the exact degree of my

privilege? What exact degree of my success is attributable to privilege?

These are legitimate questions to ask oneself but unless they a part of a larger inquiry into the socia

institutional and economic realities of racism, they are irrelevant to anyone other than yourself.

Outside the charmed circle of whiteness what is important is not how you feel about yourself but wha

your material response to the continuing legacy of white supremacy is.

roger

my question is, how much of the success of this journey: mine and thousands of others can be

attributed to race and how much is attributed to hard work and determination.


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on Sat 19 Jul 2008 at 06:20:1

on Sat 19 Jul 2008 at 13:32:4

i posed the question to ask: of the hundreds of thousands of persons who have had success,

how much of this success is accomplished by means of oppressing persons of another race. i

believe that this was a larger inquiry into the institutional realities of race.

nevertheless, let me pose a further question.

It seems to me that obliviousness about white advantage, like obliviousness about male advantage

is kept strongly inculturated in the United States so as to maintain the myth of meritocracy, the myth

that democratic choice is equally available to all. Keeping most people unaware that freedom ofconfident action is there for just a small number of people props up those in power and serves to

keep power in the hands of the same groups that have most of it already.

and

One factor seems clear about all of the interlocking oppressions. They take both active forms, whic

we can see, and embedded forms, which as a member of the dominant groups one is taught not to

see. In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism

only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring

unsought racial dominance on my group from birth.

do you agree with the author that the dominant group (her language) is indoctrinated not to see

racism and that some force enculterates the citizens of any given society to be intentionally oblivious

to privilege. the thing reads like a grand conspiracy theory. i would agree that hard work and

determination does not always pay. however are we then justified in saying that the dominant group

is at once oblivious to their privilege and indoctrinated to overlook racism to such a degree that vast

numbers of persons not within the dominant group are crushed under the feet of these delusional,

oblivious, brainwashed racists.

would you be willing to tell me how to understand this or am i still stuck in some manner of self

referential morass.

http://geekaygee.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack/

abagond

Yes, most white people are blind to their privilege and racism.

It is not a conspiracy but it is not an accident either because when you point it out to them

they are a bit too artful in how they deny it. That means it is a learned blindness.

W.B. Reeves

i posed the question to ask: of the hundreds of thousands of persons who have had success,

how much of this success is accomplished by means of oppressing persons of another race. i

believe that this was a larger inquiry into the institutional realities of race.

Except that you gave your own life experience as an example. Indeed, that experience is the only

hard data you supplied.

I dont see how broadening the query to whites in general makes this an inquiry into institutional

realities. To even attempt such a calculus you would have to focus on countless individual


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on Sun 20 Jul 2008 at 07:18:2

on Tue 16 Mar 2010 at 23:17:1

on Tue 16 Mar 2010 at 23:57:0

on Wed 17 Mar 2010 at 00:05:4

happened. European Imperialism didnt just happen. Jim Crow and the disenfranchisement of

African Americans didnt just happen. The Tuskeegee VD experiment didnt just happen. All of

these events were planned and organized by white people to serve the interest of white people.

To behave as though this were not true or as though these experiences shouldnt inform our

judgement of present day events is a working definition of delusional.

abagondPart of the nature of white privilege and the way it works in American society is that you do

not have to be racist to benefit. You do not have to be aware of it to benefit. You just have to

be white.

Emerson

What I have seen on this board is an abundance of disgruntled people.

I guess that some people will never ever assimilate into a Eurocentric society.

Funny how all of the first immigrants came to America (back in the Ellis Island days) and they haveassimilated into America.

But some people just cant do it.

It is amazing how Asian americans can come to America (knowing no English) and there children

somehow learn English. First generation Asian Americans can be very successful.

I guess that racism can only harm one group and not another? hmmm

Those darn racist white people!!!

Blame Whitey!!! RAAAACISM!!!

Every white person is RAAAACIST!!!

abagond

The difference between you and me is that I know I am racist. You are racist and do not

appear to know it. To paraphrase Jesus, just because you say Bob Marley, One Love! does

not mean you are not racist.

Natasha W

Am I the only one who has never heard the term whitey used, except from a white person?

And whats all this talk about assimilation? Assimilate into what?


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on Wed 2 Feb 2011 at 14:51:4

on Sun 22 May 2011 at 19:43:0

on Wed 11 Apr 2012 at 11:49:1

on Wed 11 Apr 2012 at 11:59:5

on Sat 28 Jul 2012 at 14:33:1

Every white person is RAAAACIST!!!

Well the next generation wants to be more chinese or Japanese like myself. Plus where is there

European Heritiage month? I would love to learn about my scottish welsh English and chinese

ancestors

jas0nburns

The other day I was at the gym playing basketball and unlike usual everyone playing waswhite. (there were only 3 of us)

Well it didnt take long for someone to mention them and how they always start some bullsh*t and

how every one of them thinks that they are the best player on the court.

We all knew well enough what was meant by them without saying so out loud.

I was told that I should show up at a certain time because thats when the good game was. If we

wanted to play with some good people we should show up at x oclock.

I knew that if I did show up at that suggested time everyone there would be white. This wascommunicated to me without anyone saying so out loud.

That got me thinking. Even though them (BP) is who I usually play with and associate with at the

gym, this WP I was talking to didnt see me as one of them of course.

That incident illustrated to me what is probably the most important white privilege of all.

Automatic inclusion into the right group. The ability to blend right in with the good people.

serpentusThe world is not fair. People take advantage of other peoples goodness.

leigh204

Many white people find it difficult to believe they have white privilege in society. You take any

POC and a white person, that white person will have more advantages. How hard is that to

understand?

Adeen Danica Mckenzie

@MikThat situation sucks! I would have still allowed your brother in law in anyways. Race doesnt

matter.

@Leigh204

You are right. I agree.

Sondis

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/savannah-dietrich-twitter-sexual-assault-louisville-

174732753.html?_esi=1&bcmt_s=e


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Because, white people are the only people in this country, that can call out racism,if they dont see

it,then every black person is playing the race card. Silly, isnt it?

White people arent the oppressed but they have the nerve to say to black people,stop playing the

race card,every time you feel,youre being discriminated against.

Dont you think we would know? history and present gives us the ability to call it out,when we

experience it.

How would a white person,know when another white person is being racist,toward a black

person?,YOU WOULDNT KNOW,SO WHY DO YOU ALWAYS SAY WE ARE PLAYING THE RACE

CARD?

Then you say,why does it always have to be about race? ummmwhen isnt everything about race

in the country?

Poor people,blacks and other minority groups,get no justice,because they have no money to pay for

justice, plus the justice system, preys on poor blacks and Latinos and other minority groups, the

justice system is a cash cow,states across the country,get 20,000 per inmate for their jails and

prisons,arresting poor blacks and Latinos and other minority groups is big business in this country.

Like i said,this white girl is brave enough,to talk smack to a judge and brake the law,because she

knows that nothing with happen to her,this is what every single white person knows and does.

WHITE PRIVILEGE MUST BE GOOD,EH?

I wish i could talk like that to a judge and break the law,without worrying the judge would lock me up

forever,because i am a black man,living in America.

Responding to my post was this person: Pierre San Bruno, California

Morpheous, the United States is the first major country with a black president, a black attorneygeneral and, in the Bush administration, the first black Secretary of State. If the U.S. government ha

instituted some kind of official racism policy dont you think it would be quite unlikely that these black

Americans would have risen to such heights in public office.

Its likely that more blacks are prosecuted because they live in neighborhoods and communities with

higher rates of violence due in part to a breakdown in the black family. While American culture in

general started deteriorating in the last half of the 20th century it has collapsed especially hard in the

black community.

Rather than stir up the spector of racism your comments would be more helpful if you offered suppo

to her and other victims of legitimate crime. Be part of the solution not the problem.

This is my response to Pierre:

Pierre,so youre saying, just because we have a black president( which has been disrespected in a

manner,from which no other president in history,( even bush was treated with more respect ) has

been.

President Obama has gotten, no support from REPUBLICANS by blocking every single thing he trie

to accomplish and a black attorney general( which is being targeted for the color of his skin, being h


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on Fri 31 Aug 2012 at 14:55:1

on Tue 25 Sep 2012 at 21:32:1

is the very first Attorney general in history to be held in contempt by congress ,i guess its just a

coincidence, that he happens to be African-American,right? ), that should be enough and black

people should stay in their place and accept inequality?

So you think that racism doesnt exist or happens, because our president is African-American and

have a handful of African-Americans in high levels of office?

100s of years of institutional racism, that is still in place today in 2012, isnt wiped away, simply

because we have a black president in office and have a black attorney general. It also needs to benoted,that whenever African-Americans, are ever in a high level of government,institutional racism,

shows its ugly head by means of political sabotage,Eric holder ( Fast and furious ) and Obama (

health care reform ) is being quickly dealt with,so they can get ousted of out office.

Obama is the 1st president in history,to accomplish health care reform and for that,republicans are

trying to do everything in their power,to repeal his health care reform, legislation ,so i guess its yet

again,a coincidence that he happens to be a black president,right?

This country,doesnt want the 1st African-American president of the united states to be remembered

or go down in history as reforming healthcare,something no white president has done,until now. The

want that reserved for a white president,if Obama loses his second term, Romney will pick up, wherObama left off and get the credit for health care reform,because then he will have the cooperation of

his fellow Republicans and even some democrats that really dont feel comfortable,having a black

president in office and dont want to see him success in his flag ship,healthcare reform bill.

So by your logic,Im part of the problem simply because i point out,inequality among blacks and

whites in the country. This is what we went through,back in the 50s and 60s with the civil rights

movement,when we fought for equal rights,we were, considered trouble makers and werepart of th

problem and we were accused of stirring up the specter of racism as you put it!

I dont condone what happened to the girl,i hate rapists and Im glad they will go to jail for what theydone to the young girl.

I just cant accept, that if she had been black or any other minority group,she would have no

sympathy and the only thing, white people will see, is that she broke the law,despite the despicable

act of being raped, while sleep but when a white person, brakes the law in this senerio,white people

sympathize with her and will look the other way and justify her actions,because what was done to

her.

He didnt reply back.

Linda Morrison

Tim Wise is a suspect, refined racist and not to be trusted. Blacks (non-whites) are easily

fooled once again.

poetess

Why do some whites assume talking about discrimination by the dominant society is a

personal attack on them? Thats what Id like to know. Its as if they feel guilty. My feeling is, if

you personally have done nothing wrong, why do you feel guilty? No one is talking about you,

a particular white person, as an individual. Some whites also fail to understand that white skin


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on Tue 25 Sep 2012 at 22:28:5

on Tue 25 Sep 2012 at 22:43:5

on Sun 30 Sep 2012 at 08:46:3

on Wed 23 Jan 2013 at 03:18:2

on Wed 17 Apr 2013 at 05:15:4

privilege does not necessarily mean economic advantage or class, though that is often a part of it.

Like my husband wondered how poor Appalachian whites have any privilege. Their privileges are

cultural in a society built by and for white people.

truthbetold

@ poetess

Whites do not feel any emotion remotely akin to guilt. Do not be fooled by the forked tongueand teary-eyed beings that want your sympathy. And if you think that whites do not understand tha

they have privilege, you are mistaken.

Deception is a tool that they used to keep you uninformed and confused. From the moment of

conception, they know the game, how to play it and how to use it against us.

http://diaryofanegress.com/2012/05/13/the-plan/

Sondis Green

Thank you @ truthbetold It was a good read, that link.

Legion (formerly SW6)

Here is an example that is very powerful:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/19/science/19nih.html?_r=3&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto

leigh204

@ Abagond:

Have you checked this out yet?

http://thegrio.com/2013/01/17/white-privilege-lesson-in-wisconsin-high-school-draws-national-

attention/

Symphonic Zambophones

Growing up in New York nice, liberal, mostly white ladies were my mentors and teachers

(mighty whitey) and had a big influence on me and my worldview. Since being on my own Ive

come to see the world is even harsher than they led me to think. I wasnt completely clueless

nor misled to be entirely naive and I was warned about the dangers of being black and the ways

blacks get treated and looked down on, but they had led me to think this (and heres an idea for a

post, Abagond): Racism isnt that much of a problem anymore.

We were agreed that racism still exists, but they had me thinking it was on the run. For instance in

history books they discuss racism as a dwindling thing as you read toward more current time. You

now that saying? The devils greatest trick is to make the world believe he doesnt exist? Well, that

white people, or as angrier people call them the white d well, Im not gonna go there Anyway,

yeah, white people are still racist, still want the biggest piece of the pie, but they also want us to

believe theyre nice and thats its not racist. Looking back over my life I can see a bunch of instance


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now where Id been maltreated and made excuses for it, wondering why, thinking like they had

indoctrinated me into thinking could not have been racist because racism had supposedly become A

RARE THING. Between believing black people or whites on how mean white people can be, are, I

thought to give the whites the BOTD, not that there werent whites who had negative opinions of the

own people as well.

I was living under the delusion that I was an individual overall and could be respected as such, not

just superficial details, especially ones I had no control over, like my race or name.

Long story short: I used to think white racists were rare, a small percentage of that part of the

populace, like 4% or less maybe, just a fringe group. Now I see its the opposite. The MAJORITY of

white Americans, and probably white people in general are racist, theyre the normal ones. The

non-racists whites, sadly, are the fringe group.

Also, Abagond, when are you gonna make a post about Accidental Racist? And I havent noticed a

post with your take on blacks like Bill Cosby, who criticize black America? I agree with them to my

own extent. While America might be a hopelessly racist nation at least black people could try to be

more respectable, referring to the ones who seem to confirm the negative stereotypes.

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