“It is not enough to pay lip service to the idea that you are privileged and others are not, and then go about your privileged life ignoring those who lack the basic rights you take for granted. “I acknowledge my privilege” is the new “I’m not a racist, but.” It lets people go through the verbal motions and feel virtuous, even if they are not just unhelpful but actually part of the problem.”

This is a great piece. I was just thinking about writing about this — as in the phrase ‘white privilege’ is just becoming a substitute for the phrase ‘white guilt’ — and just as useless. For example, when it comes to white people thinking they’re off the hook when they acknowledge it and pretty much gong back to sleep. I certainly don’t have all the answers, not by a long shot, but it does seem like today’s rhetoric — using terms like this and other tired terms thrown around like “diversity” — often obfuscates action.