White Privilege.
If you have it, talk about it.
A relatively new phenomena that has taken center stage is that of White Privilege, but what exactly is it? And, why does it matter so much?We have artists like Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (two white men) who have written multiple songs on the subject. We also have multiple scholars who have studied and/or written first hand accounts on the matter; scholars such as Peggy McIntosh (White woman). My focus for this article will be her (McIntosh’s) article called, White Privilege and Male Privilege: A personal account of Coming to See correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies. Through her article I seek an understanding of what the other side of the coin thinks and/or sees of White privilege and why those with white privilege don’t really want to talk about it. What I mean is that there is many studies, definitions, etc. on White privilege but, most if not all of the time, it is the people who don’t have that privilege that are the ones studying it, analyzing it, and defining it. So I ask, why is it that those that actually have white privilege, are not talking about it, except for the few rare exceptions like those people mentioned above?
Well, first of all, what exactly is white privilege; what does it mean? McIntosh defines it as, “…an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious.” Another author, Christine Emba, defines it as a, “…level of societal advantage that comes with being seen as the norm in America, automatically conferred irrespective of wealth, gender or other factors.” I believe it is a culmination of both of these definitions, it’s like carrying around a backpack full of all the tools necessary to succeed but only the special people (white persons) get that bag, and everyone else has to fight, tooth and nail, to be just as successful without that bag.
The other thing to take into account is why those persons that have white privilege, don’t actually know they have it. To everyone else it seems so evident that, one would think you’d have to be blind not to see it, yet to those persons (Whites) its not as evident. One explanation that McIntosh gives, which is crucial because she is a white female with white privilege, is that, “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege.” I think this brings up a good point, that white privileged people don’t acknowledge and at times don’t believe in this concept because those around them won’t tell them about it, they’d rather let them continue living in this bubble where such terms could never exist.
However, when the term is brought up people get very defensive, to the point that some even believe it is the same as calling them racist or any other negative word you could think of. But, its not, the point is to make people realize that it exists, that it is something that certain people benefit from but, it doesn’t make them a bad person. As Emba puts it, “…that very invisibility that makes it that much more important to understand: Without confronting what exists, there’s no chance of leveling the field.” If people refuse to talk about it, especially those that have it, how can change ever happen, how can we hope to be understood and accepted in our society?
So while yes, it may make you uncomfortable to talk about or even contemplate, it is concepts like these that need to be voiced, that need to be heard. As Gabriel Ramirez said in his poem White Privilege,
“If it makes you uncomfortable, then it makes you uncomfortable. And if it makes you uncomfortable that means you have some things to work on. If you get angry it’s because you feel attacked, which means it related to you. And if you think there’s a problem with the poem more than there is a problem with racism, you’re wrong.”
These terms are essential to the make change happen, so it is time to make the other side of the coin acknowledge that yes, white privilege exists. It is a very real part of society and those that don’t have it, can only talk about it so much from one perspective; we need the other perspective. Accepting it will not be easy, nor will it happen over night because as McIntosh says,
“The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true, this is not such a free country; one’s life it not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own. These perceptions mean also that my moral condition is not what I had been led to believe.”
It means giving up the beliefs that one has had for years and accepting that maybe everything is not as perfect as you think it is. But, maybe accepting that imperfection and talking about white privilege will lead to perfection. So, think about it, and if you have it (white privilege) then talk about it; no use in hiding what the rest of the world already seems to know.
