Yes, Racism Includes Denying That White Privilege Exists
The ugly truth about silence and denial.
I have never had to grapple with racial tension because of my skin color, aside from the uncomfortable experience of learning why I haven’t. It is tense, and it is uncomfortable to learn the list of things that, as a white woman, come easily for me and for my family, simply because of systematic and individual prejudices that benefit my racial group. I am not saying that everything in my life is easy. I am saying that my life is not made harder by the color of my skin.
I come from an Irish and Jewish immigrant background. While it is true that my ancestors experienced a level of persecution, there is a difference between knowing about your family’s history and weaponizing that history against the experiences of others. Against the experiences of Black people.
While the statement “All Lives Matter” is accurate, it’s also a deflection tactic. It is specifically designed to draw attention away from a movement for Black life, liberty, and equality. I’ve heard the example that you wouldn’t walk into a breast cancer support group and shout at the attendants, “All Diseases Matter!”
Why is it so easy to understand in that context but so difficult to understand in the context of race?
In the last few weeks, I’ve heard statements from family members, from acquaintances, and from online discussions that range from troubling to terrifying. Sometimes, people are vaguely aware of their biases and will backpedal when confronted. Often, they are not.
They will never use the n-word. They will never announce that Black people are inferior. They will merely imply it.
- “African-Americans are arrested more. But do you know how many of them commit crimes?” Police brutality against Black people is justified and deserved, or it doesn’t exist.
- “White privilege can’t be real because that would mean that all white people are better than all Black people, which isn’t true.” A person can only have privilege if they are fundamentally worth more than another human being. Because I have not done the work necessary to understand what white privilege means, I do not understand what systematic disadvantages are. Therefore, I do not acknowledge racial inequality.
- “When I lived in a black neighborhood, I felt so weird walking into a store where I was the only white person. Hip-hop blaring. I mean, I wasn’t scared of them. But...” When I am not in the racial majority, I feel there is something out of place.
- “My community has had hard things happen to them in the past, but we worked hard and we didn’t play the victim and now we’re in a better place.” The Black community would be treated better if they reacted differently to their oppressors.
I shouldn’t have to explain how these statements are bigoted and discriminatory. It should be obvious. Somehow, it isn’t obvious to the speaker.
There are many roads to a revolution. Some of us are lining the streets, protesting, and marching. Some are signing petitions. Some are educating themselves by reading about black history, prejudice, white fragility, and systematic inequality. Some are donating. Some of us are having difficult conversations with friends, with family members, and with ourselves.
Often, there are two paths towards acts of racism. The first is overt, direct racism. Threatening, insulting, assaulting. Denying opportunities such as employment, housing, romantic relationships. White hoods, racial slurs. It is easy to spot because the perpetrator openly makes their prejudice known.
Covert racism is harder to notice, and harder to untangle yourself from. Covert racism is getting angry about damage to property rather than damage to life. Covert racism is pointing out someone’s race when they are any race except for white. Covert racism: words, actions, and beliefs that become clear to you when you do the work to uncover them. If you haven’t consciously examined and unlearned your racism, you haven’t rooted out your biases yet.
Believe me, you have them. And I have them.
Are you asking yourself the question, “What do I believe and why do I believe it?”
Denying that White Privilege exists is either saying that Black people do not experience racism, individual and systematic, — or declaring that they deserve it. White silence is complacency. White silence is denial. White silence is violence.
