White Privilege

I was well into my forties before I even heard the term “White Privilege”. I first heard this term, and had it explained to me when I attended a training course offered by an insightful former employer who recognized that the practice of social services must deal with the issue of race in America if we are to be competent practitioners of our discipline. So after more than twenty years in human services and being (somewhat) aware of racial issues, I had never heard the other side of racism in America: White Privilege.  That just goes to show how insidious it is. I could live my whole life enjoying the benefits of white privilege and never even know it existed. Most white people in America will tell you they don't know what it is, that white privilege doesn’t matter, or they will simply say it doesn’t exist.

We have a tendency to romanticize the American experience and believe that the old notion of controlling our own future is uniquely American and "the American dream" is available to every single person who is willing to work hard. In many ways that version of America is true and has played out for countless people in our short history as a nation. Unfortunately, that very special version of the American dream has largely only been available to white people in America. For African Americans and members of other racial minorities the American dream is unattainable because of the color of their skin. Like you, I can think of many African Americans and other racial minorities who have made it, and found success in this country. That very fact tends to blind us to the truth of looking at this issues through the lens of large numbers. That is, the fact that a relative few African Americans have been successful,  is not compelling evidence that racism has ended and that white privilege isn’t a powerful force that still shapes the daily lives of most whites and most blacks in America.

I have been thinking more about this issue as I saw the trial of George Zimmerman broadcast from morning till night over the last few weeks. I was particularly struck as I heard the verdict in the case and felt the shock so many people felt at hearing the news.  I’ve seen more than my share of Court proceedings in my days, and having watched the prosecutors bumble one issue after another in Zimmerman's case I was not really surprised by the verdict, on an intellectual level. Still, I had an unmistakable emotional reaction. It was one of sadness and disappointment. On that emotional level I could not square in my own mind how an armed man could accost a young man- kill that young man- and walk away with no consequences. I’ve heard all the nonsense about self-defense; I heard the testimony on the theory that Trayvon was on top of him when the shot was fired. For me that is almost beside the point. The real point is that Trayvon was entirely blameless until Zimmerman followed  and accosted him. The other important point is that Trayvon was only accosted because he was black. I defy anyone to make a convincing argument that Zimmerman would have seen him as “a suspect” if he had been a white boy. Zimmerman’s history as an amateur Neighborhood Watch guy clearly establishes that he only called 911 on black kids. This is where the idea of white privilege hit me right between the eyes. White privilege- how white privilege affects both blacks and whites explains a lot about this case.

White privilege refers to the concrete, unearned benefits of access to resources and social rewards and the power to shape the norms and values of society that whites receive, conscientiously or unconscientiously, by virtue of their skin color in a racist society. A pretty good definition-but also a strong accusation that we are still a racist society. For most whites that’s a hard pill to swallow. Many will claim that we have moved well beyond our racist, slave-holding past. They will point to the success of (a relative few) blacks. They will point to our first black President as proof we have left that part of us behind. These are only cracks in the wall of our racist past. After 300 years of black slavery on this continent and 100 years of Jim Crow segregation, be assured we didn’t just “get over it” when Obama became President. Mr. Obama’s Presidency is the biggest challenge to white privilege in our history. In many ways his election clearly revealed the racism that continues to live strong in the shadows of too many American hearts. Nothing else can explain the enormous increase in the number of White Supremacy groups following his election and the blatant racially charged indignities he has endured as President.

Other data that so clearly gives proof to the existence of our continued racism is rarely discussed in the same context as a sensational case like Zimmerman’s. But ask any person of color about the subtle and not-so-subtle forms of racism they encounter and they can tell you the truth of the matter. White privilege gives us (white people) the luxury of omitting these simple truths from our conscientiousness.  There are many examples I could cite here, but let’s stick with the Zimmerman case for now. In the beginning of our national awareness about this case the pundits made a big deal out of “stand your ground” laws. These are essentially laws promoted by a gun lobby front know as ALEC. They say that if you’re confronted, you may immediately respond by shooting someone- even an unarmed person. You just have to feel confronted. As the details of Trayvon’s fateful night were revealed I didn’t hear a single commentator suggest that Trayvon had a right to stand HIS ground. That’s white privilege! The assumption of being in-the-right automatically went to Zimmerman, a self-proclaimed “white Hispanic”. The Zimmerman trial bore out even more graphically how a young black boy who was doing nothing more than walking to his destination could somehow be cast as the bad guy, simply because he had the misfortune of being harassed by a loser wannabe whose manhood was contained in his holster. I was disgusted to see a defense lawyer bring a chunk of concrete before the jury in summation and say (point blank) that Trayvon “was armed” with the sidewalk. Only a society steeped in white privilege could accept such utter nonsense in a court of law- as if the sidewalk Trayvon walked upon is a weapon equal to the gun Zimmerman had, making self-defense a reasonable conclusion.  But it worked primarily because we have an unseen, never talked-about pervasive norm of white privilege that permits such ridiculous assumptions to go unchallenged.

There is a wealth of other data to support the existence of white privilege that only rarely surfaces because acknowledging these facts creates an uncomfortable atmosphere for the majority race. Black men are four times more likely to be searched by police than white men in similar situations. Job applicants with “white” sounding names are 50% more likely to get called for a job interview than applicants with “black” sounding names. White women are far more likely than black women to be hired by temp agencies, even when the black women have more experience and better qualifications. Although data shows that whites are equally or more likely than blacks or Latinos to use drugs, it is people of color who comprise about 90% of persons incarcerated for drug possession. There are 2.3 million Americans in prisons and jails. African American men count for more than one million of them. Black men are jailed six times more frequently than white men. These are just a few of the documented instances to illustrate that we have not gone beyond racial prejudice and discrimination in this country. Ask any Native American, Latino/Latina, Asian, Middle Easterner, or African American and you will find out immediately that they themselves or someone close to them has experienced some form of discrimination because of skin color.

One of the saddest aspects of racism and its partner White Privilege is in the experience of our daily lives. For those (whites) who deny the existence of White Privilege, they should ask themselves if they have to consider their own skin color when they decide to buy or rent a home. People of color do. They should ask that question when they decide to walk in a strange neighborhood; or decide to browse in a store; or decide how to act when a police car passes by, or decide if it’s OK to keep your hands in your pockets; or decide to question authority; or decide how close to walk to other people on the street; or to decide to do a hundred different mundane things in any given day. People of color do! But you see, white people don’t think of themselves as in terms of their color. They just think of themselves as “people”. And that is the essence of white privilege. People of color, particularly young black males, must always be cognizant of their race because of the way “people” react to them. How sad it is to hear black fathers and mothers having to explain to their sons that their very survival may depend they on how they behave around white people. White fathers and mothers don’t need to have that talk with their sons. That’s White Privilege.

Peggy McIntosh, of Wellesley College has written extensively on the subject of White Privilege. She writes: “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’  to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks.”  

It is said we’ve come a long way in solving our “original sin” of racism in America. But we still have so far to go. It is important to speak out against racism. If we are to survive as a nation we must continue to battle this festering problem. It is equally important to look inward and examine our own consciousness about race by recognizing white privilege, and how it matters to all of us. It can be an enlightening journey of discovery and learning- and one that leads to a more just future for people of all races in this country.

Thanks for looking in.

Susan, One Year Later

Late last June I wrote an essay in this blog called My Neighbor Susan.  I described my real-life neighbor Susan who had lost her job about six months before. I described how she had worked at a rural Fire District for fifteen years doing all the administrative duties for the Fire District, an how she became a victim of the recession that resulted in so many public sector employees becoming unemployed. One of the political consequences of the Great Recession was the relentless drumbeat of conservative politicians casting blame for the economic downturn on public employees. We saw that played out all over the country where conservative Governors used the recession to sell a public policy stance that says all public service jobs are essentially bad for the economy, and a drag on society.

I discussed how Susan and so many other public sector employees are not the bad guys and how they actually help stimulate the economy, particularly in troubled times. Money paid to public sector employees circulates through the economy just like money paid to private sector employees. But for a few years there, Governors and many in Congress made teachers, cops, firefighters, and other government employees the scapegoat for a growing deficit and a slow recovery. Of course just the opposite is true when it comes to economic recovery. Most leading economists have concluded that our economic recovery would have been much faster and deeper if public sector employment wouldn’t have taken such a deep hit during this recovery period. Private sector growth has been steady since the recession ended, but the net job growth has been slowed by off-sets in public sector layoffs.  In the essay a year ago I described how teachers and cops and city workers go to movies, buy things at malls, and eat in restaurants just like private sector people. They buy clothes for their kids, and they buy cars and washing machines just like everyone else. I pointed out that the politicians who laid blame at their feet never mention that public employees and also just EMPLOYEES- and they do work that is valuable, and often essential for the rest of us. Those folks who were so easily demonized are our neighbors, friends and relatives.

But, back to Susan.  Let me tell you how her real life story ended up one year after I introduced her to you. My wife and I ended up talking to her a short while ago. It had been while since we had spoken and gotten caught up. Just a month ago she told us she got a job after being unemployed for close to a year and a half. We knew that she was having a hard time finding work. She had worked at the Fire District for over 15 years and made about $35,000.00 a year, and she’s in her fifties. So when she told us about finally getting a job, I thought she would be fairly excited to share the news. She was not! Susan was almost depressed as she told us that she was only able to get a receptionist/clerical job at a large, for-profit medical clinic. She felt like she had to take the job because she simply wasn’t able to find any other position comparable to old position or wage. The job at the clinic only pays $10.00 per hour and is highly demanding for the pay. So here is Susan working at a job far below her old position in status and responsibility, making 41% less money than she did before-about 8% more than minimum wage. She said the wage she’s getting isn’t enough to pay all her bills- but she is trying to stretch it where she can. She said she’ll continue to look for a better job, but after a year and a half of already trying hard, she’s feeling pretty defeated. It is no wonder that she was feeling down-in-the-dumps about her situation.

Her circumstance is much like many others who suffered as a result of the Great Recession, and it caused me to think about the place people like Susan hold in our society. Sadly, Susan learned the hard lesson that she, and the labor she provides, is nothing more than a commodity. Industry of all kinds has learned to treat labor that way, with all the ups and downs that any commodity goes through in a capitalist economy. The price we pay for labor is subject to the market forces that any other commodity would have. When the commodity is plentiful and demand is low, the commodity is cheap (low wages). When the demand is high and the availability of the commodity is scarce (or relatively so) it becomes more expensive (high wages). It is basic capitalist Economics 101. Supply and demand applies to labor just like it does with any other commodity.

But there is one difference with the commodity of labor- the difference is that this commodity is human. Humans have needs, and those basic needs go on no matter what the market forces tell you their labor is worth. The pure capitalists will tell you that when labor is cheap and wages are low, the whole economy responds and equilibrium eventually returns. But we know that isn’t true. We know that those who control economies in a capitalist system always seek to increase capital at the expense of those whose labor creates it. That is the true definition of capitalism. I just find it hard to believe that my neighbor Susan is worth (over) 40% less than she was two years ago. But hey, that’s what the market is offering  her right now- and let’s face it she was only making $35,000.00 before she became such an “affordable" employee.  When I consider these economic conditions with low wages and scarce job opportunities, I also feel the need to consider the unmet human needs that accompany those in this predicament. My neighbor is a single woman with grown kids so she’ll have an easier time getting by. I wonder about the young parents who are trying to support families. Granted there are many people who have managed to survive this economy- but there are still too many who are trapped in this cycle of low pay. Those are the people who end up being the butt of jokes and he scapegoats for ignorant or plain greedy politicians.

I have heard too much lately about Food Stamps. Two weeks ago the Congress couldn’t pass a Farm Bill because Republicans tried to slip by a $2 Billion cut in Food Stamps, claiming that Food Stamps rob people of the incentive to support themselves. The Democrats said no. All during the last Presidential campaign I heard President Obama referred to as “the Food Stamp President” because the use of Food Stamps rose during his first term. These self -righteous politicians never tell you that 80% of those on Food Stamps have jobs. Many others in the remaining 20% are severely disabled or elderly. None of those political charlatans bothered to explain that the rise in Food Stamps during the President’s first term was solely the fault of previous economic policies that caused the recession well before he took office. People like Susan (who would qualify for Food Stamps at her new wage) didn’t become poorer because of Obama- she became poorer because the policies that caused the Recession cost her job, and when was able to get another one private industry told her the value of her work had sorely diminished.

The inevitable outcome is that we are creating a new and larger group of working poor- but they still need basic necessities. So they end up on Food Stamps or get other forms of government assistance. They get these programs not because they are lazy or don’t want to work (they are working)- they get them because we have policies in this country that keep them in low-wage jobs that allows them to be eligible for these programs. And, by the way that is not a Presidential decision- that is the revered free-market economy doing its magic.

I only wish that more of us in the voting public would take the time to research aspects of how our economy works and how government programs fit into the complex framework of our society. Instead, I continue to see too many people taken in by the right-wing propaganda that public service is evil and the root of our problems- too many people who will not try to understand that we need a safety net of government programs to ensure our country survives. Instead I see people using social media to judge and defame the poor- including the working poor. They foist placards that depict the old stereotype of Reagan’s “welfare queen” buying steak in her fur coat using food stamps. Or I see sayings that: “welfare was never meant to be a career choice”.  Those kinds of misrepresentations are as ignorant as they are mean spirited. An informed person would know that a household of three (two of which are children) gets $478.00 a month- when the Federal poverty rate for a family of three is $1261. It is ridiculous to think that anyone would aspire to live on the equivalent of 1/3 of the poverty rate- but the politics of greed and privilege keep pushing these false notions about the poor and those folks like my neighbor Susan.

Strangely, the folks who want to do away with the programs that help provide basic needs in government programs are the same ones who base their politics on their strong Christian values- and tell you so whenever they get the chance. Try as might, I could not find a reference in any Christian Bible text that promotes capitalism, or promotes lack of charity towards the poor, or tells us to judge people harshly with false information. In fact I think Christian teachings instead say to “feed the poor” and “care for the sick”. I know there is a basic teaching that says to “love your neighbor”.  As I’ve seen my neighbor Susan struggle with the harsh realities of this economy, I can only wish that more of us could see the struggles of others with a kinder eye and ask our leaders in government and industry to do the same.

Thanks for looking in.