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.