Prometheus 6:

April 14, 2003

A good article from "Alas, a Blog"
Privilege

Over the years I have spent a great deal of time and energy discussing, researching, and writing about privilege, and the most common response has to be that one. "If I had white privilege, I wouldn't have to do this" or "If I had male privilege, I would be doing this." The problem with this response is that it tends to make privilege out to be some sort of magical state in which the person who has it never suffers -- as though if a person has one form of privilege, the other forms of privilege they may lack are overridden. Or that simply by not having one form of privilege, one can simply ignore and dismiss the privileges they do have.

Besides being an interesting read in and of itself, the article points to several other resources of value:
White Privilege Blog
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
Teaching About Being An Oppressor: Some Personal and Political considerations
The Male Privilege Checklist

Ampersand at "Alas, a Blog" describes these things around the middle of her article. Reading it would be a Good Thing^tm.

I suppose if you're white, and in particular a white male, this post probably annoys you. Most white folks don't feel particularly privileged.

Most reasonable people will admit that racism against non-white people still exists, and that its impact on non-white communities is greater than the impact of racism against white people on the white community. To me this means what white people have isn't a matter of extra advantages as fewer handicaps.

Relativity.

The fact is, though, acknowleging the existance of white privilege, and that you have it is like acknowleging the existance of money, and that you have it. It's more a statement about the state of affairs than you as a person.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 4/14/2003 03:51:57 PM |

Posted by P6 at April 14, 2003 03:51 PM | Trackback URL: http://www.prometheus6.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/272

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