[Jenn Y.]

In reading articles about multicultural organizations, the idea of whites taking responsibility of their white privilege is a constant theme. While I think I understand what white privilege means, how does one take responsibility for it?

User Detail :  

Name : Jenn Y., Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 25, City : Clarksdale, State : MS, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[M-Bena]

It means recognizing that you have and have always had a certain advantage because of the mere color of your skin. It means recognizing that due to racism, your ancestors received certain benefits – whether it be education, ownership of property or even access to these things that people of color could not receive. Often, people misunderstand and think that “white privilege” means that all whites are rich. It doesn’t mean that. It just means that your skin color often serves as a ticket to get you “in the door” – you get a chance just because you are white. However, if you are a minority, sometimes you are screened out simply because of your skin color. White privilege means you have a certain access to certain opportunites that people of color often don’t have. When we say take responsibility for your white privilege, we just mean acknowledge that the reason that you have even some of the simple things that you have is that you were never discriminated against by the majority population in this country. Taking responsibility means recognizing that you have been given an advantage because of your skin color and being sensitive to those who have less money and/or education because they were denied access in the past simply because of their skin color.

User Detail :  

Name : M-Bena, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, City : New Orleans, State : LA, Country : United States, Occupation : Law Clerk, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Mandi]

I don’t know in what context you heard about this “resposibility for white privilege,” and I’m not really sure I understand what you’re talking about. In general, however, whites should understand how their actions create and perpetuate dscrimination in this country and take steps to rectify it. That means not standing by watching something happen just because it doesn’t affect you personally. It means being aware of your own racial steroetypes and endeavoring to change them or not allowing them to adversely affect others. It means not assuming that white is the default race.

User Detail :  

Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[K. Lynn]

I think we all agree that there are poor, struggling folks of all races. But I maintain that no matter how poor a white person is or was, if you dress him or her up right, he or she can go anywhere in the world they want and not have to worry about receiving substandard treatment. (And yes, that includes black neighborhoods, where quite a number of white people can be found each and every day.) Whereas in certain cases and places I am treated as uneducated, ignorant, and at worst, dangerous. No, this doesn’t happen on a regular basis. Maybe I’ve grown calluses such that I don’t notice it as much. But it happens enough. I have a college education, I make more money than a lot of people, I speak well, I dress well, and my criminal record consists entirely of parking tickets. I am competent, I am professional, I comport myself well. And yes, I am a VERY nice person. Yet I still get followed around in stores. I still get talked down to by strangers. I still get second-guessed on decisions I make in the workplace. Why? Answer that question for me and we might be on our way to understanding each other better.

User Detail :  

Name : K. Lynn, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 34, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/programmer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Cecil-T-W]

I’m not really sure what people are talking about when they say this because me and my entire family grew up homeless, and the majority of people we saw on the streets were white. I think it is more a case of living in a plutocracy than a race thing. The rich get privileges, while the rest of us starve for the sin of lacking opportunity. The worst division I have seen in this country is not along the lines of race but rather gender and financial status. Life sucks for lots of folks across every line, regardless of race.

User Detail :  

Name : Cecil-T-W, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Christian, Age : 20, City : Taos, State : NM, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, 

[Jenn-Y]

Not assuming that white is the default race is a powerful statement, one that I had not understood before. Even when reading or talking about different cultures and ethnicities and nationalities, it is very hard not to look through the lens of “other,” “other” being different from me. It means that there aren’t “whites” and “people of color” because that automatically sets the stage as whites being different from everybody else, instead of every culture being different from (or similar to) all cultures.

User Detail :  

Name : Jenn-Y, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 26, City : Clarksdale, State : MS, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Ian M.]

This kind of talk is only a political tactic. Inflicting guilt on white people pays off, so people do it. Personally, I reject it. My ancestors virtually all came from areas with few non-whites around to oppress. Also, to oppress means one has the power and means to do it. My ancestors were mostly poor farmers who had no means to inflict any damage on non-whites even if they wanted to. If you want to inflict guilt, tell it to the rich whites who exploit everybody.

User Detail :  

Name : Ian M., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 45, City : Pittsburgh, State : PA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Priya]

While I acknowledge that you have worked hard to earn all that you have, consider this: you were probably brought up in a decent, middle-class neighborhood with good schools, caring parents, and decent health care. And individual lives do not occur in a vacuum; you had what you had as a child because of what your parents had, which is a result of what their parents had, and that goes back to the time when white people owned slaves and had them do all their dirty work while they reaped the benefits. Granted, you are not responsible for what occurred to those folks of color. But their present lives have not occurred in a vacuum either; they (not all but many) grow up in ghettos with single parents, high crime rates, and bad schools because of what was done to their ancestors hundreds of years in the making. Don’t you think this all has put you to some sort of unfair advantage? And if not affirmative action, what could be the solution to the numerous black and Latino ghetto-dwellers? Should we just leave them there and expect them to rise out of a system that has been constructed to keep them down?

User Detail :  

Name : Priya, Gender : F, Age : 19, City : Berkeley, State : CA, Country : United States, 

[Rachel]

It is true that we live in a plutocracy and that racial tensions are exploited by the wealthy — keep poor whites angry at blacks, and keep blacks angry at all whites, and you needn’t worry that the exploited will turn on the exploiters. I am white. My mother and father both grew up in abject poverty. I grew up very poor. AT 27 years of age, I have attained a lower-middle-class lifestyle (my husband and I have one child and make 17K a year). I don’t look on my life, or my family’s history as one of priveledge — one of my grandfathers and three of my great-grandfathers died while working in the coal mines (one in Wales, the rest in the U.S.A.) Still, I believe that white privilege works in subtle ways. I have had a hard time ensuring that my daughter doesn’t absorb our culture’s message that White is the ‘norm’. Toys, books, and games do not represent multicultural America. (Though children’s books have come a long way.) Also, we see Black people in low-prestige, low-wage jobs more often than in high-wage jobs. The opposite is true of Whites. For example, the janitors at my apartment complex are all Black, but the maintenance workers and the property manager are white. My pediatrician is white, and the receptionists are black. I’ve tried to manipulate her environment to reverse this message, but the very fact that I have to make an effort points to some problems in our society. Too many people buy into the ‘us against them’ mind-set, and they pick the wrong ‘them’. When poor white people hear about ‘white privilege’ they don’t get angry at the wealthy exploiters, but at minorities, also exploited, whom they perceive as getting special privleges of their own. Minorities in America who shut the door in the faces of poor whites, assuming that they are ignorant racists, also serve the power elite. I have tried very hard to present a non-racist world to my daughter while she is very young, because once she is old enough to look about her, she will see so many people stupidly hating others for the color of their skin.

User Detail :  

Name : Rachel, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Society of Friends (Quaker), Age : 27, City : BAltimore, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : homemaker, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Ken-D]

I think you understand what it means if you think about being a black person in Clarksdale, Miss. I grew up there and had to leave becuase of the second-class citizenship blacks have there. I believe that just to understand it exists is the best we can hope for. The next time a conversation comes up about minorities getting extra privileges such as hiring preferences, etc., remember all of the years in Clarksdale when they were denied an equal footing in anything.

User Detail :  

Name : Ken-D, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, City : Green Bay, State : WI, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Onewanda]

There are definitions of white privilege other than how expensive your car is, or how fancy your house. The elevator for instance. White woman alone in an elevator. When a white man gets in, it’s doubtful she will tense up and flee the minute the doors open. However, a black man gets in, chances are good she will. Chances are this woman is thinking that this black man is going to violate her somehow. Why? because he is black. Who is more likely to get served in a restaurant first? Who’s more likely to get assistance in a store? You will be approached by a salesperson, but a black person gets tailed by security. White privilege is the privilege of being innocent until proven guilty. It’s being able to drive through fancy areas and not get pulled over – you’ve heard of the crime of ‘driving while black?’ It means not getting shot by the NYPD 30-plus times as you leave your apartment. It means not having to be aware of where your ID is at all times. Trust me, you have not lost any scholarships, jobs, lotteries or whatever to affirmative action; your spot was just less-guaranteed to you as a white man, in order to give other people a chance. There have never been laws that said you could not use a public drinking fountain, let alone go to college or even vote. And trust me on this one, too, it’s not a piece of cake for anyone getting a job coming out of college. Affirmative action, troubled as it may be, is not giving jobs to complete morons just because they are not white and male. It is not giving free scholarships to all people of color regardless of ability. It is not bestowing all the privileges of middle class life onto people of color – otherwise, why would there still such a great racial divide? And clearly, from your self-description, affirmative action has not held you back from your own success. I’m guessing it’s contributed more than you are aware. The fact is, we all have to work hard to succeed.

User Detail :  

Name : Onewanda, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 27, City : NYC, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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