Lets Talk About White Privilege

In this blog post, I’m going to talk about the often misunderstood issue of white privilege. Before I do so, I want to briefly mention a few things about racism which many of you will already be aware of. 

It is important to understand that notions of race and racial difference are constructions first and foremost, based on human invention as opposed to any biological or scientific fact.  Instead, racial differences have been constructed socially and discursively in an attempt to serve the political interests of a particular section of society.  In After Empire (2004) Paul Gilroy asserts that ‘“race” refers primarily to an impersonal, discursive arrangement, the brutal result of the raciological ordering of the world, not its cause’.  Racism then is the ideology that sustains discrimination on the grounds of perceived racial differences, claiming that these constructions are true.  Some of you might question my inclusion of these facts, for it seems as though I am merely stating the obvious.  However, the fact remains that countless numbers of well-meaning individuals are unaware that race is a historical construct and not a biological fact, and so I feel it is something worth mentioning.  

There are numerous obvious manifestations of racism with which we are all familiar including hate crimes, racial slurs and the most insidious – systemic racism.  Yet, there is another more subtle manifestation of racism that continues to sustain the continuation of the racial status quo.  It is called ‘white privilege’ and is representative of the societal privileges benefiting white people in Western countries.  Such privileges are not usually experienced by non-white people under the very same social, political, and economic circumstances.  In a collection of essays entitled Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (1920) Sociologist and Civil rights activist, W.E.B. Du Bois critiqued white supremacy as a system of exploitation, oppression and violence.  In his essay, he asserts that white people are associated with the creation of a global racial hierarchy, creating horrendous conditions that must be endured by black people.  Almost a century later, the Western society critiqued by Du Bois remains a hierarchical one.

It is important to mention that white privilege is not necessarily something that people consciously create or do in their day to day lives.  The thing about white privilege is that people remain oblivious to the wealth of unearned assets and perks that are so freely available to them, and which can be drawn on daily without a second thought.  While white privilege does not imply guilt for injustices you have not created, nor choose to benefit from, the fact remains that if you have white skin, you benefit.  Peggy McIntosh’s famous essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” contains a list of the daily effects of white privilege experienced by her.  Included among this list are some of the following:

‘When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my colour made it what it is.’

‘I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.’

‘If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.’

‘I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.’

‘I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.’

‘I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.’

If you are a white person living in the Western hemisphere, as you scroll through the list, you will undoubtedly find yourself adding to it as you discover the numerous unearned perks/advantages you did not realise you experience daily.  This proved to be true in my case, at least.

It is very easy to see clear incidences of systemic racism and white privilege in countries like South Africa or America, for instance.  One need only think about Michael Brown of Ferguson, John Crawford and Tamir Rice of Ohio, Eric Garner of New York, and most recently Freddie Gray of Baltimore, all of whom were killed by members of the police force.  Their deaths have put a global spotlight on the racial disparities inherent in America’s criminal justice system.  Is it so easy to spot white privilege closer to home though?  I recently had a discussion with a friend who insisted that white privilege is not an issue in Ireland.  It surprised me and reinforced my belief that our lack of awareness regarding privilege is something that needs to be challenged head-on.  It also led me to think about the difficulties inherent in addressing such a subtle yet ingrained form of racism.  In order to address this kind of privilege, we must first acknowledge its existence.  In her essay, McIntosh states that ‘as a white person, [she] realised [she] had been taught about racism as something that put others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which put [her] at an advantage.’  If we are to create space for the open and frank discussion of white privilege, we need to do so through education and awareness.  With that, comes accountability.

 

Additional Note:

While writing this blog post, I came across a fascinating project being carried out by researchers at Harvard.  It is called Project Implicit and assesses thoughts and feelings that occur outside of conscious awareness or control based on a series of tests.  For anyone interested in taking part, follow the link: [https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html]

 

Ruth Daly

 

References

DuBois, W.E.B. Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (Dover Publications, 1999)

Gilroy, Paul. After Empire: Melancholia or Convivial Culture? (Routledge, 2004)

McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” (1988) [http://amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html]