... but this essay has links to pretty much everything I was going to link to, anyway. Go here, and read the whole thing, and all the links off it. It's important. (ETA: Here's part two. And here's a critique of the comments thread, which I find very, very useful as well.)
I'm still reading reading reading. Internalizing. Thinking. A lot. And since I don't have anything smart to say at the moment, here are a pair of posts to compare.
Olddeadtoad,
Your comment was moderated due to offensive language.
I grew up pretty broke as well, but I still have white privilege. I don't really have the strength to give your questions their proper due right now, but I highly recommend starting at either the Racism 101 discussion community or Tim Wise's excellent book White Like Me, or even this blogpost for much more articulate explanations of the vast differences between class and race than I am currently able to muster.
So I was wondering: why is it that we white folks find it so hard to accept that we have privilege? And why do we get so defensive when someone tells us we have it?
A theory: If we accept that we have privilege, then:
1) We must also accept that we got where we are not only because of our own efforts but also because the deck is stacked in our favor, or, to borrow an analogy, no, we didn't hit a double--we were born on second base.
And:
2) We must also accept that our failures are due only to our own shortcomings and in spite of our privilege.
These are uncomfortable truths. We (most of us, I imagine) want to believe that we earned everything we got with the sweat of our brows, especially if our parents were not wealthy. Accepting that we had a leg up (whether we asked for it or not--whether we were consciously aware of it or not) can diminish the pride we take in our achievements.
As a corollary, when someone says to us, "You have white privilege," it can sound to us like they're saying, "You didn't earn/don't deserve your [nice home, fulfilling job, book contract, award, whatever]." Even if that's the furthest thing from their minds.
I wish I knew, Limeyfish. The last couple of months have been a really humbling experience for me on a lot of levels, mostly from watching the behavior of my fellow White people from a different perspective. It's really forced me to re-evaluate my own behavior and thought processes.
One of the most useful things I read early on in this conversation is that there's no word that makes White people go crazy faster than being called a racist. Many PoC have said over and over again that to them, it's not saying "you're an awful horrible person forever and ever", but more akin to saying "You're a sinner"; calling someone out for saying something really rude and awful:
"Think of it as if someone points out that you need to wipe your nose because you’ve got a big glob of snot hanging out. The thing to do is say “oh, excuse me,” wipe your nose, and move on. Insisting that everyone pat you on the back and reassure you that they realize you don’t always have snot hanging from your nose, before the conversation can be allowed to move forward, is not productive."
http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2005/12/02/how-not-to-be-insane-when-accused-of-racism/
Perspective. I know I keep harping on it, but "White Like Me" is a really freaking good book and I highly recommend it.
...there's no word that makes White people go crazy faster than being called a racist. Many PoC have said over and over again that to them, it's not saying 'you're an awful horrible person forever and ever', but more akin to saying 'You're a sinner'
Yes, well, that comes of living in the same environment that makes us oblivious to our privilege. We're raised (or most of us are) to despise racism and racists as terrible things, but the problem is we're taught that racism is stuff like segregated schools and discriminatory hiring practices and lynchings. Racism = evil.
Of course when someone says "You're a racist," or even, "Dude, that was a racist comment," we freak out. It's not that surprising when you think about it.
Another interesting thing: we've been told all our lives that race doesn't (or shouldn't) matter. But this RaceFail 09 conversation has taught me that in many ways, it does (and should) matter.
I know. And I've really been gobsmacked throughout this entire discussion by my own primitive and limited understanding of institutionalized, aversive racism. I had an academic understanding before, an arms-length understanding, but all of the essays I've been reading have really hit home, over and over and over again. So my reaction to this -- which must seem really odd to anyone who's known me longer than ten minutes -- has been to shut the hell up and listen. Listen hard.
Here's another good link on the differences between overt racism and aversive racism.
I've been kicking myself a lot lately for Not Getting It Sooner, but damn, now that I've been hit full in the face with a firehose of understanding, it seems like the best thing to do is start getting myself better educated-- and share what I'm learning along the way. I've had some really interesting conversations lately with my fellow White progressives, and realizing I'm not the only one with such huge blind spots -- but I'm also finding a lot of people who're really eager to get rid of those blind spots once they're pointed out. That's hopeful, I think.