white privilege

[lastdaysofdisco]

I've been reading some critical race theory and issues about white privilege lately and stumbled across a man named tim wise. He's American, though a lot of what he says is still very relevent and I think he's worth checking out:

By Tim Wise

Comments

[lastdaysofdisco]

haha. Sometimes I can't quite pick up on sarcasm either.

This is a really fantastic link. thanks for pointing it out!

I think you're definitely right. Racism usually tends to be viewed as "their" problem (you know, the whole Othering thing again) and therefore something white people don't have to think about. The issue of white privilege directly implicates us into the issue and constructs is as something we need to take responsibility for, because we clearly benefit from it.

One aspect of this privilege is the fact that we can dismiss it entirely and continue on with our lives without it having any affect on us. :)

I like when she says, "many, perhaps most, of our white students in the United States (or Canada) think that racism doesn't affect them because they are not people of color; they do not see "whiteness" as a racial identity. In addition, since race and sex are not the only advantaging systems at work, we need similarly to examine the daily experience of having age advantage, or ethnic advantage, or physical ability, or advantage related to nationality, religion, or sexual orientation."

[lastdaysofdisco]

haha, yeah i remember that! but hey, you know, there's so much to learn and there are so many blind spots that it's difficult to be aware of them all. Learning is a process afterall :) Also, getting this sort of education is a privilege in itself (even if the govn't is paying for all of it initially, in my case ;) ). Though I suppose also that not all education has to be institutional, self-education is a great thing if you have time and energy for it...

i have tons of tea too, and a new tea pot! tea party? We'll set a date. :)