On Surveillence
auros couldn't post this on my LJ, I guess I never friended him? I thought I had. Anyway, he wrote to me and said I could post this here. I feel like it's a better written explanation of why I feel that shock at surveillance is a manifestation of white privilege.
I saw an article drawing a similar comparison, pointing out that the controversy over "stop and frisk" that's been in the news lately is, effectively, about people of color being assumed guilty unless proven otherwise, and thus subjected to intrusive physical surveillance.
http://thegrio.com/2013/08/21/where-is-the-white-liberal-outrage-on-stop-and-frisk/
There's nothing that enrages people who are accustomed to privilege as effectively as putting them on the receiving end of the treatment they thought was reserved for Those People. :-P
Personally, I assume I'm surveilled periodically by the Agency because I worked for them for most of a year, and you basically sign away your privacy for life when you start doing work with them that requires any kind of clearance. (Hi, NSA minders! No, I'm not telling anyone WHAT I did for you. KTHXBAI.)
My father was surveilled, I have been surveilled, my family, my friends. My default assumption is that my stuff is being watched. I just live my life anyway, but I've never had the privilege of thinking that my private life was private. I didn't learn about the Tuskeegee Airmen at school until College - but I learned about it at my father's knee. I knew early on that if our government could treat it's black soldiers that way, then of course they had no compunction in terms of spying on it's citizens, especially those of color.
Perspectives, etc.
N.
I saw an article drawing a similar comparison, pointing out that the controversy over "stop and frisk" that's been in the news lately is, effectively, about people of color being assumed guilty unless proven otherwise, and thus subjected to intrusive physical surveillance.
http://thegrio.com/2013/08/21/where-is-the-white-liberal-outrage-on-stop-and-frisk/
There's nothing that enrages people who are accustomed to privilege as effectively as putting them on the receiving end of the treatment they thought was reserved for Those People. :-P
Personally, I assume I'm surveilled periodically by the Agency because I worked for them for most of a year, and you basically sign away your privacy for life when you start doing work with them that requires any kind of clearance. (Hi, NSA minders! No, I'm not telling anyone WHAT I did for you. KTHXBAI.)
My father was surveilled, I have been surveilled, my family, my friends. My default assumption is that my stuff is being watched. I just live my life anyway, but I've never had the privilege of thinking that my private life was private. I didn't learn about the Tuskeegee Airmen at school until College - but I learned about it at my father's knee. I knew early on that if our government could treat it's black soldiers that way, then of course they had no compunction in terms of spying on it's citizens, especially those of color.
Perspectives, etc.
N.