Worth reading. Those who are marginalized shouldn’t have to do the heavy lifting of explaining institutional racism, but when they do it’s worthwhile to listen.
{psst – it sounds like privlage, but it’s spelled like privilege} 
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Oops. Fixed. Thanks 
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No prob, thanks for this piece, looking forward to it when I find a bit of time.
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That is an interesting read, but I found the comment thread even more interesting. I could add to the authors list, “If you have never written a thoughtful and enlightening piece only to have the comments derailed by obvious race-baiting trolls, you have white privilege.” Although I have to slightly disagree with your assessment, in that white privilege is really not all that obvious from the inside. It really does often take someone from outside the bubble pointing out what is obvious to encourage to us to take a different perspective. That does not justify said privilege, since there are more than enough folks speaking out against it, but I have to point out that if you have never thought to take the perspective of someone outside your experience, it can be far from obvious unless pointed out.
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I didn’t read the comments since I don’t most places, but I’ll consider taking a look on your recommendation.
Not quite what I mean, though I see how that could be assumed. What I mean is that the onus for fixing systemic racism isn’t on the victims of it, but on those with privilege. I grant it isn’t always easy for people to see their privilege, but that’s why it’s important for those who are aware of their and others privilege to acknowledge and point it out for the benefit of society.
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That is absolutely true. I would go a step further and say that the victims are not capable of fixing this, due to the simple fact that no one can adjust another’s attitude. Those of us who have white privilege (straight white male here) are the only ones who have the ability and in fact the obligation to fix the fucking mess we made. Our responsibility, our obligation, our mess.
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I usually put it this way: with privilege comes responsibility to eliminate negative privilege and extend positive privilege until it is not, in fact, privilege. As a SWM I benefit from a lot of privilege. It’s less about whose mess it is than who benefits. When that benefit is unjust or unequal, it conveys a social responsibility to substantively address the problems of privilege for as long as they exist. There are some with privilege who will object that they didn’t choose to have it and therefore aren’t responsible for it, but that misses the point. Their privilege is a fact of life in their interaction with society. They cannot help but exercise it, and they are therefore responsible for the consequences.
Hereditary privilege is a textbook example of this. To benefit from historical injustice is to be responsible for the consequences of it. The privileged can no more escape their part in systemic racism than can its victims. And I think there are some who feel that a sense of shame is their penance. But shame is no good unless it leads to deeds.
This is why to a certain extent I think so-called white guilt serves as a bit of a cop-out, of passing the buck so to speak. If guilt is collective it can shield people from taking responsibility for their actions, and with privilege the actions which matter are how one handles having privilege. In this way guilt is little better than ignoring the privilege entirely, and I think that’s a large part of what people who complain about being “attacked” for having privilege are doing, trying to amortize their personal responsibility onto everyone else so they can feel falsely justified in not owning up to their privilege, to their personal responsibility that comes with living in a society that unjustly privileges them over others.
Anyway, sorry, that turned into a longer comment than I planned, but I wanted to riff off of what you were saying.
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True. Though I do think some of the best observers and clarifiers of the kinds of power that the empowered can’t see are the disempowered. And while it’s certainly not fair to say the latter have any responsibility to point out, let alone fix, the ills wrought by empowered privilege, many have pointed them out. The privileged should seek them out, and listen to what they have to say. One great example, from a black woman (and psychologist and Unitarian minister) –
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i’m a middle-aged white guy and i have seen white privilege since i was old enough to reason in a rational and abstract manner (roughly since i was 10). i saw it in school, among the adults i interacted with, really in most of my day to day reality. i’ve been using my unearned privilege to help others since i was a teen.
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