"White Privilege" ~ the phrase that probably doesn't mean what you think it means

I loved this post and shared it:

http://www.upworthy.com/one-easy-thing-all-white-people-could-do-that-would-make-the-world-a-better-place-5?g=2

When I shared the above on Twitter it was retweeted bunches of times. When I shared it on Facebook I got one favorable comment and 2 white men saying, basically "hmmm." One a sort of defensive "I got asked for my ID too."  I should probably say, before I go any further, that my facebook friends list is more local, more "friends and family" than my Twitter list, which cuts a much wider geographical/cultural swathe.

The response on my FB page surprised and saddened me. These are "my people."  I was expecting a more enthusiastic response. What I got was pretty lukewarm, almost defensive, and I have been puzzling over what that means. These are hard-working, good, kind people. But yes, most of my FB friends list is white. And I think we have a long, long way to go when it comes to even understanding what "white privilege" is, and until that happens we, as a society, will likely remain stuck.

I think many white folks, as well-meaning as they are, still do not understand what the phrase "white privilege" even means and often confuse privilege with being born into a wealthy family or being a member of "high society." White privilege, to a lot of folks, means "Kennedy" or "the Hamptons."  People think "I can barely pay my bills, I'm not privileged" or "I wear clothes from Goodwill and eat Ramen, how am I even remotely privileged?" It's a very defensive response, and the subcontext is not only "Black people aren't treated differently!" it's also "I hate to think that anyone would think me better than anyone else, because I'm not!"  In a lot of ways, I believe this type of response comes from a place of desperately wanting to believe that we live in a post-racial society. Unfortunately, this is not helpful at all to progress.

It's an incredibly humbling moment to finally understand that white privilege is something far more basic and often invisible because you were born with it and take it for granted. I can say this because I can remember when I started to truly understand what the phrase meant - as opposed to what I hoped it meant - and I am embarrassed to say it wasn't too many years ago. I was brought up by good loving people but growing up in Maine there isn't a lot of interaction with people of color so my assumptions about how people of color were treated elsewhere were tremendously naive and optimistic.  So, I can say that the misinterpretation or denial of "white privilege" often means that as much as you want to believe that we live in a post-racial society, wishing doesn't make it so. If you don't see examples of overt racism on a daily basis it might be because you live where you don't actually see black people on a daily basis. "White privilege" means that you are still being treated better in many many ways, simply because you are not black. It means that even if you are driving a falling-apart car to the store to buy your Ramen, you're less likely to get pulled over on your way there because you probably stole that car or it's unregistered/uninspected/has dope in the glovebox. Nobody "kept an eye on you" as you shopped because you were probably going to shop lift. You weren't asked for 2 forms of ID and asked to wait while the cashier feverishly looks through her "bad checks book" because she's convinced you just wrote a rubber check, for no other reason than the color of your skin.

I would also refer you to a post from my friend Nancy a few days ago:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151777302283446&set=a.40374233445.49108.781938445&type=1

We still have a long way to go, and just wishing it were otherwise won't make it so. The woman in the Upworthy video is simply saying that if we can use our "white privilege" to speak up when we see these instances of racism, we can help move everyone forward. It's a simple suggestion, which should almost go without saying. In order for our "white privilege" to be of any use to move things forward, we will first have to get over ourselves and acknowledge that it exists. No better time than the present.