Today’s fractal image MixIT seems singularly appropriate for today’s post. The swirling movement evokes how cloudy the issues are and the black, what and blue color scheme alludes to the fact that there is ALWAYS another side to the story. That being said, on with today’s rant!
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My friend Alison Young sent me an e-Mail she titled “Good Commentary”. Since we disagree on what we find “good” about as often as we agree I was curious to see what she sent. I found an essay by Tim White called This Is Your Nation On White Privilege. In all honesty I have to confess that I’d never heard of the man before--but he is a prolific writer, lecturer and teacher. He graciously (and bravely) consented to let me publish his essay on my blog along with my comments. Below you will find his text in BLACK. My comments will be in BLUE. Agree or disagree, I think you’ll find this “interesting” reading.
-THIS IS YOUR NATION ON WHITE PRIVILIGE by Tim White
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For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
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White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
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People who know me often hear me say “that’s not nice even if it IS true” whenever someone makes a snaky comment. Personally, I think the pregnancy is nobody’s business but hers the baby’s father and both families--but that is the case in EVERY family. I think that it’s great that Bristol Palin has a supportive family around her--but I also think that holding this up as some sort of desirable situation is nothing short of ludicrous. Furthermore, when Sarah Palin makes public pronouncements about “abstainance only” being the only right course of action then her family situation SHOULD be questioned. Either her philosophy is wrong or she’s a bad parent.
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White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug. -
This makes me uncomfortable. Children are the product of their raising and we can only hope they grow out of their childishness. On one level I suppose you have to give him credit for doing the “right” thing (if that truly is) but, again, this is hardly admirable. The admirable thing would have been to wear a condom--or wait until he was married.
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White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action. -White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”
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Frankly, I don’t think ANYONE is ever truly “ready” to be President of the United States. It’s a big job that’s constantly throwing new challenges at the holder. All the experience in the world can never prepare a Candidate for what may pop up next. If I remember correctly “Dubya” was just Governor of Texas (for no more than two terms) before he took office (but, then again, look at where that got us so maybe I’ve defeated my own argument.)
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White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.-White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.
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Ayup. I DO wonder how comfortable your average white family would be if a black family down the street had an arsenal in their house. Just how uncomfortable WOULD they be?
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White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.
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We’ve all made youthful mistakes we’d rather not have brought up now that we are responsible adults. The Alaska secessionist thing was REALLY popular twenty years ago (might still be for all that) For all I know Todd (that’s his name isn’t it) Palin flirted with this and eventually smartened up: I won’t fault him for that, but now I’d like to know more…
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Some months ago I wrote a post about “Blue Fridays” where I said that “empty gestures” bothered me. When did wearing a flag pin on your collar or attending a memorial event (even for 9/11) become a reasonable benchmark of one’s patriotism? Why are we even worried about this when there are so many important ISSUES in play?
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White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.
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When did we as a nation start becoming preoccupied with “isms”? Racism, Sexism, Ageism--they all in play here. While these are serious issues we need to get past hurling jabs at the other side for whatever “ism” suits your political purpose and get to what matters! (That the issues if you missed my last comment.)
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White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.”
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Please God--I hope this isn’t true. I wish I could say I find it impossible to believe that someone would vote for a Candidate just because of their race or gender (or who endorsed them). Still, if that’s how you’re going to cast your vote I suppose you deserve what you helped elect. I’d just like to think that women and minorities are smarter than that.
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White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
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I’ve learned through long experience that ALL politicians are dirty. It’s not a matter of IF they’re going to get in bed with special interests but WHEN. (Failure to do so means they don’t get elected.) Guess it’s a case of being able to overlook the failures of your guy (or gal) and really, that’s just sad.
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White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.
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As a “good, church-going Christian” I find this especially sad and scary. History has repeated examples of what happens when “God” get mixed up with politics of any stripe: it ain’t pretty. Our forefathers were very careful to assure the separation of “church” and “state” Too bad the lessons of history seem to be forgotten on such a regular basis. Whenever I think of this topic I can’t help but remember the old Ray Stevens song Would Jesus Wear A Rolex On His Television Show? (I doubt he’d have either a Rolex OR a TV show!) I worry when any Minister tells me that God wants me to vote in a certain way. Christians on the Right really aren’t that different from Islamic Extremeists.
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White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
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Don’t get me started.
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White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a “light” burden.
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This is another one of those things that makes me uncomfortable. I’m a privileged, college-educated white male and I don’t have a lot of first-hand knowledge of the “Black Experience” but I would never presume to comment on anyone’s life journey. Barak Obama may have a Harvard Law education but that took hard work and shouldn’t be minimized. Maybe he had it easier than some other blacks but it was by no means a free ride.
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And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…
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For me, this is pretty much the bottom line. I’m not a registered Democrat and I’m not all that bright. Still, I can see we’ve been steered off into a ditch as a Nation. (Six out of the past eight years the Executive AND Legislative Branches have been in Republican hands, I’m not sure we can take four more years of the same old, same old.
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White privilege is, in short, the problem.
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With all due respect to Tim White I’m not sure white privilege IS the problem. I think it’s more a question of American Stupidity (or at least Laziness.) We seem to want quick, easy answers provided by camera-ready people who have been coached to within an inch of their lives. We want a good story and don’t want to be confused with messy things like facts. We get all the info we need to make up our minds in 15 second “sound bites” and don’t bother to look any deeper for the truth--even when its right out there staring us in the face or common sense tells us otherwise. Remember--there’s always another side to the story.
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Think about it.
Today’s post begins with a fractal called Cinco De Mayo. It was the only thing I could find that had a remotely “Mexican” theme (since I needed because I’ll be reviewing Beverly Hills Chihuahua.) Ah well--on with the review!
