About a month ago, I was having
a conversation with a good friend of mine about his day, etc. In general, he
likes to make up nicknames for all of his friends. Sometimes the connection can
easily be made and other times I have to ask how the nickname was born? As I
was listening to one of his stories, I remember him mentioning someone new that
I had never heard of before. His name was White Boy. I knew right away that the
chance that this individual was white was probably less than 5%. So, I felt
compelled to ask him where this term of endearment had come from. Why would
anyone want to be called White Boy – it would be too vague for an actual white
and nonsensical for any other race.
Apparently, however, this name was not one that my friend had created.
Rather, this individual had been dubbed his nickname by his own family, and it
had stuck. I do not know if anyone else can guess why, but I was certainly
stumped… White Boy’s name, I learned, was given to him because he was the
youngest child in a family of ten. His sibling claimed that as the youngest, he
was spoiled by his parents and other family members. His name, in other words,
is a testament to the existence of white privilege and a (sub)conscious reminder
of the structural realities of our society to others who interact with him on a
daily basis. It was not until after class on Tuesday that I realized the power
of this man’s name. The structure of racism that frames our social experiences
gives his name meaning, without the existence of this type of system his name
would never been what it is.
In our discussion about White
Privilege in class on Tuesday, we focused our attention on the concept of white
privilege as a system of structural inequalities that constantly works to
reproduce and reinforce itself through the allocation of unearned rewards. The
power of privilege for whites is that we do not even have to think about
ourselves as raced individuals! It is much harder therefore to admit and give
up privileges than it is to advocate for equality and call for justice. The
mere ability to be shocked at injustice is a privilege in and of itself. The
list of examples given by McIntosh just grazes the surface of the multiplicity
of privileges that exist for whites within our own society. The first time that I read this essay by
McIntosh my freshman year in intro to sociology, I can remember the shock I
felt upon reading some of these truths. The one that stands out most sharply to
me, even to this day, is that something as common and simple to daily life as a
band aid continues to reflect structural inequality based on race. This old
Band-Aid box is particularly insightful. Beneath the picture of the happy white
nuclear family the box states that this box contains “The modern transparent
bandage that blends with your skin.” As this image illustrates however, the
transparent bandage that is meant to blend with your skin is still of a peach
like hue…
Today, the official Band-Aid website advertises the
following: “BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages have long been a
staple in a family’s first-aid kit as a source of healing, comfort and
protection. And as the brand has expanded over the years, so too has the
technology and innovation behind it. BAND-AID® Brand has moved from
being strictly a bandage to becoming a brand that offers a wide variety of
products to meet the diverse needs of today’s active families and their
lifestyles.” Diversity of skin tones of their products, however, is still
lacking. From simple household products to the names of individuals, white privilege
permeates all aspects of our society. Simply acknowledging the existence of our
privilege, however, is not the same as giving it up. Racial inequalities will
continue to exist both overtly and covertly as long as the system remains in
place. Knowing that the break-down of this structure is necessary for effective
change, what can we as individuals do to aid in that process?
To remove white privilege means breaking down our own systems of fear. For example, on the premise that all men are created equal, if two basketball players who also have the same stats, height, weight etc., and they differ only in race (white vs. black), whom would you pick to be on your team? This is a difficult situation because it forces us to realize that we are all actually equal. To avoid this difficult realization, we create a way to systematically and continuously side with one race for certain situations. The problem is that we have to choose, even if there is no difference, we have to choose, and there is usually a safer bet for every situation. So what does this have to do with removing systems of privilege? It starts with having a safer bet in an instance where choosing at random could also suffice. We have to first understand why we have the concept of a safer bet. If we can understand how our history has led us to fear one decision over the other, then we can understand why structures of privilege emerge. Then after we come to understand our fears, we must become more random with our thoughts and our decisions. We must embrace our fear and realize that there is something greater at risk: our humanity.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI was having a conversation with a few of my friends the other day about Louis CK, Sarah Silverman, and 30 Rock. Sarah Silverman isn't my favorite, but the other two are almost always in the "recently watched" section of my Netflix account. We were talking about how all of them try to make fun of racism (and succeed) but how it's also really dangerous. I once heard Sarah Silverman give an interview where she said that she had stopped telling certain jokes because they were meant to make fun of racism but everybody laughed at the racist part of the joke. Anyway, all that is to say, I think that we're in a really weird place in terms of the methods we can use as individuals to break it down. Comedy can be misinterpreted and in my experience, people tend to disengage in direct conflict, so it's hard to have a real conversation about privilege or racism that doesn't leave everyone feeling defensive. Sorry to be such a downer in my comment. I think you raise a really interesting and complicated question, and I have no idea how to answer.
ReplyDelete