Privileged

In Peggy McIntosh's "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" she gives an extensive outline of the ways white privilege acts in her daily life. She notes that the effects of these privileges include: feeling “at home in the world” thanks to the overwhelming representation of her race and culture in the media and in academia (FF 15). She also notes that her privileges allow her to “escape fear, anxiety, insult, injury, or a sense of not being welcome, not being real” (FF 15). She also comes to the realization that these privileges allowed her to “freely disparage, fear, neglect, or be oblivious to anything outside the dominant cultural forms” (FF 15).

I find that these effects of white privilege (including all the others she listed) are consistent with my experiences as a white person. I consistently find that my race is represented positively in such a way that affirms my identity and culture and my “proper” place in society as an educated, middle-class, politically active, (etc.) individual. I do feel at ease in my home, work, and school environments as well as out and about utilizing the social facilities in my area, such as the grocery store, bank, and various cafes and restaurants I frequent. I rarely feel that my actions or words are going to reflect upon my race as a whole, either positively or negatively. However, as much as I am privileged to be white in a culture of white hegemony, I also am privileged to live, work, and socialize in spheres where race does not factor highly in social relations between myself and others.

I live in a diverse neighborhood comprised of equal numbers of black and white families, with a few Korean families interspersed. Certainly, we are all of the same socio-economic class (middle-class) but our differing races have not prevented us from living happily, peacefully, and quietly side by side. I don’t live in an “old school” neighborhood where we know all our neighbor’s names and sit on their porches with them in the evenings, but we all smile and wave to one another and assist our elderly neighbors with their yard work. Our friendliness is colorblind. I don’t think that the minority groups (whose represented members are not in the minority in my neighborhood) who live near me feel that they are unwelcome or put under any kind of special scrutiny or suspicion. They very well may, I’ve never asked them, but my family and I have never given them cause to.

I also labor in a diverse workplace. My boss, and owner of the store, is Malaysian.  His wife, and co-owner is white (but a woman and in a very high position). My shift managers (and seconds in command) are African American, Latina, and Caucasian. I work side by side with sandwich makers and order takers (the bottom line of the hierarchy) who are African American, Latino, Latina, Caucasian, and of Asian descent. There is no preferential treatment. There are no discriminatory hiring practices. There are even equal numbers of men and women in all job positions. There are times, when I notice cultural differences when socializing with my co-workers but these points of divergence have always been a way that we come to learn about each other’s personal lives and a forum for open discourse about our racial experiences. None of us are so ignorant to claim that racism is not real or prevalent, but we do not perpetuate it within our daily lives and interactions with one another. I am white, and I am privileged, but I live and work in environments that do not categorize, stereotype, advance, or oppress in racial or ethnic bounds.

Certainly, I cannot speak for the customers who enter into our sphere of cultural and racial security. I have seen a woman be surprised to find that the head manager was African American when I directed her to speak to Cortney when she requested to speak to the head manager. I have had customers look down on Trisha for being a proud Latina (but she, with our backing, fought back, because the customer is sometimes very, very wrong).  

My educational environment has been extremely homogenously white (with the occasional, rare, exception). This most certainly has affected the way that I learn, have come to view the world, and my subconscious understanding of race and my place within a global environment where my race and culture is, in fact, the minority. However, I like to believe that I have transcended this institutional racism and that I do not allow it to greatly influence my daily life, and particularly not my interactions with those of differing social backgrounds.

I am white. I am as racist as any other human being. I think to a great extent we all, subconsciously. These things are ingrained in us on an institutional level and that is hard to ignore or remove oneself from. However, I work hard every day to ensure my personal, work, and educational experiences take place in environments and with people who do not privilege one another based on ridiculous, superficial criteria, but rather on individual merit, centered around the idea that all humans are equal, regardless of skin color. I understand that I am privileged, because I am white. The institutions of this culture favor me for unearned and ridiculous reasons. However, I choose to actively engage and support those institutions which do their utmost to transcend those ideas. I couldn’t conscientiously do otherwise.