heiress2thethrone
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- September 17, 2008 • 9:05 pm PDT
- + responses
White Privilege, White Entitlement and the 2008 Election
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Sat, 09/13/2008 - 3:44pm. Guest Contribution
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Tim Wise
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.
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.
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.
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."
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. 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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
Tim
Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008),
and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft
Skull.
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Sat, 09/13/2008 - 3:44pm. Guest Contribution
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Tim Wise
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.
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.
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.
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."
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. 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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
Tim
Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008),
and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft
Skull.
