Have you ever worn a pair of glasses or sunglasses so long that you forgot that you were wearing them, that they were constantly coloring or distorting your view of the world? Maybe white privilege is like that. We don't see the distortion in the world because the distorted world is all we've ever seen. We don't feel the glasses on our faces because they've always been there. We're used to them, acclimated to them. We're so used to wearing our glasses (or having our privileges) that we don't even notice that the glasses are there.And here is what I didn't add:
Or maybe the reason we don't notice any glasses on our faces because there aren't any. Maybe people only think we're wearing glasses because the glasses they're wearing makes it look like we are.
The reality is that all people are wearing glasses that color and distort the way they view the world. We each have our own perspective that shapes our view of the world.
Imagine five people looking at a box. To Sarah, the box looks white. To Michael, the box looks black. Gary sees the box as being green. Tammy sees the box as being blue. And to Charlie, the box looks red.
What color is the box?
Is the box actually any one color, or does the color of the box depend on whom you ask? If all five people thought the box was the same color, say, green, except for Tammy, who still thinks the box looks blue, does that mean that the box actually is green and Tammy is wrong to think it's blue? If Tammy got a dozen of her friends together and they all said the box was blue, would the other four now suddenly be wrong to say the box is green?
I don't think that reality is colored (pun intended) by how the majority of people perceive it. If the box actually is painted one color, that color wouldn't change depending on people's perception, or misperception, of it.
Bringing this back around to white privilege, the fact that white privilege exists (or the fact that it doesn't, whichever is the case) does not change depending on whether or not people perceive it. If the box is green, then it is green even if Tammy thinks it's blue, and if the box is blue, then it is blue even if Gary thinks it's green.
The trouble is that it's hard to tell what color the box really is because each of us see the box through our own colored glasses, which none of us can remove, or even feel ourselves wearing. Our perspectives color our world, and there's not much we can do about that. We can alter our perspectives, but we can't completely remove them. There may be some way to measure the color of the box impartially, but how we view the measurements will still be colored by our glasses, so we still may not be able to clearly and correctly identify the actual color of the box.
So do I have white privilege, even though I don't really see it, or do I not have white privilege, even though others think I do? What color is the box? I don't know, and I'm not sure if anyone really does.
2 comments:
Please don't buy into the myth of "white privilege"; if anything it is American privilege. We live in a country where anyone who is willing to do the work can achieve the dream. Also, the covenant of this promised land is that whoever keeps the commandments is blessed, while those who do not aren't. Pretty simple.
I grew up in San Diego going to elementary school with children of all colors. I thought that was what the world looked like. Then I went to Junior High in a different part of town and found out that other people were raised to believe and act differently than me. Then on to high school in yet another part of town that was much more like the first.
Hatred, prejudice, privilege and hostility have to taught to children; also fear and disgust. Little children come into the world innocent and loving. Today blacks are being taught to hate whites and to hold onto "grudges." Who do you think is the author of all that? The same one who told Cain to kill his brother; the same one who taught Laman and Lemuel to hate their brother Nephi for "usurping" their birthright. The same one who has kept the descendants of Ishmael stirred up to hatred toward their half-brothers, the descendants of Issac.
All of the world's ills can be cured by living the principles taught by Jesus Christ and in His true church.
Sometimes I think that contrary to having "white privilege" you as a lower middle class white male are actually discriminated against. I will admit that sadly often black men especially are looked at more suspiciously than white men and that is certainly hard and unfair to good black men, I cannot really say whether such profiling is justified or not, but I think there is something to it. However, you are not from a family with enough money to buy privilege, but not quite poor enough to have special programs. Quotas aimed at helping minorities put you at a disadvantage. I could not give my children opportunities that richer families could buy and poorer families were gifted.
Despite that Rozy Lass is right. Righteous living and a good work ethic, especially if you add in a little creativity, will take pretty much anyone a long way - regardless of color or background.
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