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.
NOTE: When I posted this on MySpace, my friend sent me this message about the above statement:
“…I’m a member of the Alaskan Independent Party. They’re not about wanting to secede. They’re about wanting the OPTION to secede. Big difference.”
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.
(Again, this was written by Tim Wise)
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September 18, 2008 at 12:53 pm
For those in the mood to read a bit more, here’s something that Tim Wise wrote in response to the racist outcry he received for the above essay:
Explaining White Privilege
(Or, Your Defense Mechanism is Showing)
By Tim Wise
September 18, 2008
Sigh.
I guess I should have expected it, seeing as how it’s nothing new. I write a piece on racism and white privilege (namely, the recently viral, “This is Your Nation on White Privilege”), lots of folks read it, many of them like it, and others e-mail me in fits of apoplexy, or post scathing critiques on message boards in which they invite me to die, to perform various sexual acts upon myself that I feel confident are impossible, or, best of all, to “go live in the ghetto,” whereupon I will come to “truly appreciate the animals” for whom I have so much affection (the phrase they use for me and that affection, of course, sounds a bit different, and I’ll leave it to your imagination to conjure the quip yourself).
Though I have no desire to debate the points made in the original piece, I would like to address some of the more glaring, and yet reasonable, misunderstandings that many seem to have about the subject of white privilege. That many white folks don’t take well to the term is an understatement, and quite understandable. For those of us in the dominant group, the notion that we may receive certain advantages generally not received by others is a jarring, sometimes maddening concept. And if we don’t understand what the term means, and what those who use it mean as they deploy it, our misunderstandings can generate anger and heat, where really, none is called for. So let me take this opportunity to explain what I mean by white privilege.
Of course, the original piece only mentioned examples of white privilege that were directly implicated in the current presidential campaign. It made no claims beyond that. Yet many who wrote to me took issue with the notion that there was such a thing, arguing, for instance that there are lots of poor white people who have no privilege, and many folks of color who are wealthy, who do. But what this argument misses is that race and class privilege are not the same thing.
Though we are used to thinking of privilege as a mere monetary issue, it is more than that. Yes, there are rich black and brown folks, but even they are subject to racial profiling and stereotyping (especially because those who encounter them often don’t know they’re rich and so view them as decidedly not), as well as bias in mortgage lending, and unequal treatment in schools. So, for instance, even the children of well-off black families are more likely to be suspended or expelled from school than the children of poor whites, and this is true despite the fact that there is no statistically significant difference in the rates of serious school rule infractions between white kids or black kids that could justify the disparity (according to fourteen different studies examined by Russ Skiba at Indiana University).
As for poor whites, though they certainly are suffering economically, this doesn’t mean they lack racial privilege. I grew up in a very modest apartment, and economically was far from privileged. Yet I received better treatment in school (placement in advanced track classes even when I wasn’t a good student), better treatment by law enforcement officers, and indeed more job opportunities because of connections I was able to take advantage of, that were pretty much unavailable to the folks of color I knew growing up. Likewise, low income whites everywhere are able to clean up, go to a job interview and be seen as just another white person, whereas a person of color, even who isn’t low-income, has to wonder whether or not they might trip some negative stereotype about their group when they go for an interview or sit in the classroom answering questions from the teacher. Oh, and not to put too fine a point on it, but even low-income whites are more likely to own their own home than middle income black families, thanks to past advantages in housing and asset accumulation, which has allowed those whites to receive a small piece of property from their families.
The point is, privilege is as much a psychological matter as a material one. Whites have the luxury of not having to worry that our race is going to mark us negatively when looking for work, going to school, shopping, looking for a place to live, or driving for that matter: things that folks of color can’t take for granted.
Let me share an analogy to make the point.
Taking things out of the racial context for a minute: imagine persons who are able bodied, as opposed to those with disabilities. If I were to say that able-bodied persons have certain advantages, certain privileges if you will, which disabled persons do not, who would argue the point? I imagine that no one would. It’s too obvious, right? To be disabled is to face numerous obstacles. And although many persons with disabilities overcome those obstacles, this fact doesn’t take away from the fact that they exist. Likewise, that persons with disabilities can and do overcome obstacles every day, doesn’t deny that those of us who are able-bodied have an edge. We have one less thing to think and worry about as we enter a building, go to a workplace, or just try and navigate the contours of daily life. The fact that there are lots of able-bodied people who are poor, and some disabled folks who are rich, doesn’t alter the general rule: on balance, it pays to be able-bodied.
That’s all I’m saying about white privilege: on balance, it pays to be a member of the dominant racial group. It doesn’t mean that a white person will get everything they want in life, or win every competition, but it does mean that there are general advantages that we receive.
So, for instance, studies have found that job applicants with white sounding names are 50% more likely to receive a call-back for a job interview than applicants with black-sounding names, even when all job-related qualifications and credentials are the same.
Other studies have found that white men with a criminal record are more likely to get a call-back for an interview than black male job applicants who don’t have one, even when all requisite qualifications, demeanor and communication styles are the same.
Others have found that white women are far more likely than black women to be hired for work through temporary agencies, even when the black women have more experience and are more qualified.
Evidence from housing markets has found that there are about two million cases of race-based discrimination against people of color every year in the United States. That’s not just bad for folks of color; the flipside is that there are, as a result, millions more places I can live as a white person.
Or consider criminal justice. Although data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration indicates that whites are equally or more likely than blacks or Latinos to use drugs, it is people of color (blacks and Latinos mostly) who comprise about 90 percent of the persons incarcerated for a drug possession offense. Despite the fact that white men are more likely to be caught with drugs in our car (on those occasions when we are searched), black men remain about four times more likely than white men to be searched in the first place, according to Justice Department findings. That’s privilege for the dominant group.
That’s the point: privilege is the flipside of discrimination. If people of color face discrimination, in housing, employment and elsewhere, then the rest of us are receiving a de facto subsidy, a privilege, an advantage in those realms of daily life. There can be no down without an up, in other words.
None of this means that white folks don’t face challenges. Of course we do, and some of them (based on class, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, or other factors) are systemic and institutionalized. But on balance, we can take for granted that we will receive a leg-up on those persons of color with whom we share a nation.
And no, affirmative action doesn’t change any of this.
Despite white fears to the contrary, even with affirmative action in place (which, contrary to popular belief does not allow quotas or formal set-asides except in those rare cases where blatant discrimination has been proven) whites hold about ninety percent of all the management level jobs in this country, receive about ninety-four percent of government contract dollars, and hold ninety percent of tenured faculty positions on college campuses. And in spite of affirmative action programs, whites are more likely than members of any other racial group to be admitted to their college of first choice.* And according to a study released last year, for every student of color who received even the slightest consideration from an affirmative action program in college, there are two whites who failed to meet normal qualification requirements at the same school, but who got in anyway because of parental influence, alumni status or because other favors were done.
Furthermore, although white students often think that so-called minority scholarships are a substantial drain on financial aid resources that would otherwise be available to them, nothing could be further from the truth. According to a national study by the General Accounting Office, less than four percent of scholarship money in the U.S. is represented by awards that consider race as a factor at all, while only 0.25 percent (that’s one quarter of one percent for the math challenged) of all undergrad scholarship dollars come from awards that are restricted to persons of color alone. What’s more, the idea that large numbers of students of color receive the benefits of race-based scholarships is lunacy of the highest order. In truth, only 3.5 percent of college students of color receive any scholarship even partly based on race, suggesting that such programs remain a pathetically small piece of the financial aid picture in this country, irrespective of what a gaggle of reactionary white folks might believe.**
In other words, despite the notion that somehow we have attained an equal opportunity, or color-blind society, the fact is, we are far from an equitable nation. People of color continue to face obstacles based solely on color, and whites continue to reap benefits from the same. None of this makes whites bad people, and none of it means we should feel guilty or beat ourselves up. But it does mean we need to figure out how we’re going to be accountable for our unearned advantages. One way is by fighting for a society in which those privileges will no longer exist, and in which we will be able to stand on our own two feet, without the artificial crutch of racial advantage to prop us up. We need to commit to fighting for racial equity and challenging injustice at every turn, not only because it harms others, but because it diminishes us as well (even as it pays dividends), and because it squanders the promise of fairness and equity to which we claim to adhere as Americans.
It’s about responsibility, not guilt. And if one can’t see the difference between those two things, there is little that this or any other article can probably do. Perhaps starting with a dictionary would be better.
*U.S Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, Good for Business: Making Full Use of the Nation’s Human Capital. (Washington DC: Bureau of National Affairs, March 1995); Fred L. Pincus, Reverse Discrimination: Dismantling the Myth. (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003), 18; Roberta J. Hill, “Far More Than Frybread,” in Race in the College Classroom: Pedagogy and Politics, ed. Bonnie TuSmith and Maureen T. Reddy. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press), 169; Sylvia Hurtado and Christine Navia, “Reconciling College Access and the Affirmative Action Debate,” in Affirmative Action’s Testament of Hope, ed. Mildred Garcia (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1997), 115.
**U.S. General Accounting Office, 1994. “Information on Minority Targeted Scholarships,” B251634. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, January; Stephen L. Carter, “Color-Blind and Color-Active,” 1992. The Recorder. January 3.
I do know about white privilege, and being married to a big black man that people have stupidly crossed the street to avoid at times has let me see it up close from a different perspective than just being a white person. But I call bullshit on some of this. I think Tim Wise is a smart guy and I even agree with a lot of what he says most of the time, but I don’t think that election year rhetoric and posturing are the same thing as white privilege. Some of the things he mentioned are white privilege; some of them are not in my opinion. His last paragraph in particular is just insulting; may as well say “Vote for the black dude or else you’re a clueless white person.”. Come ON.
I hate it when a white guy thinks that he’s the only white person who “gets” white privilege.
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September 19, 2008 at 10:48 am
I agree with you. I agree with him on 1,2,3,5,6, and 11. Completely.
9 – I read into it, like I have been since long before Palin was even introduced, and much more so since Hilary supporters started to go for her. Call it the cynicism in me, but I really think for at least some of these women, it’s better to vote for the other guy than the black man. That’s really not that far fetched, in my opinion, since when you sit down and look at Hilary and Obama on the issues – the differences between them are extremely slight.
The last paragraph, I see what you’re saying. But I also see it what he’s saying (essentially) with his sarcasm referring to people *still* claiming not to understand what Obama means when he says ‘change’ even though he’s laid out his plans even more clearly than McCain at this point. I think he’s saying what I am about white women voters – to some of them, it’s the fact that he’s black.
I am extremely proud of this country right now, because that same cynicism in me had me convinced that there was no way Obama would make as far as he had. It fills me with butterflies to see it happening, in my lifetime, in my daughter’s lifetime, in my great grandmother’s lifetime. I hope he makes it all the way. But it isn’t because he’s black.
Yet, I can say, unlike I think Tim Wise could, if I’m being honest – that if McCain gets the presidency, I won’t think it’s due to the overall racist mentality of our country. I think Mr. Wise, and a lot of other people, are going to cry bigotry.
Wow, this pretty much sums up my feelings on this election, but I had no idea until now that it was all about white privilege. It’s fucking ridiculous the shit that party gets away with and then tries to turn the fucking tables on us. The hypocritical, bigoted bastards.
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Thanks for posting this. I’ve been trying to read it all day, but never got around to it. It’s perfect.
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While I’m on board with much of what Wise says, I think there are more American psychological barriers than just race at play here. The biggest gap I think he’s missing is the massive inferiority complex that uneducated/undereducated Americans feel when confronted by anyone who uses words that contain more than two syllables. Polls show that people want “a president like me”, and I say that’s because they’d rather hear stories about Bush choking on a pretzel while watching football (“Remember that time when Mike choked on his own vomit during Superbowl 19?! Haha!”) than listen to a man talk about how his parents told him he could do anything and then set out to help him prove it. I think it’s not just Obama’s race that is the issue, but his success. He makes people feel badly about themselves, and it wouldn’t matter if he was white or black — they don’t like that Harvard JD of his. That’s why he plays well to the educated upper class — they know they want someone smarter than them in the office. Not someone just as stupid.
Bigotry is definitely the problem. But I’d define bigotry much more broadly than simply race or class.
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September 19, 2008 at 10:54 am
Wow. I had never thought about that in the grander scale. I have said to people I know that black people can’t be satisfied – because Obama is 1/2 white, went to Harvard, carries himself well and is (good lord, I’m about to say it) articulate, that he’s not really ‘one of us’. Holy hell if if he was married to a white women…
But, to think that he gives the entire population at large [being as most didn't go to an Ivy League school] an inferiority complex is an entirely different thing. I never thought about it, but it makes perfect sense.
This makes me think of an interview I heard with a director who’d made a film addressing class distinction. The interviewer asked him if he truly thought there were still divisions of class. The director replied that it depends on who you ask… if you ask someone rich they will say absolutely not, if you ask a homeless person, they will say undeniably.
i loved that essay. it saddens me completely that there he received an outcry from it.
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Well I thought that was brilliant. Any kind of ‘privilege’ that is not earned is a scary scary thing. I agree with a lot of what Tim says.
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I definitely agree that white privilege exists, I only wish different examples had been used. For I believe much of the “Problem with Palin” is a Republican issue, not only a white issue. I think that could dissuade some readers from seeing the valid point that is being made. For example, your first example of teenage pregnancy in minorities seen as “irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay”. Is that not what was said regarding Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy?
Again, I believe white privilege dominates in our culture, but in regards to Sarah Palin and her family much of that ridiculousness has as much to do with celebrity and political privilege as it does white privilege. And for that reason the essay didn’t have the impact upon me I think it could have.
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September 19, 2008 at 11:02 am
Jamie Lynn Spears is one example of a young white girl being scorned, ok. But it wasn’t chalked up to a sign that her entire race is parasitic, irresponsible, and negatively consistent. That’s the biggest difference here.
As many young white girls can get pregnant as black girls – but the former will not be automatically assumed to be going on welfare and ‘wasting your tax dollars’, or to be ‘continuing a cycle’.
Everyone knew Jamie Lynn would be taking care of her own child. Everyone assumed the same about Bristol Palin [although if I'm not mistaken, don't tax dollars help provide the salary and health insurance for government employees and their families?]. But let LaQuisha Jones get pregnant at 16. She’s going to WIC and social services tomorrow.
That totally rocks,
Thanks for sharing.
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I agree with Honeybell.
This comment: “It’s fucking ridiculous the shit that party gets away with and then tries to turn the fucking tables on us. The hypocritical, bigoted bastards.” is distressing because it’s so “rah-rah” with no critical thought put into the response whatsoever. Which is what happens a lot in comments, just as in the wider world where people are just too happy to be LED. I think that a whole lot of people vote this way…no critical thought, they just have a party they “hate” and don’t look at anything substantive when making decisions.
There is no real difference between Republicans and Democrats. Both parties are full of shit. Both parties will say anything to get your vote. The Democrats benefit from white privilege, too. And Republicans didn’t invent it.
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Someone sent this to me this morning, I just finished reading it before I logged on to your blog – crazy.
Yeah, this is stunning. I especially loved the part about the guns.
Awesome essay.
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how about this
flesh colored band-aids
whose flesh not mine another exampkle
have a great weekend jones
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Excellent food for thought – thanks for posting this Maria.
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Is Bristol Palin going to marry the father? yes.
Is she going to go on welfare to support her family? no.
It’s not called privilege. It’s called responsibility.
September 19, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Wonderful job of proving his point.
:aie:
So very true. I also like the second essay that you posted, probably moreso than the first. No matter how many people say it and how many ways they try to say it, some people just don’t “get” it. And it drives me crazy, but I’ve realized that I just can’t reach those people, I just can’t.
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I agree with a lot of the essay, but #9 gave me pause. I admit, I don’t understand the logic of voting for McCain in order to express your anger about Hillary’s loss, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt as to their motivation.
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While I don’t like everything Mr. Wise said, I am in no denial about white privilege in this country. It sickens me.
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Oh wait! Also, Whitey, who posted up there? Dumb as shit. :D
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“Everyone knew Jamie Lynn would be taking care of her own child. Everyone assumed the same about Bristol Palin [although if I’m not mistaken, don’t tax dollars help provide the salary and health insurance for government employees and their families?]. But let LaQuisha Jones get pregnant at 16. She’s going to WIC and social services tomorrow.”
A-fuckin-men Maria. I just love the outrage when people defend Bristol Palin. She fucked up. Those of us calling her out are those of us who have felt stereotyped by having kids as teens. It’s not fucking rainbows. But for Bristol, we should embrace her choice because she is being responsible? I call bullshit. I married my baby daddy at 18 and look how far it got me.
As far as Obama’s education being intimidating? Sorry, I call bullshit there too. I didnt even know he went to Harvard until about 2 weeks ago and it just made me admire him more. I’m sorry if I want an educated man running my country. I think it’s really selling people short to see it that way.
Then again, this entire election has been based on who called who a pig right? We are far past this election being about the future of our country. Or at least thats how it seems some days.
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I’m at work and it’s taken me a few hours to read both essays, your comments and the majority of comments left on his blog. I feel quite drained now.
All I have to say is A-Fucking- Men and thanks for sharing this.
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I mostly hate commenting on certain issues…one being race- based stuff. Racism in general horrifies me, but it also saddens me when white people are so often generalized. (I’m talking in general.) And, I disagree with some of his examples…but that’s me. I live out in the country, and I DO know a good amount of folks that are racist (to a point – only meaning not extremists. More passive type of stuff). I also know even more people who are not. Maybe it’s just me, maybe it’s the way I see the world. Maybe it’s because I’m white and I’ve never seen anyone cross a street to avoid me. Personally, I don’t care if you are white, black, or purple. I don’t care if you shoot things, as long as you are responsible and as long as you aren’t shooting humans and being a jackass. I know a few thugs, but it wasn’t for them shooting deer. They shot at people, and whipped knives out instead of words during a disagreement – and it never had a thing to do with the color of their skin.
I wish we could take the color out of it, out of all of it.
I’m not saying it doesn’t exist…I just sometimes wish the white racist (or any color) jackasses could be grouped into their own little group.
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Ashley, I don’t know you, but I must say that I am confused by your comments. you said that you recognize that discrimination continues to exist. Do you disagree then, that white people (as a group) benefit from the discrimination against minorities?
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Thanks for posting this excellent article!
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Hi M!
Life has been a little nuts over here. The worst thing? I had TM on the back of my bike today and we fell. On the ground. Because my tire got stuck in between sidewalk sections. She has a huge bump on her head and it makes me feel like a shitty mom.
ANYWAY, she OK. And I PLEASE need you to go PLEASE read Maragaret Cho’s blog entry on Sarah Palin. You’ve probably already read it. Or posted about it? It is BEYOND. That’s all I can say without giving it away. BEYOND. Here’s the link to make your life easy.
http://www.margaretcho.com/blog/2008/09/18/i-want-to-steam-up-those-glasses.html
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I’ve read the article, twice, and all of the comments over there and over here, and while I do think that Tim Wise brought up some very excellent points and that there is truth in much that he says, I think Obama did a far better job – meaning more fair, more diplomatic and far less divisive job when the division *is* the damn problem – in his speech on March 18, 2008 (it’s on YouTube and transcript widely available if anyone missed it and is curious).
The difference is that Obama recognized that the issue of race in America is far more complex than this post by Tim Wise would make it seem, as it involves sensitive (and valid) experiences/opinions/feelings on all sides and will require cooperation to solve the problem. Maybe I’m just too solution oriented, but I didn’t see Tim Wise making any of the problems better and possibly even making it worse by letting some of the truths get overshadowed by the frothy, sensationalistic and partisan appearing delivery. I say all of this while even being mostly on Tim Wise’s side with most points made (and even politically).
Thank you, Maria, for another thought provoking article. I hadn’t read it until you shared it, and I’m glad I did so that I know what’s going on when people talk about it.
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