"White Privilege" - An excuse or a real problem?

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White Privilege vs. The Race-Card - True or False?


I realize I will get a lot of flack for posting this, but I'm going to do it anyway because I feel this is an issue that needs to be addressed. I am NOT trying to make ANYONE feel bad about themselves. I am NOT trying to put any hate on a race. This is not a hate post. If it seems that way then you are misunderstanding what is being said. I am simply stating my observations and how I feel on the issue. I don't hate white people, but I do dislike ignorant people. This article was only made to help people better understand what African-American's go through in life and why it may seem that we are always playing the "race-card".


*This is not an article to bash the question asker.*


The Name-Game: Who's fault is it?


I recently answered a question on GAG where a white anonymous poster asked "Why do some people play the race card every chance they get?" She then went into detail about how she shouldn't be labeled as a racist just because of the color of her skin [white]. In her responses to opinions (that suggested a perspective that seemed to paint white people in a negative light) posted on her question, she talked about how her life was not one of privilege, that she did not have it easy so it was not fair or right to say she had a "White Privilege". She proceeded to say that she was never given anything in her life just because she was white. ***In her original post she also mentioned that her girlfriends never complained. I will assume that because she added this piece of information, her girlfriends are African-American or people of color.***


*** These girlfriends of hers most likely "never complained" because of the hate they'd most likely get. I put "never complained" in quotations because they may have never complained in front of her, but they may have done it in the privacy of their own homes or with each other. This is not a topic to discuss lightly and it's one that very few people understand or grasp. It can lead to many arguements and most people tend to avoid it.***



BUT, I will never understand what races of color go through.


My response to the asker's question...


Because you are white you will never understand. There is such a thing as white privilege. It doesn't mean that you, as a white person, will have a fairytale lifestyle. It just means that you will have advantages that races of color won't. I'm not saying or trying to make you feel bad about who you are, but don't be ignorant to the truth.


*Her responses to mine are listed below as the headings.*



"So why don't other races speak out against it?"


I'm sure they do, just maybe it's not as publicized or they aren't as criticized as African-American people are because this is an age old war of Whites vs. Blacks. It shouldn’t be a war, but unfortunately these are the main two races that are always belittling each other.


"I've never heard any other race besides the Muslims and African-Americans complain about being treated differently."


1) Being Muslim is not a race, it's a religion, so it does not apply to this question or topic at all. 2) African-Americans are racially profiled far too often. Does that qualify as being treated differently? If so...


The Trayvon Martin vs. George Zimmerman Case of 2012


The Eric Garner vs. Daniel Pantaleo Case of 2014


My own family has had their experiences with racial profiling.



  1. My father was pulled over by a white policeman and told to get out of the car. He had been accused of stealing it. His hands were cuffed behind his back and his body pressed up against his car door. The officer would not even allow him to reach for registration so that he may verify his ownership of his car. Even if my father hadn't reached for the information himself, the officer could have asked him where it was and found it himself. Instead he went through the trouble of verifying it through the station. Sadly, this was not the only experience my father was to encounter. ****************************************************************************************************************

  2. I had been out with my family one day and we were walking through a nearby town close to ours. My mother, sister, and I had spotted a small shop that we wanted to go in. My father chose to stay outside because he knew if he'd gone in we'd ask him to spend money. :) After looking around in the shop, we thought he might enjoy some of the things inside so we called him in. Prior to my father's arrival in the shop, we had greeted the white store-owner and he seemed nice enough. It wasn't until my father showed up that we realized we were being followed by the store-owner. The reason for this sudden realization was because he had not been following us until AFTER my father walked in.



My father is not a thug nor does he deserve to be treated as one. In both cases, he acted maturely. With the officer, he did not talk back to him and cooperated despite being treated unfairly. In the shop-owner case, my father even bought a small trinket from the shop. He had nothing to prove to the man, but chose to show him that he had not intended to steal anything.


Another case of racial profiling is of Oscar Grant in 2009. A film was made of his story, portraying the last day of his life, the events leading up to his death and the aftermath that followed. After having watched the film, by the end, I was bawling my eyes out. Here is a link to show the facts from fiction within the film:


https://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/07/12/fruitvale_station_true_story_fact_and_fiction_in_movie_about_bart_train.html



"Don’t run, especially from police; don’t carry anything in your hands; don’t talk back to authority figures." - A warning to young African-American men from concerned African-American mothers



If you have not listened to or read Obama's speech on Trayvon already, here is the link:


https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/19/remarks-president-trayvon-martin





"Understand our history. Understand that we are still living it. Grasp our pain that racial profiling happens, and it can end in death—death of our children." - President Barack Obama



"When there is a black president in the white house, I think people need to stop acting as if they are treated differently because of their skin color."


Most people that voted Obama into office were people of color, not white people. I agree that many African-American people most likely chose him because of his skin color, but it still applies that he didn’t have much support from the white population.


Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/28/in-first-black-voter-turnout-rate-passes-whites/


#What'sTrendingThisWeek?



  • Have you ever noticed in the media the different kinds of trends that come out because a white celebrity "started" it?

  • Did you ever notice how a lot of those trends originated with African-Americans/Africans?




Click on these links for a examples of these trends:


https://madamenoire.com/416906/trends-white-people-think-they-started/10/


https://www.gurl.com/2014/10/23/why-is-black-style-only-chic-on-non-black-people/


Why are African-American's the ONLY race to have their own history month?


The asker, in someone else’s opinion of her question, probed the commenter on why we [African-Americans] are the only race to have our own history month. The opinion commenter did a nice job answering, but here is what I have to say. When you look at history textbooks in high school, what do you see? You know what I see? I see white people, ruling the world. Then there is this tiny sliver of knowledge about African-American's. They barely go into depth about what achievements African-American's have made. Sure, they talk about the Civil Rights Movement with Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, W.B. Dubois, Malcom X, and so on, but what about other African-American's who are never mentioned in history textbooks, who are never given recognition for things they have to done to better society? What about them? I found a blog that talked on this and one of the blog commenters said this:


******


When they [white people] ask you why there's no "White History Month" I immediately (and calmly) ask "name 3 famous inventors".


People struggle to do that, but typically, they're [inventors listed] all white.


If I'm feeling generous, I go ahead and give them 3 famous black inventors (if not, I ask them to try again and give me 2 black inventors) and say, "and this is why we need Black History Month, because apparently we've done a stand up job of teaching White History while neglecting black people. "


That's a good way to get into it, but follow-up is always necessary because a prepared person will try to suggest that we don't need a month, we just need to alter school curriculum as if that's easy.


******



Do you recognize this face? Take a guess.



Link to Blog: https://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2010/02/wonder-why-theres-no-white-history.html


White Entertainment Television, a.k.a ---> WET


Another example is BET - Black Entertainment Television. I’ve heard a lot of people including my own friends sometimes talk about it, but they usually have little to say on the subject, but when they do, it's a long rant on the unfairness of us [African-Americans] having our own network. They ask me, “Well, why is there a BET network?” I will tell you that this kind of ignorance bothers the hell out of me. When you look at television today, yes, there are plenty of shows with an abundance of African-American people casted in them and sometimes has an African-American as the leading actor/actress.


Most of my favorite shows, though, have white people as the leading roles on television. It had always been that way since I was a child. If I do see an African-American person cast in a show, they are usually stereotyped as the black best friend. For African-American girls, it’s usually the sassy, attitudinal bff, or she’s stereotyped as loud and tacky. As for African-American guys, they are usually the swagalicious man-hoe who could care less about women or the advice giver.



  • How would you feel if you were watching television that had only African-American humor in it, all day, every day?



Do you know how frustrating it is as a woman of color to rarely be able to identify with my race on television because they either are the main character or if they are then they are a stereotype that I do not identify with?


The only time I am able to see a classy show with African-American's as the leading actors/actresses is when I go onto BET or TVOne. Almost every network is W.E.T., so why can't African-American's have one that's allows them to bask in the sunlight for once?


For a list of stereotypes of African-American's on television, click the link: https://racerelations.about.com/od/hollywood/a/Five-Common-Black-Stereotypes-In-Tv-And-Film.html


Another article to consider talks of the evolution of African-American's in television and how they are portrayed. Here is the link: https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/portrayal.htm


White Privilege is just another excuse.


Maybe it is an excuse, but does that make it any less of a valid one? White people's benefit is that they are raised in a society that by law and custom favors them. This does not make it their fault to be born white and White Privilege is not a way to put blame on a race. It also does not mean that they have special powers or that they get handed everything in life. It's just the way things are and the way things have been for centuries.


In Conclusion...


If you have chosen to stick with me through this whole article, then I want to finish saying this. I do not let my color define my limitations in life. Yes, I do believe there is a White Privilege, but I am not bitter nor am I ever going to let not being white get in the way of my ambitions. Though it may come across as me attacking a certain race and trying to make them feel bad about who they are, that is NOT AT ALL what I am really trying to do. I am honestly only trying to educate people by allowing them to look into the mind of an African-American woman such as myself. I would also advise that your read or at least skim the articles I provided. They will give further understanding and clarity on the matter.





"White Privilege" - An excuse or a real problem?
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