To ask you about 'White privilege'

[InTheBox]

I'm wondering if any of you know about this or have ever experienced it?

I've been reading a lot about this over the past weeks and I'm still working it out. I've only seen in the US, well actually on Twitter, the 'criming while white' hashtag which whilst humorous really spoke some home truths. I'm familiar with mixed race individuals being fetishised (I have one myself) but not necessarily earning privilege because of it iyswim. I'm not starting the thread to be goady but I'd be interested in your thoughts.

But why should it result it 'white guilt'? No one is asking for that OfaFrenchmind And certainly that would be more patronising than helpful in tackling inequalities.

Nobody should feel privileged to be able to do that. Everybody should be able to.

Yeah, and everybody should be able to live a life free from worry about their kids being racially bullied at school, but in the real world it's something people of colour do think about - because that's what happens. So yes, it is a form of privilege to be free from that kind of worry.

Also, checking your privilege is not the same thing as 'white guilt'. It's about being aware of the things you take for granted.

Mannequin my blonde 15 year old son is searched pretty much every time we fly. I assume it's to balance out all the BAME teens they search. Dd2 is usually stopped too. I realise that they are lucky they are not stopped & searched on the streets when they are just carrying out their normal day to day activities.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude I have read about that r.e white working class boys are most disadvantaged. It was on the Wright stuff this morning so it sort of prompted this thread. But some of the arguments that were made were a slightly left field.

Are generalisations on race a lack of privilege though? That's a genuine question.

Yes a lot of people have assumed I'll love rice and peas or have an unhealthy obsession with chicken, assume I'll age better, assume I smoke cannabis and a host of other stereotypes BUT that's not the 'privileged' part in my opinion- a company wasn't keen on hiring me many moons ago because he wasn't "keen on coloureds" BUT if a white person is in the Caribbean where they're the minority then I'm sure they'd get the same treatment.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude To add to that

So white privilege exists but does it exist equally for all white people?

Clearly that is not the case. But in certain circumstances it will ring true. I can say, in my life time, we will never truly achieve an equal society - if we will at all.

Do all BAME people suffer an equal lack of privilege?

No. And in fact in the BAME community there is huge obsession over skin tone so that would equally never be the case.

White privilege, I'm white and I've never been pulled over by the police. I've never been questioned where I've got my bike/car/trainers/phone from. My dds older brother who is black gets regularly questioned on all that.

White privilege, exams are still marked higher for white names then black boy names.

White privilege, I get taken seriously and treated respectfully by authority figures. They assume I know what they're talking about.

White privilege, my hair is seen as professional and I don't need to perm it straight for it to do so.

White privilege, if I had dreadlocks or wore punky clothes I would still be seen as normal, if I was black I would be seen as ghetto.

Oh and I know exactly where you are coming from with the fetishism over mixed race dc.

I've said it before on here but please get the fuck off my dcs hair. Stop commenting on their skin tone and stop being surprised how clever they are.

I think privilege is generally you don't feel if you have it so it's harder to see.

How CAN it be a 'privilege' to NOT have unfair or bad things happen to you, though?

I think the point about poor white boys underachieving is an important one. I do believe in white privilege but I think race is becoming less of a factor in your life chances with wealth and all the many privileges that brings becoming more of a factor. I'm talking about the UK, America seems so be obsessed with race.

White boys may be under achieving but if a white boy and a black boy sat the same exam and gave the same answers the white boys mark would be higher. That's white privilege.

I very highly doubt that. Wouldn't black boys be underachieving as much as white if that was the case? I guess the examiner could guess somebody's race by their name and apply privilege on that basis?

How CAN it be a 'privilege' to NOT have unfair or bad things happen to you, though?

The privilege comes in never having to think about it. If I say, "calling people names isn't really all that bad," I speak from a position of privilege because I've never had to think about the effect of some of the names that people are called. I should therefore check my privilege, which ought to happen when someone tells me what it's like to be called sexist or racist names. For example.

www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/primary-and-secondary-education-and-ethnic-penalty

The above one is recent, black boys are constantly put in the lower exams. My second link backs what I'm saying.

books.google.co.uk/books?id=h55-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=black+boys+lower+exam+results&source=bl&ots=5LAB_WHBsj&sig=n8T_vKpyDmP23_5pqNzJhgmd3Aw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAzgKahUKEwil7LK55erIAhXmnXIKHRrhAuc#v=onepage&q=black%20boys%20lower%20exam%20results&f=false

I'm also trying to find the guardian article where I read this last year. Why are you denying white privilege?

White privilege exists for sure. But it's very nuanced.

I'm not British, I'm Irish. Before my accent is obvious, people tend to think I am Swedish/ Finnish if dressed 'properly', or Lithuanian/ Polish/ Romanian if I've chucked on a scruffy coat to pop to the shop ( ). Loads of assumptions (presumably about my income and background, and therefore education I guess) get made on the basis of what clothes I wear.

Sorry - when I say it is nuanced I mean it's not as straightforward as there being one 'level' of white privilege. Didn't make that clear.

I'm off to find studies in question but take for example CVs - those with Western or indeed English sounding names will often be called for an interview more so than those with foreign sounding names, even if both candidates have the same qualifications.

And it doesn't even come down to black and white in these instances. This isn't an argument about right and wrong because once we breach that territory all constructive dialogue goes out the window.

Not me but DH has a lot. He is a former pro athlete. So in former years he would spend quite a bit of time wearing a tracksuit/hoodie/sports gear whilst driving around in either his or his team mates flash cars. About half of the team were black or mixed race. He was often followed by Police and sometimes pulled over by police whilst travelling with his black or mixed race friends. Never had a problem whilst driving by himself. That is white privilege.

They would joke that white man in hoodie and flash motor = athlete or successful city boy on the way to the gym. Black man in a hoodie and flash motor = drug dealer

Then when they find out I'm Irish they usually welcome me with open arms, cos everyone loves the Irish But it certainly wasn't always like that - remember "No blacks, no dogs, no Irish" wasn't very long ago at all.

Ok will stop clogging up the thread now...

I'm a white woman. It's not about 'white guilt' it's about recognising that 1 as white you have certain unfair advantages and 2 as white you are necessarily blind to some aspects of discrimination so it's best to shut up and listen to others sometimes rather than trusting in the fact that no one has ever said they are treating me better because I'm white or whatever

I've been an examiner and I can honestly say the candidate's name didn't enter into any part of my marking! For most papers I didn't even read the name (because I just opened them all to the first question before I started) and only looked at the name when entering the marks at the end. Your marking is also randomly scrutinised and checked by marking anonymous papers. So the exam thing is definitely not true, at least for externally marked exams in this country.