Anyone who is white has white privilege. They can be poor and disadvantaged in other ways. It’s not a criticism of people who are white. I am a woc and I benefit from privilege too after all, for example I am Sephardi Jewish and usually confused for being North African which, although exposing me to racism doesn’t mean that my hair is considered unprofessional in its natural state for example except when I was told to straighten it by a teacher before uni interviews - in terms of colourism I have never felt pressure to use whitening creams for example. But my children are lighter skinned than me and will pass as white (unlike me) just olive skinned and that is going to be an advantage in life, they’ll be less likely to be followed around in shops by security, more likely to receive job offers, more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt in court. Denying white privilege is denying the last 15-20yrs of racial discourse and academic discussion. In my very multicultural area of London where I think it’s somethung like 70-75% minority, white privilege is accepted as a fact by all people it has come up with, and frankly I believe that by dismissing and ignoring its existence, that is an act of racism. It denies the basic reality that every poc I know experiences. There’s no point playing the victim game and pretending being Irish or being poor cancels out privilege, just like it would be wrong of me to act as if the fact I am a woc means I don’t benefit from other privileges in regards to where I live, having no physical disability, etc. I certainly understand this privilege in that I had a teacher who was racist against Tamil students and therefore in turn gave preference to students who weren’t Tamil like me, I am not Roma but am well aware of the largely accepted and awful racism and antiziganism, for example. I have privilege in many forms - just not white privilege.
I have posted on mumsnet multiple times about racism. I’m fairly confident I’ve brought up statistics about white privilege. It is exhausting and I cannot be bothered to collate any more statistics because I am lucky to live in a community where it feels most people are aware of privilege. If you have come to 2018 without an understanding of it it feels like a pointed and intentional ignorance and refusal to engage.
For the OP, it’s difficult sometimes to explain how woc are often targeted more. Just like how a woman is given less benefit of the doubt than a man or might be interrupted more. It is subtle. Yes white Women face criticism but I too remember he Meghan Markle stuff, threads on the Williams sisters, not to mention the constant disregard of racism. Poc are given far less benefit of the doubt. This comes up in the court system, in stop and search, in schools, in job interviews and on mumsnet. Black women are seen as being hypermasculine or not dainty enough to fit into traditional white royalty.
Other bits of racism: I remember a small thread about the Notting Hill carnival and whether it was dangerous, which was ‘subtly’ racist - by which I mean glaringly obvious for anyone who is willing to engage and see racism - of course for posters who aren’t the fact there were no racial slurs involved probably meant it will never be seen as racist. I know there have been multiple threads where posters ask for recommendations for holiday places in the UK and are told that their concerns over racism is wrong or unnecessary (yeah well I am not rocking up in rural villages without checking the racism situation first and ideally want a place where we aren’t th only family who aren’t white), the same for wanting places to move to. Not to mention threads about funny things children say, there’s always a ´hahaha my kids called a black man chocolate!’ One thread I saw last year was about a racist comment made by an older man...OP was criticised for ageism by a poster on no grounds except they wanted an ‘ism’ to accuse the poster of so they can disengage with racism. Actually I just searched that and found another thread derailed by accusations of ageism by an OP wanting to ask how to deal with elderly relatives who are being racist.
Does anyone remember the clip on BBC news where a white father was being interviewed, the children came swinging into the room with the harassed mum dragging them out. She was called a nanny by a lot of posters, who didn’t understand why assuming an Asian woman cannot be in a relationship with a white man and have children with him and instead must be a nanny is racist.
For me the racism in mumsnet is undeniable, albeit usually casual and subtle to someone who hasn’t experienced it. I am sure i have missed racial slurs being deleted however but what I dislike the most is the constant denial of racism. I think that is fairly typical of British racism.