To be slightly fed up of white people doing this

[TacoLover]

Every time there is a thread discussing racism, there will be a mention of white privilege. Cue a flurry of hurt posters writing essays about how stupid the idea of white privilege is and how it doesn't exist, because their lives are so hard and they grew up on a few pieces of bread and a Red Bull

This really gets on my tits because after seeing this shit time and time again, THIS ISN'T WHAT WHITE PRIVILEGE MEANS. It doesn't mean your life isn't hard, it doesn't mean you don't face barriers in your life. What it does mean is the barriers in your life will never or hardly ever be a result of the colour of your skin. It doesn't mean you live in a mansion because you're white.

Just needed to get that out,sorry. I'm sure my only replies will be white people telling me how racist I am for only targeting them(Even though this is something that only white people do)

The concept of white privilege is an interesting one. Regardless of its pure intellectual meaning, it is routinely used to imply that white people have some kind of advantage over others purely on the basis of their ethnicity. I wholeheartedly disagree.

I said white people because it's only white people that deny it exists. I didn't mean all white people, that is obvious surely?

It really isn't Tacolover. I'm not white and I deny that it is a real thing in the way that it is often decribed in books such as Why I'm no longer Talking to White People About Race. I wholeheartedly disagree with Reni Eddo-Lodge on a huge number of the points she raises.

In case you don't believe me, try Remi Adekoya, a Nigerian journalist who writes for the FT, The Economist, The Guardian and others. He thinks its nonsense too. There are many others, we aren't alone.

What is often described as white privilege always comes down to either majority privilege (being a member of the majority of the society the discussion is taking part in) or western privilege (as a result of the increased resources that are assumed to be behind a western person in a non-western setting)

White women have the same struggle, trust me.

White women have the same struggle as black women? Really? You've experienced racism have you?

YANBU OP.

It irritates me immensely that otherwise intelligent people seem to lose their critical thinking ability when it comes to racism. Case in point is the recent Serena Williams cartoon, with people saying it was a complete overreaction and not understanding the context behind it. As someone who went through school having my 'african' features constantly mocked, I could certainly see why it was problematic (incidentally, the same features the likes of the Kardashians are paying $$$$ to emulate, but still remaining pretty tone deaf on race issues)

What is often described as white privilege always comes down to either majority privilege (being a member of the majority of the society the discussion is taking part in) or western privilege

And the simple privilege of not experiencing racism?

Love this thread, it actually takes time to explain to people what WP means. As a white woman in a good job married to a black man in an equally good job I witness this all the time. We travel a lot together both on business and pleasure and I have been stopped once this year during the 8 times we have flown. My husband has been stopped five times. In a business meeting recently my husband (the manager) was ignored whilst his apprentice was asked all of the questions. Cue awkward moment when they were told. When we lived in London my husband was stopped an average 3 times a year because he was driving a nice car, I was not stopped once in the same car in 5 years. Thankfully I live with a man who has no chip on his shoulder regarding this and sadly accepts that he has to deal with these annoyances in life. But it is real and it painful to see.

The majority of people in the world are NOT white.

Ok but we live in Britain specifically.

YANBU OP. Sadly there are very many wilfully thick/uneducated and proud of it posters on here these days.

YANBU OP. Sadly there are very many wilfully thick/uneducated and proud of it posters on here these days

Comments like this don’t help. This thread is looking to create discussion around a very important topic. By making nasty comments you close people’s ears.

Isn’t the OP stating all “white people”, not some, just “white people” do not understand white privilege? That in itself is a tad offensive OP. I perfectly understand what white privilege is, and I’m white. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

I think maybe it’s the word privaledge that upsets people. As though you haven’t worked for something. But as I understand it WP isn’t about wealth as such, but if you have a wealthy black women and a poor white women it’s about how they are both received by society. Who’s more likely to be frisked at the airport etc, who’s likely to be skipped over in a queue, get the extra biscuits in the M&S coffee shop.

WP motifies me, because bare face racism is shameful and wrong and obvious, wp refers to the racism and favouritism as a white person you don’t even realise you’re receiving.

I completely agree! It's like when Black Lives Matter started then white people immediately began saying "no, all lives matter" and it's like yeah, that's really not the point. We're trying to highlight the institutional racism that exists in the fibre of our society and disproportionately affects black people. But so many white people just don't GET IT.

For the people talking about black privately educated black people over poorer white people - I went to private school and a Russell Group university, bought a flat in a lovely area of London, so immensely privileged in many ways, but I still get followed around Waitrose by the security guard, had a security guard physically grab me when I left a shop thinking I'd stolen something, had years of bullying at school because I was the only black girl (which has dented my self-esteem hugely), and often find myself in situations where nobody else looks like me and have to listen to the white women in the office being derogatory about other black women in a subtle way, as well as often feeling unsafe if for example I go to certain places outside of London or travel abroad.

legolammb I respectfully disagree with you on the Serena Williams cartoon.

It's unfortunate that she is a tall, well built stocky black woman, therefore any possible cartoon of her is going to look like a racial stereotype. If her sister Venus had been caricatured in the same way, that would definitely have been racist as that cartoon would bear her no resemblance whatsoever.

Oh thats a good post nameless

Yanbu. Of course white privilege exists. But Mumsnet is a vast site with hundreds of thousands of members and unfortunately some of those members are going to be ignorant - on a variety of issues.

Don't blame Mumsnet for it. You are just talking to a much wider social circle, as is the way with all social media.

YADNBU

It exists. And every white person benefits from it. It’s so ingrained within the structures of society that most of us are totally blind to it.

There are loads of really articulate well thought out commentary about it - I can not recommend ‘why I’m no longer talking to white peolle about race’ and inflammatory title but a clear, concise narrative about what this is all about.

White privilege isn’t the only privilege - it can co-exist with male, economic, hetro etc etc privileged but white privilege is something that along with male privilege is what our societal structures have been built upon.

YANBU. I am white and this drives me mad too. I think some people deliberately misunderstand or misinterpret because they feel defensive.

YANBU there is a whole dimension of unpleasantness that a white person will never experience no matter what other hardships they have in their lives.

I don’t like divisive language like this.

Oops I meant ‘cannot reccomend enough’ every white person should read it that book!

I agree with Legolammb

The Serena Williams cartoon was astonishing.

White women have the same struggle as black women? Really? You've experienced racism have you?
I said that white women have the same struggle as black people in trying to get the top jobs in govt & big businesses! Try reading what I've written.

White women have the same struggle as black women? Really? You've experienced racism have you?

Yes. I have. I'm Irish.

"Whites" are not an homogeneous group. Poles also suffer racism in the UK.

I said that white women have the same struggle as black people in trying to get the top jobs in govt & big businesses! Try reading what I've written.

I have read it thanks: they don't, that's the point.

Am I living in a special bubble area of the UK? Because I've seen open racism at Every Single Job I've worked at. I've seen all permanent roles go to white people and better-trained Filapina, Asian, and black women & men stuck on zero hour contracts or agency staff. I've worked for a council department where someone who had been there a long time noted that in 20 years, there had NEVER been someone who wasn't white hired. I've worked in a shit job where they were still snidely talking about an Asian lady who quit after some Hitler jokes - didn't stick with that employer for long. Then I'm in a social group which is quite hippy and "positive vibes only" where white privilege is tutted away because let's not get negative, let's not read the news as it is just too depressing, stay within the bubble and you'll be so mentally well & glintey and glidey.