To ask when you’ve experienced white privilege

[Whitepriv]

Sadly I know I have. In East London at a high rise, was checking into an Airbnb and couldn’t find the lockbox despite instruction so was looking extremely dodgy, looking under lots of the block of flats windowsills. There’s a young black man hanging out a few metres from me smoking a cig.

Police come by and ask me if I could do with any help and if I’m okay. I tell them that I’m fine but thank you. In less than a minute, I see the same police moving on the young black man for hanging around outside the flats, with a ‘you can’t loiter here’. Sad 😞

Every day. But, I see you and I stand for you. And I won’t take this shit no more. I promise you that.

@Casschops

UK and USA born white people are born with it. I am certainly highly mindful of it and hate the fact that people's skin colour is the reason why one human being is treated differently from another.

Just those from the USA and the UK? What about almost all of the continent of Europe, and anywhere else with a caucasian population?

This thread is full if specific examples of racist incidents, that's not the same thing.

I experience white privilege ALL the time. It's made me who I am.

I'm from a white, educated background so it was easy and obvious that I'd go to university and get a profession. My university course and my working life are full of people just like me. White, and usually from homes where there parents we were als educated professionals.

I've never had to fight for anything. I have role models who are 'like me' who respect. I've never worried about being stopped and searched, never worried about whether people will make assumptions about my abilities or knowledge or personality based on my skin colour.

I live in a world where cleaners and carers are more likely to be black, while doctors are more liklely to be white. My clothes are made across the world in sweatshops by low paid Labour, not far off slaves, with darker skin than mine. I buy them anyway with barely a thought given to where they've come from.

I live in a country which became a major world economy off the back of colonialism and slavery. Its a small country which shouldn't, by right, be one of the largest economies in the world. But it is, because of its history of oppressing other nations and races. And because it's the culture I grew up in, I didn't even think about that until I was very much an adult. And I still don't think about it on a day to day basis because I don't need to.

I work in a male dominated industry, so I see male privilege up close, and it's made me realise how priveliged I am in turn- what a difference my skin colour makes.

Basically, I live the life I do because of white privilege. It's not fair, but its given me a HUGE head start in life.

MrsPear there definitely is prejudice against Eastern Europeans even though they are 'white' (although not white enough for some). Me and my EE husband were stopped for the same traffic offence, separately, I got a telling off and no action taken, he got points on his license, tonnes of similar examples. That isn't white privilege in the sense meant here though, there is a hierarchy of white privilege and he wouldn't be stopped for drugs searches particularly, for example, and he is also seen as a hard worker/good to employ. It's very complex.

White privilege is surely a thing, but some of these stories are not white privilege. Special and different treatment happened because you are a woman, not because you are white. In these cases they would have treated you better than any man, whatever colour he was, because you are female.

Never

I'm white, so I've experienced it from the moment I was born. In fact, likely before that too due to the privilege my mother would have experienced while carrying me.

ALWAYS as I’m perceived as a white middle class woman. I’m so lucky in that doors are open for me which I never thought could be closed (I knew they could be but not for me)

I wish people would see the person instead of the skin colour, disability and anything else that makes them a target.

Humans can be arseholes at times!!!!!

Well I was born white. So every day. I'm the child of immigrants but you wouldn't know it by looking at me. My bf has every day of her life. I've seen the racism to her and the comments and looks
people make say. And the fucking endless ignorance.

I found that this helps show a fraction of white privilege.

www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2017/09/08/my-white-friend-asked-me-on-facebook-to-explain-white-privilege-i-decided-to-be-honest/?fbclid=IwAR2AnPODo9Db5EfdIRnzaNdbHM6rC9wczOW0vj2C0VT9ZotyA2obWtFlTI4

I agree with "I reject the concept entirely. An absence of oppression is not a privilege. It is everyone's right." I couldn't put it in words before but MockersxxxxxxxSocialDistancing hit the nail on the head.

I wonder whether my Gran would have been described as white privileged, she fostered more children than she let on - from all races in the 40's, 50's and 60's and she was spat on by white and black people as they saw her a white woman with non-white children. This was one of her saddest memories on her death bed, yet it never stopped her from helping any child in need. And from her I go through life treating everyone how I would like to be treated and if you can help do, without boundaries or judgement.

@Canyousewcushions Your assertion about white doctors is incorrect. Look at the stats. Senior doctors are 36% BAME but BAME people make up 13% of the working age population.
www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/workforce-and-business/workforce-diversity/nhs-workforce/latest#by-ethnicity
I'm not trying to suggest that racism no longer exists in this country, far from it, but it's important to stick to the facts and not state things as facts which are, in fact, just our impressions.

Interesting to dig out the statistics for school attainment. It's quite surprising to see that the group which performs the worst among the poorest students (those in receipt of FSM) are the white students: see chart 3 on the link. www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/11-to-16-years-old/gcse-results-attainment-8-for-children-aged-14-to-16-key-stage-4/latest#by-ethnicity
In fact, white students of all economic backgrounds only slightly out-perform black students; both are eclipsed by students of Asian and Chinese ethnicities.

I honestly can't believe what I'm finding here by googling official statistics. Here is info about progress to higher education: www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/higher-education/entry-rates-into-higher-education/latest#by-ethnicity

Quote from the report: "in 2018, pupils from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest entry rate into higher education (at 66.3%), while White pupils had the lowest (at 29.5%)"

As I've said in my previous comment, it's certainly true that racism exists in this country and it's in attitudes and hard to measure areas. But in these key metrics, it is hard to see where there is white privilege now -- not 20 or 30 years ago.

"It’s just interesting that I often find those who talk about this as being a Christian country often have Jesus down as a European. "

Do they really? I'd like to see some examples because it's not anything I've ever heard from Christians.

When I was a child Jesus was often depicted as blond and blue eyed. Then that became a bad thing and we were all supposed to think of him as dark, long brown hair, dark eyes and dark skin as we tend to think of Middle Eastern people.
Now, that is also apparently wrong as we are supposed to recognise that there are also fair haired people in that part of the world.
It's quite confusing!

"I will say it again you only have white privilege in the uk if you are a native.
Everyone else has shit. Example Latvian friend goes into estate agent In south London asks for rental list. There are no properties available. She comes out and tells me. I go in and ask and up pops the list."

I'm surprised, but anti-Eastern European immigrants is something that was stoked up by Brexit. I wonder if that would have happened to a French or Spanish person. I suspect not actually so it's not just about being 'native'.

@PlanDeRaccordement

I have never experienced white privilege, but I do experience Asian privilege every time I go visit family in China.

All privileges have borders.

Exactly this.

Try telling the Chinese they should learn white history at school!

Or tell Africans they should learn Chinese history.

Doesn't make so much sense when you frame it like that, does it?

Creamcar, as someone of an Indian background I can tell you that many Asian parents put a lot of pressure on their DCs to do well in education & it is drilled into us from a young age (through learnt experience) that we have to work twice as hard as a white person to get as far in life. I suspect it is similar in Chinese culture. Doing well in education doesn't necessarily translate into success in the job market as well.

I think in regards to the difference educational outcomes, there are clearly cultural factors at play. DH is from South Korea and in that country the importance of education is fully appreciated by virtually all and even the poorest parents will do everything they can to fund tutoring for their DC to ensure they can have a better future. Any poor behaviour in school is simply not tolerated (particularly by the other parents and DC!) and the miscreants will simply be out the door.

Compare that to here where many schools are full of DC who don't care about education and disrupt learning. That attitude clearly comes from somewhere and I'd suggest it is mainly the (white) parents!

DH ensures our DC work hard at school and revision etc and he would not allow any laziness or lack of focus on education. I suspect many Asian parents will do the same, which is why their DC are top of the tables when it comes to grades and university.

I had to have fingerprints taken for an immigration document. Policeman said to me 'no way a nice girl like you could commit a crime'

So because I look 'nice' I'm absolutely not a criminal?! Then I'd be the best type, surely? 🤔

More examples. I hitch-hiked alone across the USA more than once in the 1970s and met all too many racists on the way. They were perfect gentlemen with me but the way they expressed themselves about other ethnic groups made me doubt how safe I would have been if I hadn't been white. I can't say it was a privilege to have to be polite to them and I stopped hitch-hiking because of that.

On those trips I used to get a lot of hassle at the US customs, except for the one time I went on a bus where nearly everyone else was brown or black and they were too busy hassling them, I was waved through.

I live in Mexico and though it is not the same type of racism, whites get much more favourable treatment, even though as a foreigner, that should not be the case.

I do however dislike the word privilege. Advantage is better, but as someone said above, the way we are treated should be how everyone is treated.

And everytime I hear the term "white privilege" I think of the sickly pale children of the backstreets of Belfast when I was growing up, when the only black people were African princes who'd arrived to study at the university. So it doesn't seem right to tell them they had privilege or, even worse, that they benefitted from slavery.

All my life.

Creamcar,

Very interesting that the primary reaction to the fact that U.K. White State School Students having the lowest entry rate to University is to automatically victim blame by saying “cultural factors” and that white students and their families “don’t care” about education. I personally do not think aspirations of parents for their children differ by race. By class, most definitely, but not by race.

Not a word about the facts that U.K. State schools outside London are mostly terrible, or that University Admissions are not race blind.

My entire life has been white privilege.

That's what white privilege is. It's the "invisible backpack" we carry around. It's being able to walk down the street, into a shop, into a job, into an education, without my presence being judged, questioned, rejected or met with violence.

But the most striking example I've ever seen: I am Australian. When I was a student, I was sitting outside my inner-city university with a classmate, who is Aboriginal. We were both studying law.

A police car drove past, spotted my classmate, and drove onto the footpath outside the university and pulled up in front of us. Two police officers got out, marched over to us and asked my classmate what he was doing there.

"Waiting for a class to start," he replied

"Oh yeah? What class?"

"Comparative legal systems. I study law."

"You're studying law? [laugh] Right, mate. Show us your student card then."

They then made him get his student card out, and inspected it for a good 5 minutes, while we sat there, two officers standing over my classmate while other students streamed in and out of the building staring.

Finally, they kind of threw the card back at him, got into their car and drove off.

I was shaking, and I asked my classmate if he was ok. He turned to me with a sad smile and said, "I'm fine. Look, this happens all the time."

I didn't know what white privilege was until recently. I may not see it every day but I've had it since the day I was born. I'm ashamed I have never noticed before how deep Racism goes, how black people are made to feel less less than me.
I thought I was doing good just by not being racist myself, I'm not, I have to be anti racist. I will stand for Black Lives Matter and join this fight. Enough is enough