someone else's thoughts on white priveledge...
I used to ride to high school with this girl. She was the only other white girl at my school who also lived in the hood. I have no idea how I came across her blog, but I did and I appreciate what she had to say in this post about white priveledge. Most often when I try to convince certain people in my life that white privedge does in fact exist and no you did not get to where you are today simply because you're a hard worker, I talk about education and not being stuck in a cycle that includes poverty and violence and not coming from a people who were forced to work as slaves etc...etc... But, this girl makes it even more simple than that. She currently lives and works in Africa.
"I've been reading a lot online lately about white privilege. It all came back to me today when we spent an hour digging and pushing the car out of the mud. The white people around stayed in their muddy clothes and didn't wash their hands. They wanted to go into town and have a drink, covered in mud. This is something you can only do if you are white, I think, without getting looks. In any part of the world.
Our African colleagues, on the other hand, weren't digging through the mud in the first place, and they certainly washed their hands.
I think of this often when I walk barefoot along the concrete walkway between the two office rooms. In Africa, people only walk barefoot if they can't afford shoes, or if they want to keep them from getting dirty. Me? I do it because I'm too lazy to put my gumboots back on, and because I love being barefoot.
And because I have privilege based on my passport and the color of my skin.
I'm trying to be more aware of it, and more respectful. I wear shoes most of the time. I wash my hands when they look dirty. I dress in professional clothes, not safari jackets and zip-off hiking trousers.
I don't have time to do this topic justice right now, because a visitor needs my computer. But it made me think."
I think she did some justice here. Sometimes I forget that I can do whatever the hell I want and that other people can't...or don't because they remember when... -sn
*NOTE - I did not tell girl from high school that I was going to post her words on my blog. If you happen to find me, girl from high school, and you are offended, please tell me and I will "delete."
"I've been reading a lot online lately about white privilege. It all came back to me today when we spent an hour digging and pushing the car out of the mud. The white people around stayed in their muddy clothes and didn't wash their hands. They wanted to go into town and have a drink, covered in mud. This is something you can only do if you are white, I think, without getting looks. In any part of the world.
Our African colleagues, on the other hand, weren't digging through the mud in the first place, and they certainly washed their hands.
I think of this often when I walk barefoot along the concrete walkway between the two office rooms. In Africa, people only walk barefoot if they can't afford shoes, or if they want to keep them from getting dirty. Me? I do it because I'm too lazy to put my gumboots back on, and because I love being barefoot.
And because I have privilege based on my passport and the color of my skin.
I'm trying to be more aware of it, and more respectful. I wear shoes most of the time. I wash my hands when they look dirty. I dress in professional clothes, not safari jackets and zip-off hiking trousers.
I don't have time to do this topic justice right now, because a visitor needs my computer. But it made me think."
I think she did some justice here. Sometimes I forget that I can do whatever the hell I want and that other people can't...or don't because they remember when... -sn
*NOTE - I did not tell girl from high school that I was going to post her words on my blog. If you happen to find me, girl from high school, and you are offended, please tell me and I will "delete."
posted by SN at 5:56 PM
4 Comments:
don't worry, i am not at all offended to find my words on your blog, which I happened upon some time ago just as you happened upon mine. i'm honored that you thought them worth repeating, and it was the affirmation of reading them again on your blog that gave me the courage to stand up to more white privilege issues in the last few days. so, thank you!
m
I happened upon your blog last year when our 10 year high school reunion came about...let me just say, I am a regular and quite enjoy your posts. You (and your family) should be extremly proud of your accomplishments. Good luck with school!
MD
i keep waiting to read this more completely . . . and I will. but I'm just glad you're writing . . .
more comments some other time . . . I'm at the tail end of an i-don't-want-to-admit-that-it's-a-migraine right now . . .
Since your dad is the new Guru of Diversity for the Health System, I'd say you come by this genetically. Not to mention your parents' insistence you grow up in "the hood." I thought I knew who that high school person was until I read these comments. Who ARE these people? I think I like them.
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