WHITE BENEFITS,
MIDDLE CLASS PRIVILEGE
IT IS NOT necessarily a privilege to be white, but it certainly has its benefits. That's why so many of us gave up our unique histories, primary languages, accents, distinctive dress, family names and cultural expressions. It seemed like a small price to pay for acceptance in the circle of whiteness. Even with these sacrifices, it wasn't easy to pass as white if we were Italian, Greek, Irish, Jewish, Spanish, etc.. Sometimes it took generations before our families were fully accepted, and then usually because white society had an even greater fear of darker skinned people.
Privileges are the economic "extras" that those of us who are middle class and wealthy gain at the expense of poor and working class people of all races. Benefits, on the other hand, are the advantages that all white people gain at the expense of people of color regardless of economic position.
Just because we don't have the economic privileges of those with more money doesn't mean we haven't enjoyed some of the benefits of being white.
We can generally count on police protection rather than harassment. Depending on our financial situation, we can choose where we want to live and choose neighbourhoods that are safe and have decent schools. We are given more attention, respect and status in conversation than people of color. We see people who look like us in the media, history books, news and music in a positive light. (This is truer for men than for women, more true for the rich than the poor.) We have more recourse to and credibility within the legal system (again taking into account class and gender). Nothing that we do is qualified, limited, discredited or acclaimed simply because of our racial background. We don't have to represent our race, and nothing we do is judged as a credit to our race, or as confirmation of its shortcomings or inferiority. There are always mitigating factors, and some of us have these benefits more than others.
All else being equal, it pays to be white. We will be accepted, acknowledged and given the benefit of the doubt. Since all else is equal, we each receive different benefits or different levels of the same benefits from being white.
These benefits start early. Others will have higher expectations for us as children, both at home and school. We will have more money spent on our education, we will be called on more in school, and we will be given more opportunity and resources to learn. We will see people like us in textbooks, and if we get into trouble adults will expect us to be able to change and improve, and therefore will discipline or penalize us less or differently than children of color.
These benefits continue today and work to the direct economic advantage of every white person in the
There are historically derived benefits too. All the land in this country was taken from Native Americans.
Much of the infrastructure of this country was built by slave labor, incredibly low-paid labor, or by prison labor performed by men and women of color. Much of the housecleaning, childcare, cooking and maintenance of our society has been done by low wage earning women of color. Further property and material goods were appropriated by whites through the colonization of the West and Southwest throughout the 19th century, through the internment of Japanese Americans during WW II, through racial riots against people of color in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and through the ongoing legacy of legal manipulation and exploitation. Today men and women and children of color still do the hardest, lowest paid, most dangerous work throughout the country.
And we, white people, again depending on our relative economic circumstances, enjoy plentiful and inexpensive food, clothing and consumer goods because of that exploitation.
We have been taught history through a white-tainted lens which has minimized our exploitation of people of color and extolled the hardworking, courageous qualities of white people. For example, many of our fore-parents gained a foothold in this country by finding work in such trades as railroads, streetcars, construction, shipbuilding, wagon and coach driving, house painting, tailoring, long-shore work, brick laying, table waiting, working in the mills, furriering or dressmaking. There were all occupations that Blacks, who had begun entering many such skilled and unskilled jobs, were either excluded from or pushed out of in the 19th century. Exclusion and discrimination, coupled with immigrant mob violence against Blacks in many northern cities (such as the anti-black draft riots of 1863), meant that recent immigrants had economic opportunities that Blacks did not. These gains were consolidated by explicitly racist trade union practices and policies which kept Blacks in the most unskilled labor and lowest paid work.
It is not that white Americans have not worked hard and built much. We have. But we did not start out from scratch. We went to segregated schools and universities built with public money. We received school loans, VA loans, housing and auto loans when people of color were excluded or heavily discriminated against. We received federal jobs, military jobs, and contracts when only whites were allowed. We were accepted into apprenticeships, training programs and unions when access for people of color was restricted or nonexistent.
Much of the rhetoric against active policies for racial justice stem from the misconception that we were all given equal opportunities and start from a level playing field. We often don't even see the benefits we have received from racism.
We claim that they are not there.
Think about your grandparents and parents and where they grew up and lives as adults. What work did they do? What are some of the benefits that have accrued to your family because they were white?
Look at the following benefits checklist. Put a check beside any benefit that you enjoy that a person of color of your age, gender and class probably does not. Think about what effect not having that benefit would have had on your life. (If you don't know the answer to any of these questions, research. Ask your family members. Do what you can to discover the answers.)
WHITE BENEFITS CHECKLIST:
o My ancestors were legal immigrants to this country during a period when immigrants from
o My ancestors came to this country of their own free will and have never had to relocate unwillingly once here.
o I live on land that formerly belonged to Native Americans.
o My family received homesteading or land staking claims from the federal government.
o I or my family or relatives receive or received federal farm subsidies, farm price supports, agricultural extension assistance or other federal benefits.
o I lived or live in a neighbourhood that people of color were discriminated from living in.
o I lived or live in a city where red-lining discriminates against people of color getting housing or other loans.
o I or my parents went to racially segregated schools.
o I live in a school district or metropolitan are where more money is spent on the schools that white children go to than on those that children of color attend.
o I live in or went to a school district where children of color are more likely to be disciplined than white children, or more likely to be tracked into nonacademic programs.
o I live in or went to a school district where the textbooks and other classroom materials reflected my race as normal, heroes and builders of the
o I was encouraged to go on to college by teachers, parents or other advisors.
o I attended a publicly funded university, or a heavily endowed private university or college, and/or received student loans.
o I served in the military when it was racially segregated, or achieved a rank where there were few people of color, or served in a combat situation where there were large numbers of people of color in dangerous combat positions.
o My ancestors were immigrants who took jobs in railroads, streetcars, construction, shipbuilding, wagon and coach driving, house painting, tailoring, longshore work, brick laying, table waiting, working in the mills, furriering or dressmaking or any other trade or occupation where people of color were driven out or excluded.
o I received job training in a program where there were fewer people or no people of color.
o I have received a job, job interview, job training or internship through personal connections of family or friends.
o I worked or work in a job where people of color made less for doing comparable work or did more menial jobs.
o I have worked in a job where people of color were hired last, or fired first.
o I work in a job, career or profession or in an agency or organization in which there are few people of color.
o I received small business loans or credits, government contracts or government assistance in my business.
o My parents were able to vote in an election they wanted without worrying about poll taxes, literacy requirements or other forms of discrimination.
o I can always vote for candidates who reflect my race.
o I live in a neighbourhood that has better police protection, municipal services and is safer than that where people of color live.
o The hospital and medical services close to me or which I use are better than that of most people of color in the region in which I live.
o I have never had to worry that clearly labeled public facilities, such as swimming pools, restrooms, restaurants and nightspots were in fact open to me because of my skin color.
o I see white people in a wide variety of roles on television and in movies.
o My race needn't be a factor in where I choose to live.
o My race needn't be a factor in where I send my children to school.
o I don't need to think about race and racism every day. I can choose when and where I want to respond to racism.
What feelings come up for you when you think about the benefits that white people gain from racism? Do you feel angry or resentful? Guilty or uncomfortable?
Do you want to say "Yes, but....."?
Again, the purpose of this checklist is not to discount what we, our families and fore parents achieved. But we do need to question any assumptions we retain that everyone started out with equal opportunity.
The opposite of a benefit is a disadvantage. People of color face distinct disadvantages many of which have to do with discrimination and violence. If we were to talk about running a race for achievement and success in this country, and white people and people of color lined up side by side as a group, then every white benefit would be steps ahead of the starting line and every disadvantage would be steps backwards from the starting line before the race even began.
The disadvantages of being a person of color in the
The personal acts of harassment and discrimination experienced directly from individual white people can also take a devastating toll. People of color never know when they will be called names, ridiculed or have comments made to them or about them by white people they don't know. They don't know when they might hear that they should leave the country, go home or go back to where they came from. Often these comments are made in institutions where it isn't safe to confront the person who made the remark.
People of color also have to be ready to respond to teachers, employers or supervisors who have stereotypes, prejudices or lowered expectations about them. Many have been discouraged or prevented from pursuing academic or work goals or have been placed in lower vocational levels because of their racial identity.
They have to be prepared for receiving less respect, attention or response from a doctor, police officer, court official, city official or other professional.
They are not unlikely to be mistreated or accused of stealing, cheating or lying, or to be stopped by the police because of their racial identity. They may also experience employment or housing discrimination or know someone who has.
There are cultural costs as well. People of color see themselves portrayed in degrading, stereotypical and fear-inducing ways on television and in the movies. They may have important religious or cultural holidays which are not recognized where they work or go to school. They have seen their religious practices, music, art, mannerisms, dress and other customs distorted, "borrowed", ridiculed, exploited or otherwise degraded by white people.
If they protest they may be verbally attacked by whites for being too sensitive, too emotional or too angry. Or they may be told they are different from other people of their racial group. Much of what people of color do, or say, of how they act in racially mixed company is judged as representative of their race.
When we talk about the unequal distribution of benefits and disadvantages, we may feel uncomfortable about being white. We did not choose our skin color. Nor are we guilty for the fact that racism exists and that we have benefited from it. We ARE RESPONSIBLE for acknowledging the reality of racism and for the daily choices we make about how to live in a racist society. We are only responsible for our own part, and we each have a part.
Sometimes, to avoid accepting our part, we want to shoot the bearer of bad news. Whether the bearer is white or a person of color, we become angry at whoever points out a comment or action that is hurtful, ignorant or abusive. We may accuse the person of being racist. This evasive reaction creates a debate about who is racist, or correct, or good, or well-intentioned, not about what to do about racism.
It is probably inevitable that, when faced with the reality of the benefits and the harm of racism, we will feel defensive, guilty, ashamed, angry, powerless, frustrated or sad. These feelings are healthy ad need to be acknowledged. Because they are uncomfortable we are liable to become angry at whoever brought up the subject.
Acknowledge your feelings and any resistance you have to the information presented. Yes, it is hard and sometimes discouraging. For too long we have ignored or denied the realities of racism. In order to make any changes, we have to start facing where we are and making a commitment to persevere and overcome the injustices we face.
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|OSEPP - Org' for Sensible & Effective Prison Policy |
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