I am confused about my "Whiteness." I am olive skinned, dark brown eyed, black/white, wavy haired and 100 per cent Ashkenazi Jew. Hate crimes, the Holocaust and enslavements are scattered throughout our history. I have felt the sting of racial prejudice several times in my past and it HURTS. At 74 am an "old White male?
138
@Curiouser
Me too. I am confused as well.
Not sure how "person of color" is being defined right now but it doesn't appear to be particularly inclusive.
10
@Curiouser
Please read more of the comments, especially ones very similar to yours and their responses. Some will empathize with your “confusion”, others will hopefully enlighten you in a much more precise and eloquent manner than I ever could.
Your hurt and the historic wounds you describe are palpable. I believe what is being discussed isn’t meant to diminish you or your pain at all.
23
@perltarry
It Is a privilege to be “confused” as to whether you are a person of color.
15
I definitely am aware of white male privilege. My white male privilege was present even when I was the lower-middle class son of a single mother when the teachers were quick to see that I was a "nice boy" even though I was a shoplifter and a vandal. When I did get into trouble, people felt sorry for me because my father had died and what I was experiencing was a "rough patch". As a grew into an upper middle class middle-aged, professionally-dressed man, everyone I encountered has become quick to call me "sir" and seem to enjoy pleasing me. There is no doubt about it: this is still white man's country.
1014
@Paul It is not a white mans country, It is a white majority society. Would we say that blacks in Sudan have black privilege just because they are a majority race there? Would we say that Asians have Asian Privilege in China? Would we say that Indians have Indian Privilege in India?
35
@Mystery Lits
Exactly my thoughts. This thing is getting a little carried away.
18
@Paul Exactly. White privilege doesn't mean your life is easy, or that you get everything you want all the time. It just means that people give you the benefit of the doubt, where they'd crack down hard on a person of color in the same situation.
64
As a white man who grew up in white suburb in Maryland, it was my mom who taught me about the subtleties of racism. I heard and even repeated some racist jokes as a teenager. In college I wondered why were things the way they were and why weren't there more interracial couples? I realized that black folks had been here longer than most every other ethnic group yet still struggled with equality. When I heard the term "rational racism" in college it gave me a tool to understand white people's motivations. I moved to Baltimore and worked at the public library in my 20's. When my mom came to visit early on and earnestly got to know a few of my black coworkers I heard them say that "I was good people." I began to understand a little bit more about what it was like to be black in America. The most heartbreaking thing was seeing fellow coworkers who seemed excited to be actual friends with a white person, me. I felt like some of my black coworkers were saying "why?, why is this happening to me and us? like a person who has been rejected by a family or group of friends in school and just wants to be friends and be loved by their fellow humans and get to be known for who they are? African American culture is one of the greatest things that has ever happened in the world and in America but if your going to just pick and choose on your own terms then your not being respectful to your fellow humans and if your white, your using your white priviledge to seperate us.
131
Middle-aged white dude here -- I'm surprised by the number of overly defensive comments made here by people that I presume to be white. I think many of the people responding negatively about the article seem sensitive regarding the idea of white privilege, and they also seem to feel that it somehow diminishes their own accomplishments. I get pretty irritated when my fellow white folks complain that people of color "make everything about race," or that they "play the race card." My friends, white people are the ones who have made everything about race in this country -- from slavery to Jim Crow, lynchings to legalized segregation, institutionalized poverty to mass incarceration. If your response to this piece is angry, or defensive, maybe take a deep breath and consider what it must be like to be made conscious of your appearance every day of your life.
2346
@DI My personal experience has been that whenever something goes against a person of color it automatically becomes a race matter. I'm talking about people I was close to in the workplace.
51
@DI
You are missing the point.
No one should have to be conscious of their appearance every day of their lives, but forcing anyone who could be considered "white" to consider how their own skin color affects everything that they do inherently makes this problem worse.
Instead of creating a society where skin color doesn't matter, we are now told that we should consider skin color all the time. This must stop. It will breed resentment, which will lead to more racism not less.
121
@DI
I worry that some the people who get defensive are the ones who might actually vote against Trump: lower middle class and poor white people.
Right now, we can't afford to alienate any voters who might vote Trump out.
This kind of article - and any talk of "white" anything- is going to alienated them even more.
Make no mistake: this country will be destroyed by a 2nd Trump victory. We are in a major crisis here.
69
Overheard in hip jazz space in NYC one night were two 40ish bearded white men talking about one's daughter who did not get accepted to the college of her choice because as her father put it' "she was not the right color". The assumption being that a lesser qualified person of color had been given preference. They appeared not to notice me, a black man, standing not 5 feet away from them. Why would they not consider that maybe the daughter was passed over by a lesser qualified white person? Why did they feel comfortable expressing these sentiments within my earshot? Were they ignoring me? Or maybe because in their minds, what I thought did not matter. Is this not an example of their expectation of white privilege?
324
@Conrad, this is an example of their expectation of black, rather than white, privilege. Statistically, selective colleges accept black or Hispanic students with much lower SAT scores and grades. Maybe that man’s daughter had an academic record that would have been good enough if she’d been an underrepresented minority but wasn’t high enough to be admitted as a white.
Given what we know about college admissions it’s a reasonable thought. Keeping perfectly logical thoughts quiet for fear a black person might hear them exacerbates rather than relieves racial division.
79
@Conrad, maybe they just know that statistically, selective colleges accept black or Hispanic students with much lower SAT scores and grades. Maybe that man’s daughter had an academic record that would have been good enough if she’d been an underrepresented minority but wasn’t high enough to be admitted as a white.
Given what we know about college admissions it’s a reasonable thought. Keeping perfectly logical thoughts quiet for fear a black person might hear them exacerbates rather than relieves racial division.
16
No, it's likely a legitimate a concern that many academic programs, obsessed with identity, target students based on race, rather than merit or economic disadvantage. Ask the young economically disadvantaged male about his presumed white privilege. These assumptions help explain their affinity for Trump.
54
Frankly, I'm sick to death of hearing from white males who have been "discriminated against." The notion is frankly ridiculous. Let any of those men live one week in my body, and they'd know what discrimination really is.
I'm a native-born U.S. citizen of Middle Eastern ancestry. All my ancestors were Christian. But I have learned that skin color trumps religion in this country, every single day.
I'm in my sixties, and worked my way through college and law school. Affirmative action did not include those with Middle Eastern ancestry. My success was gained by my own efforts. I practiced law for nearly 40 years. And I saw absolutely no "discrimination" against white males. They didn't incur the same hostility from white judges, nor were they ever "penalized" by white juries who would believe the white lawyer instead of me even when the facts were clearly on my client's side.
The fact is, white males need to compete with everyone in the workplace. They no longer have jobs handed to them. And so what they see as "discrimination" is actually a level playing field where they no longer automatically get what they want in higher ed or the job market. My adult daughter recently received her PhD from the Ivies, and in her teaching, saw many less qualified white males who were "legacy" admittees. That is nothing more than affirmative action for whites.
And as a person of color, I am tired of their whining. They should pull themselves up by their bootstraps like I had to do.
1188
@Kyle Reese - I am a gay white male. I don't know if you have noticed or not but of all the people running for office only one person is deemed unelectable and that is Mayor Pete. He is white, intelligent, a veteran, but because he is gay people on the left and right have written him off.
I don't hear people saying that Kamala Harris is unelectable because she is black or a woman. No one is saying Andrew Yang is unelectable because he is Asian.
As a gay person, I'm tired of hearing all of the heterosexuals whine about their problems. You probably have no problems with something so simple as a wedding cake. You won't get fired in over half of the country because of your gender or race. But lord help me if I go to the new Chick-Filet in town and apply for a job. :))
64
@tom harrison, I agree that gay people face special challenges that people of color do not face, to the extent that it was more recently acceptable for people to be openly hostile and use slurs that were not considered acceptable to use against black or other non-white people. The tables are turning, however, and fast. The younger generation is exponentially more tolerant of gay people than older generations were, and even among older Americans, attitudes have changed precipitously in a 5 or 10 year period. That said, the difference between being gay and being a person of color is that it is not necessarily visible. Gay people can pass for straight if they wish to, or go unnoticed for being gay, where people of color cannot go unnoticed. So it is like comparing apples and oranges - both fruit but different. Perhaps a more apt comparison is being obese. White or non-white, obese people face overt discrimination at every turn.
51
@Kyle Reese Well Mr. Reese. In my neck of the woods, Middle Easterners are mostly doctors & retail business owners. Generally fine people & respected in a heavily Republican leaning county. Maybe you should think of moving into an independent minded rural area where we Liberals comport ourselves something like Moriscos in 16th century Spain, if you're having trouble in one of the most liberal urban cities in the country.
It does seem, however, you've taken that chip on your shoulder all the way to the bank.
14
I am an immigrant to America and now a naturalized citizen. As a child born in England, I truly can not remember ever seeing a black person - my arrival by boat to New York City was a revelation. At school in England, when I was about twelve, we had an exchange teacher from Texas and before she arrived we joked she would be wearing a cowboy hat and six-guns. Instead, a tiny, middle-aged lady arrived wearing eyeglasses with a dangly chain. She taught our history class. She kept talking about "Democracy" and treated us as though we were denizens of some London outback. We looked at each other: "What's this democracy stuff?" we asked each other. We had never heard the word before. I wish that I had been more knowledgeable at the time, I would have asked her if the black community on the other side of the tracks in the town she was from enjoyed the benefits of "Democracy."
102
@Maurice Robson
How did you manage to grow to the age of 12 in London without meeting black British schoolmates, neighbors,etc?
When my aunt and uncle moved there from New York in the early 60s (my uncle was born in London; his family emigrated to the US) their next door neighbors were from the Caribbean and I remember their comments on the lack of residential segregation compared to this country.
17
@Kate: Maurice's comment does mention that he was a child in London. I assume that his experience describes a more rural English upbringing.
9
@Kate - Maurice doesn't give his age. I grew up 25 miles north of London in the 50s, and there were no black kids in my classes. A family from India moved next door when I was in my teens but their kids were all much younger. The black men at my university in the mid 60s had grown up in Africa and intended to return.
10
I wonder how a black woman would react to a class on “blackness” or what it means to be a black woman taught by a white man.
I am personally tired of judgments and assumptions based on my race (white) and gender (female). It will go on as long as we allow it to go on with classes like this which point fingers are others and make assumptions about intentions and motivations. So tired of this.
88
Let me note that I am in no way comparing mine and my family’s experiences to slavery nor the prevalence of racism. But are you referring to the privilege that my grandfather enjoyed when his mother sold everything she had to pay a young woman to take her two year old to family in West Virginia? He would never see her again - she died of pneumonia in 1942. Or is it the privilege he enjoyed growing up in a coal company town where he was pulled from school in the sixth grade because he was big enough to work in a factory? He worked 12 hour days there until he was big enough to be moved to the mines. That privilege? Or the privilege at 16 that let him escape life underground by running away, stowing away on a coal train to lie about his age to join the Navy?
83
I wish people would not get so defensive and jump to judgement when someone says "I don't see color." I never personally say this phrase because I know it's off limits. But the intention behind the phrase usually means "I try not to judge someone or make assumptions based on their race." Nobody is claiming they aren't aware of race. And nobody is claiming that they don't see you or that they don't care about you, that they know more about your experiences than you, or that they don't want to talk about racism. Those are huge assumptions to make.
How about this: if a person tells you they don't see color, rather than immediately decide their sentiment is racist and problematic, ask them "What do you mean by that specifically? Can you explain it in more detail so that I can understand your point of view?"
56
As a white, privileged, gay male this was a rather fantastic thought provoking piece, one especially appealing to a college student such as myself. However, one thing I would like to address is the difference between white privilege and economic privilege. The two are entirely separate issues and I do wish that Ms. Rankine would have gone deeper into her own economic privilege that few will even come close to experiencing in their life time. I think that a discussion of differentiation between the two would go a long way in terms of getting the message across effectively.
Once those are differentiated I think there might be a greater understanding of what white privilege really is among white men and could lead to some progress and to her point some real conversation.
43
I'm glad to see Claudia is spending her MacArthur Grant by blindsiding people with her race bating questions. The assumption of racism in these situations is abhorrent. The entire experiment is reminiscent of a Sacha Baron Cohen "Borat" skit. These situations are not indicative of, nor do they shed light on, "white privilege." They are, at best, psychological experiments on what people will say when cornered and confronted.
Never is the investigator prepared to come up with any other answer than racism. I've had people act rudely towards me, cut me off in any number of queues, and otherwise behave in ways I did not understand. My conclusion is that people, ALL people, are generally self-absorbed, self-important, maybe insecure, lost in their own moments, or might just be having a really bad day.
Not every act of rudeness, perceived slight, misunderstanding, line-cut, stare-down, highway cut-off, etc. is because you are black. It might be because you are a human being who lives and breathes in a society with other flawed humans.
158
White female here. I accept my privilege by the virtue of being born into a white upper-middle-class family. I'm not questioning the concept of privilege. But I do think the author is threading a very fine needle in terms of what she found acceptable for her airline co-passengers to say . Seems that these people, who had no idea they were being interviewed, were being judged for not saying things exactly the way she wanted them phrased. That's a bit much. Let's try to bring people into the fold and not alienate them or shame them, especially if they are trying to do the right thing. Bring people in, don't drive them away.
67
No one’s driving anyone away. As if!
The author is doing what we ask of essayists and poets: reporting on the world from their own sharp perspectives.
We’re all the better for it.
35
Perhaps it’s cynical of me, but whenever I read about black victimhood, my mind turns to this quote by Booker T. Washington:
“There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs – partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”
66
The gay rights movement was incredibly successful in convincing the public to support marriage equality in a very short period of time.
How did they do this? Did they talk about "straight privilege," "straight supremacy," "straight fragility," and of straight "microaggressions"? Did they confront random straight people on airplanes? Did they reduce straight people to nothing more than a sexual orientation -- a hostile "other"? Did they assert that all straight people were complicit in the repression of gay people?
Nope. They won by emphasizing things like basic fairness; their argument was that gay folks just wanted access to foundational institutions, like marriage, that are a shared part of the American dream. They appealed to straight people not as victims seeking reparations but as family members, co-workers, neighbors, and fellow citizens who simply wanted to be treated the same as everyone else.
Maybe the author could give some thought to that approach, and see if it makes more sense than identity-based grievance politics that lead nowhere except to alienation and conflict.
91
At last someone willing to go from airplane to airplane, giving fellow passengers the chance to say “What other inane things have I said?”
29
Thank you, Ms. Rankine for this excellent article.
17
The issue of course is that in any multi racial society , such pressures exist. Instead of worrying so much about privilege, I would have thought the professor would worry about getting her students to make something, or create businesses....and becoming wealthy in the process.
I follow the Indian American diaspora in Silicon Valley, and its amazing how things have changed in last 20 - 25 years . I recall a time when most Indian Americans were classified as techies, or worker bees. Now with a bunch of them running some of the largest tech companies... think google, Adobe, Microsoft, workday.... and a large number in leadership positions, many don’t worry about flying first class, or being able to afford it,..
so why not just buckle up, make meaningful contributions and stop worrying about privilege ( of any kind)?
32
The author writes that "[t]hese are the assumptions of privilege and exclusion that have led many white Americans to call the police on black people trying to enter their own homes or vehicles."
My personal experience is that white people don't need the authority of the police in order to question the unexpected presence of a black person in "their" space. Their personal authority as white people is sufficient.
When I was a graduate student at M.I.T., one of my roommates presented a lecture at Harvard. After the lecture, I was sitting alone at a table, when a redundantly-white Harvard student, a total stranger, chose to join me. As she sat down, she smiled and asked, "What are _you_ doing here?"
On another occasion, as I was waiting for a lecture to begin, at Michigan, a famous-in-the-field professor from Georgetown fought his way past the bodies of others to sit next to me. After introducing himself, he continued, with a friendly and pleasant smile, "Over the past few years, I've often noticed you at several of our(!) [learned] society's meetings and I've long been wondering, who are you and why are you here?"
Though both of my interlocutors were nice as nice can be in their demeanor, nevertheless, I "felt a draft."
21
We need more articles like this! This election year is a opportunity for a real discussion.
As a very old white person who grew up in Hawaii in the 1950's, the only white kid in her class for the first 3 years, I had a very different idea of race and ethnicity. What I did not know, what was never taught then or later, was the reality of being black in "mainland" America.
Later, in California, I taught young children who together spoke 30 different languages. I had black colleagues whom, needing help, I sometimes asked incredibly ignorant questions. More seriously, when the Aryan Brotherhood threatened the black principal, he explained that the police would do nothing. Still, no one shared the kinds of stories we are hearing now. I remained pretty ignorant.
Now living in Europe, I was unaware that the history of racism and "white privilege" has been discussed in colleges for quite some time.
What we need, though, is more stories, not studies.
Whites are the absolute minority on the planet, and always have been. Guns, germs, steel, colonialism, racism ... all gave whites the sense of superiority they believed came with their genes and would last forever. Now it is obvious it will not.
An honest dialogue must go both ways. When people of color are angry, or simply assertive, I believe even the most "liberal" white is afraid. As a nation, as a global culture, we will can not get through this difficult transition well unless we can talk together about that, with empathy.
20
Yes, this is true: '“Stand your ground” laws, for example, mean whites can claim that fear made them kill an unarmed black person.' Stand your ground laws have protected many people, including black women with children, from home intruders.
Some of these examples seem overwrought, particularly the one about the white men forming a second line instead of standing behind the already existing line of white passengers waiting to board the plane. It didn't pertain to whiteness, nor privilege, but rather, to rude people being rude to others of the same race and socioeconomic status and gender as themselves, and of poor airline customer service who allowed it to happen.
16
The selection of the term "White Privilege" to address the very real. It is a shame as the term will limit progress on the very issues it was intended to address. It causes a valid reflexive defensiveness in many whites. The lived experiences of a lot of whites would suggest anything but a "privileged" existence. The poor choice of terms is going to limit the acknowledgement and acceptance that will be necessary to address the issues.
Because of the term, it makes the debate seem to be about the removal of "unearned special rights" from whites. Instead, the argument should be about raising those who are oppressed or limited and ensuring that all have an equal set of rights and are treated with fairness.
26
All I can think of is "you see that guy over there?" "I can just tell he's judgmental." Isn't it exhausting going through life trying to read and then interpret someone's unspoken thoughts? I am white. Educate me before you judge me. I am not uncomfortable with this conversation.
30
@anonymous
Could not agree more. My mother taught me a critical lesson - that people are mostly not thinking about you at all. I am a woman and as such, a minority when I am fortunate enough to travel first class (through upgrades or someone else paying). I am routinely ignored by flight attendant so and men of all colors push ahead. If this woman’s experience is anything other than narcissism it’s about being a female business traveler. Welcome to the club. It’s not about race.
25
@Me Well, it might be about race. I have witnessed blatant racism and didn't come forward to confront the perpetrator. I will regret it forever. On the other hand, it might not be about race. Like you said, most of the time, people are thinking about themselves.
But if it is, I WANT to have the conversation.
9
@anonymous
The challenge is when everyday interactions have meaning ascribed to them that doesnt exist. People are rude, men push ahead, people move ahead in their day without regard to others - “even” in the first class line. This article doesn’t describe blatant racism - if it isn’t about race or gender then it’s about class which is a much bigger divider than race.
15
Years ago, I realized that I definitely received "the benefit of the doubt". As the only white person in my junior high class, I was elected President of the class. This perplexed me. Why me? Why would the African-American students vote for me? As a young mother, I came to realize that I had no difficulty returning items to stores; I could talk myself out of a traffic ticket with little talking; people listened intently to me, even though I should have had no credibility. I constructed a saying that I still, sardonically, use at times, "I'm a blonde, middle-aged, middle class white woman. I can do it." It is totally disgusting that this is the case, but it is true. I'm now attempting to help my tall, handsome German husband see his white privilege. I am eternally grateful for persons of color who are still patient with white ignorance. Most whites are clueless of their privilege. That's no excuse. People of color have and are now suffering because of white privilege. End it.
30
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sorry, I’m running late.”
“You people always think we’re gonna ask you for money.”
“OK, what’s your question?”
“I came downtown on the subway for a job interview this morning, and somebody stole my wallet…”
Professor Rankine cannot suppose the people she interviews don't recognize an erudite version of this script. For many people (for some reason) it is intrinsically less fun than being asked "what about those Yankees?" It is disingenuous to claim that her research could not be perceived by reasonable persons as having a policing component. I'm not saying she's not right. I'm just saying she doesn't get around.
22
Ugh.
This tribalism mentality needs to stop.
Failure to recognize decades of sexual harassment and misogyny is met by #metoo and the abatement of due process for men accused by women.
Centuries of racism is met by 'white privilege' as a blanket term despite the fact that majority of poor children in this country happen to be white children (by the numbers). http://www.nccp.org/media/releases/release_34.html
Fighting fire with fire seems to be a losing strategy here.
Language needs to be carefully dished out when speaking about these matters. You will alienate and generate resentment in everyday white folks who are struggling day by day yet are told they are 'privileged'. Also, white what? European white? Jewish? Whites from Argentina? Refuges from Bulgaria? Defectors from the Eastern Bloc in the 80's?
Suggestion: something like, 'on average, in America, people of WASP ancestry are more likely to...' works A LOT better in describing what is going on here. Blanket terms like 'white privilege' is a dissolution of individual identity and a devolution to tribalism.
The inequalities that plague this country are an interaction of socioeconomic, gender, biological, racial factors that all claim some variance and interaction in the differences between people.
It's not all a race thing. This tribalism and identify politics is how we got Trump in office, and the continued sentiment on the left (and right) is how we will get Donald Trump 2.0.
25
Is it appropriate for a black professor to teach a course on "Whiteness"?
Is it appropriate for a white professor to teach a course on "Blackness"?
Is it appropriate for either a black or a white professor to teach courses in both "Whiteness" and "Blackness"?
Should a highly educated and intelligent professor dedicate their career to addressing these questions or perhaps doing something else more productive?
37
Hey, Although the color of the skin may be white, white people are subjected to many discriminations based on their nationality and their religion.
The mexican rights groups seem to think that all white people are anglos. THIS IS SO UNTRUE! Along with thinking all hispanics have the same issues. An immigrant from puerto rico ( who is a US citizen) does not have the same issues as a Cuban, who doesn't have the same issues as an illegal immigrant from central america (some of who speak English as their native language), who doesn't have the same issues as a mexican (some of whom look white )
Stop grouping all whites together and assuming they are all WASPs . They are not!
14
To “interrogate” a question effectively, should one first tie the question to its chair?
Students used to study a topic. Now they “engage with” it. Maybe the difference is real. Students learn from Teachers. Engagers get equal time. (Should they get equal pay?)
People spend a lot of money on packaging for a reason.
6
A brilliantly written but heartbreaking piece. As a black male, I found myself struck by two points of dominance that seem to have escaped even the author's written attention: 1) her persistent anxiety about making white strangers uncomfortable by saying the first, most natural thoughts/questions that popped in her head, and 2) the exhaustive nature of this piece, a highly introspective exploration of the other side of the racial power structure that will never be reciprocated by the other side, unwittingly reinforces the very racial hegemony she means to challenge with this probing essay. I dream of the day when all of us can speak our minds to each other civilly and expect civil responses without fear of socio-economic blowback or toxically defensive microaggressions. And I dream of the day when either white people spend as much literary energy wondering what's going on inside our heads as we spend wondering inside theirs, or when no one needs to write think pieces of this nature ever again, because no one has to wonder what's inside each other's heads, because we all recognize and tailor our behavior based on the presumed equal standing of our common humanity. I dream of a day when black authors and thinkers can spend their time writing about something other than white people, when their days can be spent thinking and writing about any number of things, with the same carefree sense of boundless exploration as white authors and thinkers. That's my dream. Let's go get it.
28
Many years ago, the brilliant poet-professor Gerald Barrax taught a Black American literature course at North Carolina State University, where he introduced me to Ralph Ellison’s "Invisible Man." According to the novel’s narrator, "until some gang succeeds in putting the world in a strait jacket, its definition is possibility."
Now, “some gang” governs this nation. Although the narrator’s proclamation haunts me now more than at any time in my life, I once again will vote for possibility.
7
Excellent article. Yet interesting that the author shows little awareness of how teaching at Yale and having the time off from teaching to fly around the world in first class is definitely a sign of belonging to the privileged academic elite.
36
This illustrates, perfectly, an essential truth in America: It is impossible to have an intelligent discussion about race. That the author is, understandably, afraid to engage folks underscores this point. But, instead of stopping with that one essential truth, she goes on to assign thoughts and motivations to strangers she's never spoken with and so cannot know who they really are or what they really think. A stranger tells her that the diversity issue makes it tougher on his kid to get into Yale. Well, he's right about that--minorities do get bonus points on admissions. He also brought up Asian applicants. It was a PERFECT opportunity for the author to engage. He invited it. Surely, he knew she was black. Yet, nothing. A friend didn't get a job and blamed it on quotas favoring minorities. He's not wrong: Minorities can and do get bonus points sometimes. Yet, the author won't acknowledge what happened to her friend and how that might, understandably, make him feel about race. She won't even, apparently, talk to him on any meaningful level about it. Instead, she writes about him without talking to him.
America has a horrible record when it comes to race. Yes, race is an invented term in this country. Beyond that, what? When an Ivy League professor who teaches a course on race can't talk about race with anyone outside the confines of academia, we have an issue. The issue goes both ways. And until we acknowledge that, Trump wins, because people who should agree keep fighting.
44
The point is being missed. This person who teaches poetry at Yale and lives in such a rarified atmosphere, literally, that she only flies first class, is whining about what?
Perhaps she is whining about the the busy hedge-fund guys putting together a deal? Perhaps she was not dressed appropriately for first-class or did not put her pearl oyster/oyster pearl on that morning and was thus not identifiable as the 1-2% class that she exists in. At that level of assets one needs an asset manager and the color of one’s skin is is not a factor in anything.
18
As usual it is courageous of the Times to publish an article such as this.
A personal detail provided by the author hints at a topic which I believe is a key to a very large part of identity animosity here and abroad, now and in the past. That topic would be considered inappropriate for Times readers.
Incidents like the one in the airport may lead Professor Rankine to imagine she is of too little consequence to her subjects to inhibit their responses. Intimidation in certain settings is a recently-created privilege she does not realize she possesses. While I am skeptical of the efficacy of techniques such as polygraphy and hypnosis, the use of such a technique, IF effective, would take her places she is not likely to go in a casual chat in First Class. But then, Pandora she may not wish to be.
1
I would have never thought that flying first class was a sound basis for racial animus! Fortunately I have been schooled. Apparently, if a person is white, especially male white, no degree of prejudice or assumed knowledge about this is unacceptable. If I wave my white privilege and fly in the cheap seats, am I more worthy in the eyes of say a Yale professor?
15
The author of this story should know that the vast majority of white folks do not fly First Class. I have been white all my life and I have never flown first class. I think she paints with too wide a brush.
27
Over 2K comments and counting. The Times should analyse what topics garner the most comments. I thought of this when my Nextdoor neighborhood (formerly all white working-class, but gentrifying) site went nuts after two black teenagers pulled some pretty serious stunts: threatening a white woman in a local cemetery/dog-walking site; harassing white people around their cars, etc. I wondered what their reaction would have been if the boys had been white?
4
@JMB
Probably about the same - harassment is scary whoever does it and race should not excuse anyone from consequences.
13
The author defines everything in terms of race. She has crafted a world view consisting of a deeply held prejudice against whites, the belief that no white can overcome their “privilege,” and that she need not make much of an effort to hide her contempt and hate for whites. It’s okay though because this Yale professor is the victim. I would be curious to see her reaction to a white male’s analysis of “blackness.” To summarize, she find whites, especially male businessmen who are white, to be racially shiftless and lazy.
27
“Number 20: I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.”
Privileged Joe Biden: "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
10
The mention of a therapist and the therapuetic "conjecture" provided hinders the credibility of this article. I guess this article is an opinion item based on plenty of subjectivity and personal resentment. Obviously, it is not scientific in nature, which lends itself to provocative responses which probably aren't helpful to the discussion. Yet, it is a "feature" article. Not sure what the purpose is. And it's going to take a whole lot more than therapy and casual surveys to get through these issues.
10
I think life is too short to worry about race and racism, LGBQ, feminism, and all the other isms. As my Granddad would say pulling money out of his pocket, "is this money as green as anyone else's?" In America, the money is green regardless of the person holding it.
9
Here's a proposal. Let's all try to stop talking about race. Race isn't a valid scientific term. Let's call skin colors what they are... "evolutionary adaptations to local geographic conditions". Such a long description may encourage us, as sentient beings, to think twice before we say or do something hurtful and stupid to each other.
7
I found it interesting that at the time of my writing there are 2128 comments, and the top Readers Pick was recommended 1509 times. Usually the the top comment gets recommended between 1.5 and 2 times the number of comments. This means the topic ho white privilege has a wider range of opinions.
2
If I, as a white male, stood in line at an airport and causally judged the black passengers, made assumptions about them, and let their manners or lack of manners define their existence, I would be called racist.
30
1) “Would they connect the treatment of the undocumented with the treatment of Irish, Italian and Asian people over the centuries?”
2) “How did Italians, Irish and Slavic peoples become white?”
Why swap Slavic for Asian? I’m looking for the less obvious answer. Much of the planet is on the road to becoming Stuyvesant High. The road is new. Fasten the belt.
2
Brava, brava. Wonderful essay Ms. Rankine. I am a 69 year old, Anglo-Saxon white woman. The gratitude I feel toward people of color who are, and have always been in the vanguard of deconstructing 'white culture' has helped me enormously to deconstruct the shadow culture of masculinity. We have a history of accepting as normative 'dominance' barriers. For example, 50 years ago women were not allowed to have a charge card, loan, mortgage or even sign a lease in their names. Why, all the propaganda about not being reliable, etc. when the real purpose of this dominance is to limit competition, restrict entrance to the boys club where money give you the power to sway a decision away from what is 'right', 'ethical' or even logical to one that benefits the dominant. Like Reagan's 'welfare moms', so much of what we have been led to believe, fed as children is nothing but propaganda. The striking statistic 65% of those in public office are white men although they are only 31% of the population. This has to change. We are all being stifled in a musty old hat box in our grandmother's attic. We can all do much, much better, and we should do so with delight and gratitude.
11
I presumed that many would be upset about this article. Rarely, I suspect because it is not more nuanced, but rather because it attacks our “whiteness” as somehow being the reason for any success we have had. How nuanced? Within our privilege there is gender privilege, economic privilege, appearance privilege, educational privilege and a host of others. Some of these operate across but also within racial lines — which only exacerbates the problem. Many of us have had to overcome at least one of these, and that perhaps blinds us to the fact that we have been the recipient of some “privilege” that we overlook. I suspect reaction would be less negative if we referred to “black disadvantage” or some such euphemism — but that too would blind us to the fact that there are macro and micro advantages with which many of us have been blessed.
This is not a question of pulling down people with advantages. People will not willingly step aside to rectify the sins of the past and present. Questioning our sense of entitlement (some of which is simply rooted in self-centeredness, some in ignorance and some in outright prejudice) is a first step. Affirmative action helps, but has not been the answer. Rethinking our assumptions and our reactions to others isn’t easily changed. Having some sense of empathy for what who are not like us must face is a start, but not an end. Speak up for certain. Act with more understanding. But recognize the solution is beyond all that.
12
@Sue Burn We were engineered apart about a century ago, especially in the city, i.e. federally-promoted and supported redlining. Since then, it's our lack of proximity to one another where we live that has allowed the tired and centuries-old narrative to live on. Like she suggests in the final paragraph, the answer lie in our willingness to engineer ourselves back together.
5
The privilege re-frame of discrimination is invaluable. It shifts the focus in a way that makes discrimination harder to deny, and helps unveil the depth of the problem.
But the discussion needs critical focus. One of the questions is - how do we weigh the impact of privilege when we identify individuals? In much of the discourse, white privilege appears as an accusation. It is leveled at all white people - all are privileged and their entire identity is a function of white privilege. In explaining race we give it power - but we can give it too much power. As Professor Rankine mentions - this is over-determinism.
Painted with too broad a brush, the picture of white privilege strips the white person of identity and ignores their lived experience. Thus the white retort: "I earned what I have; I struggled tremendously and overcame barriers to live where I live, do what I do, walk how I walk, sing how I sing, sculpt what I sculpt, breath the air and drink the water. Doors were shut to me. I found other doors."
While we strive to bring race into the discussion, we should not disappear all of life's other forces and experiences. Without a contextual assessment of privilege, we are repeating the logic of "any discernible trace." Applied once to the definition of race, we risk applying it to the definition of privilege. We need a third wave analysis of white privilege.
6
I guess I'm lucky that I lived in a radical Lesbian/Feminist community in the seventies where endless discussions of privilege were the daily diet. How one can live in a world where someone is displaced when another is placed and not see it is simply lazy. Or as a psychiatrist I once knew said, there is no such thing as lazy; you either want to do it or you don't. I want to do it. It's because I want to know you without superficial judgement and I want you to know me in the same way. To do this we have to be good listeners and question our judgements. This is not too much to ask, but I think for those who have never had to think this way it may be stressful. It's hard to give up the defensiveness, but there is a huge reward to be found in self honesty. That would be humility and compassion.
3
Personally, I try to refrain from stereotyping others, regardless of color, status, age, ethnic origin, or sex. Though I enjoy the world of ideas, I recognize that academic social theories are just abstract generalizations, regardless of supposed "objective" observation, and even statistical analysis.
There are multiple layers of reality within every human being; we embody paradox, and we change from moment to moment. I hope Claudia is aware of "the nature of thought"
and the fact that every judgement and interpretation she makes is, at best, a partial truth. I hope she understands
that her interpretation of others' words and actions is subjective and may involve preconceived notions and projections.
Random interactions in airport lines is not a sound basis for
social analysis.
14
@lifecyle: "Random interactions in airport lines is [sic] not a sound basis for social analysis."
Why are they not? Are you saying that personal experience is no basis for social analysis? What does constitute a sound basis for social analysis, then? Planned interactions in airport lines?
5
White men have been shocked for quite a while that any woman, especially a short woman, is in the first class line in the gatehouse. It's not about skin color, it's about gender. The first class line is the one place in my life's routines where men consistently try to step over me and have attempted to muscle me out of the way. Nowadays, they don't succeed. I'm onto it. And they're usually in male pairs which reeks of demonstrating dominance to their travel mate.
9
@Thea
Totally true. I travel business or first class often - and am almost always ignored by flight attendants gushing over male passengers, whatever their race. At 5’3 and the age of 63 I am invisible. I feel sorry for Ms Rankine - how painful to go through life seeing everything thorough the filter of ease - and to carry such a big chip on her shoulder everywhere she goes - including the business lounge at the airport.
6
@Me
I meant - a filter of race, not ease - but there is that, too.
2
is there really much difference between the privllege of successful men of any race.? Isn't it an earned privilege?
4
I read this article at times feeling nervous, guilty, angry, and finally a bit hopeless and confused.
Race seems to be treated as an issue that, after extensive academic research and discourse, will ultimately discover the basic flaw in the “white” psyche.
Fate flipped a coin: “I” got the heads: the “other” got the tail.
We try to see agency in everything, even in the coin flip. What color is fate?
Maybe God is the supreme social scientist with a casual curiosity about how a world where the species at the top of the food chain is exactly the dame in every detail except:
• Skin color (dark to light with relatively slight variation),
• Almost irrelevant physical features
• And sex.
Of course “He (She?)” starts with a basic lumping of features into specific geographical areas of the planet. Then “He” waits to see how long it will to take the “top of the food chain” to destroy itself.
Are we really trying to say that if any other skin color had risen to the top, they would have treated everyone else differently?
Well, we are about to find out. Soon, in America, whites will be the minority.
Then what? Compassion or revenge?
In a world of diverse population blessed with limited, unevenly distributed resources, how could this experiment have evolved any differently?
We try to explain it all by looking backwards through the lens of current knowledge and technology. Good luck with that.
In the final analysis, how can it be anything but “bad” luck?
5
Reginald Denny had quite a privilege. As a member of the worlds minority, he happily accepted his fate.
3
I loved this. Thank you for making us think and explore ourselves. I especially loved this part
Eventually, he told me he had been working on diversity inside his company. “We still have a long way to go,” he said. Then he repeated himself — “We still have a long way to go” — adding, “I don’t see color.” This is a statement for well-meaning white people whose privilege and blind desire catapult them into a time when little black children and little white children are judged not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” The phrase “I don’t see color” pulled an emergency brake in my brain. Would you be bringing up diversity if you didn’t see color? I wondered. Will you tell your wife you had a nice talk with a woman or a black woman? Help.
All I could think to say was, “Ain’t I a black woman?” I asked the question slowly, as if testing the air quality. Did he get the riff on Sojourner Truth? Or did he think the ungrammatical construction was a sign of blackness? Or did he think I was mocking white people’s understanding of black intelligence? “Aren’t you a white man?” I then asked. “Can’t you see that? Because if you can’t see race, you can’t see racism.” I repeated that sentence, which I read not long before in Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility.”
C
7
Not sure who creates the summaries below the headlines.
One does not "... [but] interrogat[ing] that question."
Ask a question. Do many things with a question. Interrogation IS a form of question.
Interrogating. Nowhere in the article.
3
sounds like the author is saying. " don't get me wrong, some of best friends are white"
17
This piece strikes me as the NYT's effort to throw the election to Trump using relentless identity politics. It's like watching the relentless articles about Hillary Clinton's emails in the lead up to the last election, the one that brought this country to the brink of utter disaster. You are playing with fire.
16
While this article is interesting, it make me sad that the author, no matter her educated credentials, is contributing to the massive division in social perception brought on by identity politics and branding in this society. Why are we objectifying people by race, class, income, geography, culture? I am so tired of it. Gorwing up in the sixities, a blond Jewish upper middle class female, I have learned to identify not with racist privilege, but to seek out all "kinds" of people encountering the mystery and blessings of good, kind, honest,compassionate people, no matter what their background. Time to start looking for our common humanity. Lighten up lady.
15
The professor was not whining, she was pointing out, unfortunately, while traveling in first class which, for me, tainted the lesson, that it’s subtle and pervasive. It doesn’t mean we, as whites, don’t have to crank it out and work hard to succeed. It doesn’t mean if we don’t work hard, we get any kind of benefits, it just means there is a bias that benefits whites, which is so obvious, it’s laughable we need to have it pointed out. It makes our lives, less hard, not easy. Yes white gays have it hard, but I would assume, black gays may have an extra burden. My problem with the NYT and even this article, it why Trump even gets a vote: we are so focused on a sliver of society: the rich. The professor focuses on elite whites as does the NYT. I couldn’t care less about the elite whites in this country.
6
It is sometimes difficult to be Black in the USA. Because of the history of racism and the continuation of racism by some persons, a Black person always wonders if it was racism that kept him from getting that job, or being recognized, or getting into that school, or getting a better grade. or getting a promotion and so on. [Interestingly, with affirmative action, White people now have that same question when they don't succeed.] That questioning can lead to resentment and chip-on-the-shoulder behavior or it can lead to a determination to do so well that no one will be able to pretend that a lack of recognition is anything other than racism.
The first response is self-defeating. Such people do eventually get jobs, recognition, promotion and so on -- mostly because they are Black and somebody wants to soothe their White guilt or meet some mandated quota of minorities. But just as white privilege doesn't lead to good outcomes, neither does black privilege.
The second response is rewarding to the individual. He/she strives all the harder. This is what the son of the White man who wanted his son to go to Yale should do. It may be that he won't get into Yale, while he would if he were Black, but if he is talented enough, he will do fine at some other, less-prestigious (and perhaps less politically correct) institution.
3
"Seeing his whiteness meant I understood my presence as an unexpected demotion for him. It was too bad if he felt that way. "
This shouldn't be, and I am sorry that it is your reality.
2
I'm a "white" (southern Italian descent) 65 year old male who was nowhere near smart enough to get into Yale, but just got some excellent education at that level in reading this piece. Had the good luck to be exposed to blacks on a regular basis from an early age, including in innercity neighborhoods, and I try to take a "use your imagination" approach to what individual black Americans feel based on everyday encounters and a long racist history that is now explicitly rearing its head in full, grotesque bloom. This piece helped me realize: I have no idea, but I have a better idea now. I see color, even if I try to look at people individually; whether I wish to identify as such or not, I'm white enough to be white and all that is bestowed and avoided because of that fact.
7
One guy the author interviewed said his son's friend, who is of Asian heritage, was admitted to Yale but not the son. I thought Asians couldn't play the so-called "diversity card," and it was actually even MORE difficult to get into elite schools.
5
It's not just a matter of skin color, altough of course that's a huge part of it. Other factors on which bigots can and do discriminate include: being a Jew, a Muslim or an atheist (non-Christian), being a liberal, being unmarried while of a certain age, being LGBTQ, having certain medical problems.
For bigots almost any identifiable characteristic that allows them to feel superior, to have privilege, and to put someone else down will do.
Trump's racism is totally disgusting. And it doesn't really matter if the racism is in his heart (which I believe the mountain of evidence shows that it is) or he's just using it for political advantage. The fact that so many Americans enthusiastically support his explicit racism, his worst character flaw, is far more frightening. Though Trump has many deep character flaws, his racism (bigotry) is his most dangerous flaw. Because he uses it the consolidate power and to oppress minorities of every stripe. Even after Trump is gone, the millions of racist and bigoted Americans who supported him will still be making America a racist nation. A nation filled with people motivated by hate.
5
Kind of like the racism of a black women who pre-judges fellow first class passengers who are white while waiting to board an airplane.
5
One factor that seeps into the authors experiences without her at least recognizing it is: White men waiting for planes tend to be more wealthy, higher up in the corporate food chain and type As that makes them feel more entitled than the average white guy in the street. How they got there is also a white guy privilege but they do feel entitled.
I spent a lot of my business career also waiting for planes. I hated to fly with some of my business mates especially the CEOs as they would alway barg to the front of any line no matter what. White privilege or CEO privilege cannot not be separated.
6
“A house divided against itself, cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South”...Abraham Lincoln.
No matter the issue, what is different in the year 2019 between all Americans and between the 7.7 billion humans on earth???
Dear Ms. Rankine,
An essential piece, published in a periodical read by some of the same White guys who skip you in the airport line. And some of the same White friends of mine, authentically trying to look within, who still speak of being “color blind.” But I wonder if you, like facilitators in every diversity workshop I've participated in, over the last decade, and the authors of many scholarly articles I've read on Whiteness studies, intentionally swapped out Jews for Italians, Irish and Slavs, when discussing White Ethnics and our hurdle to understanding our White Privilege. I couldn't compress my comment enough for a letter to the editor, so I wrote a blog post: https://www.leafandpen.com/blog/white-ethnics-white-privilege-and-the-jewish-problem-et-tu-claudia-rankine?fbclid=IwAR2hhJo1eTjNbkpZQAVekzSqVWomqg9J03g1d7_MQwyDH9-XhsJrmmMrljs.
Unexpectedly I come to the conclusion that love might be the most potent antidote the white male privilege.
#1 a young man, a son of a good friend, shaved his head and spoke in increasingly racist language. He signed up on a dating site and met an African American girl -- something made him keep his first date and his second and on an on. He introduced her to his family and said hey were getting married. His friends -- not so important to him now.
#2 a white man rails against feminism but when his daughter falters in the work place he starts coaching her . He resents that sons are more entitled. Now he stands up for women.
1
Funny thing is the only people who have ever tried to get ahead of me and or asked to get ahead of me in line has been Black women. White privilege is to work hard and try to get somewhere comfortable. Provide for your family. Honor your country and the many who have died to keep you free.
9
The process of "reconsolidation," within which various subtypes of whites became simply Caucasian and thereby more monolithically capably of othering the non-white, was not really fully complete by the 1940s. A generation later, at least in the south, for example, "Hebrew whites" were excluded from country clubs and private schools, effectively side-streaming them in many important ways. The crucial moment for children in these side-streamed families was puberty. Having early on played on jungle-gyms together (public school and neighborhoods), it was easy enough for these kids to suddenly find themselves sequestered and instantly-othered through the ruthless means of fraternities, sororities, and clubs--starting in high school and continuing through college.
Having been the first Jew to "integrate" one of the private schools, I observed this first-hand. But the author is correct in stating that the "reconsolidation" process was, in fact, under way if not by the '40s then by the '60s and '70s.
How do we know this with any certainty? Well, here's an unintended consequence that sort of proves it: the whites-only prejudice observable against people of color we see in folks who were themselves once othered. I see this today among Jews, Polish Catholics, and Mediterranean Catholics, not to mention the amazing right-wing nature of much of the Israel lobby. QED.
3
Every person lives in the midst of some cultural obstacles, everyone. There is just a different name for each. Some choose to value their discrimination more than someone else's...'Yeah, but you don't know what it's like to be me...'
We do not choose the cards we are dealt, only how we play them.
Evolving cultures are too complex to evaluate in simple terms. You either dwell in thoughts of hindrance which lessens evolution, or you become a product of your individual talents and move evolution forward.
5
I am a white woman and I struggle daily with racism. I hate it. Since the lynching of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old child, in 2012, I have not slept well and have been underlyingly depressed about the state of our nation. I call my racist senators (Rubio and Scott) to complain that they are not standing up to the racist president, I donate to black lives matters, and I engage in conversations about racism, but I still, at the end of the day, I benefit from white privilege and am, thus, benefitting from a system (racism) that I abhore.
It would be easy to take the attitude of complacency, like the Purple Patriot commenter below: "In the end, the past cannot be changed and the people responsible for egregious past sins are long gone. Perfect justice is impossible and guilt for sins committed by other people is useless. So we can only go forward, alert to past injustices and individually committed to doing better."
But this attitude ignores the reality that the KKK and its affiliates infiltrate our society and the political structures that form the laws of future generations (such as the supreme court's recent ruling for states' rights re: gerrymandering).
So, what is white privilege? The ability to ignore what people are shouting about, to pass it off as something we have no responsibility toward, to pretend we don't see color, and then complain that black people are making racism an issue. It's disgusting.
6
I’m still waiting to get the white privilege card that automatically gets me into Yale, automatically gets me millions of dollars, and automatically gets me into first class.
That’s why people get annoyed when she asks questions like this.
I mean, everyone’s got problems. Get in line.
Very few are handed anything.
All those “white guys” in first class she is looking down on, most are probably sales guys, racking up miles that gets them first class, but keeps them away from home and miserable from all the travel they have to do.
Whenever anyone has put me down, or prejudged me, my solution is simple:
Be polite.
Be positive.
Focus on the work.
Do an amazing job.
And that fixes everything.
No matter who you are.
19
We have become fixated in this country on solving one problem by creating another. Most recently, "MeToo" addresses the concerns of sexual harassment but employs the elimination of "Due Process". Addressing the real issue of racism in this country by creating a reverse logic that says white accomplishment is only because of white privilege continues that trend. It is not privilege that assists the ability to accomplish but rather the absence of persecution that allows natural ability to thrive. Let's address the current racism/persecution/ issue without creating persecution in another direction. Bringing all down through persecution is hardly the way to advance a progressive society. It is more difficult but also morally correct.
4
I read the article twice. As an experiment yesterday, I asked several white men for their opinions about whether the writer's experience was race related. Almost all began telling me about the rude behavior they had experienced in airports or when boarding flights. Three told me about white men cutting in line in front of them on flights and that the person checking tickets asked them to step aside until army personnel and families with small children had boarded. I'm white and I experience rude behavior constantly. Often, I'm interrupted before I can complete a sentence and must choose whether to continue in a louder voice, or just let the privileged white man talk. Drivers ignore pedestrians in crosswalks. I'm not sure what the writer encountered was because she was colored or because she was a woman. It all comes down to a sad fact, that we have become a rude, competitive nation, and polite behavior is disappearing. I place the blame squarely on overpopulation. There are too many of us fighting for the same position.
9
As a 55 year old WASp from lower middle class that ended up at an Ivy all I can say is that i’m Aware of it and I try to live my life not perpetuating it. I married out of my race but not because I wanted to, it was the girl, not the color, I believe I’m a descent fellow and vote accordingly. I don’t go to rally’s or March and have never been an activist as I spend my time working and with my family. The fact is that I’m guilty of being a white male and I’m not guilty of being a white male. Also, everyone knows people that fly first class, even if money is not an issue as it’s still a gross waste of money, are not appropriate representatives of any class of people other than wanna be aristocrats.
1
Are they seeing black or are they seeing woman?
When I was young and traveling on business, men didn’t see me, and in meetings they certainly didn’t hear me. Let me talk to the boss, they’d say. I’m the boss. Silence.
When I was in my fifties, they dismissed me because how could I possibly be anyone of importance in a traditionally male sphere?
Women in the workplace have to fight a constant battle, no matter their color.
5
Whether white males are aware of the underpinnings of their status either consciously or not, my bet is that somewhere in that process they are afraid of losing their position to an “other”, whether it is in line in an airport or in a college application.
4
@LPark
Or in the case of this article - losing their place in line. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes people are just rude and it isn’t about race.
5
I confess that I bristle at the concept of "white privilege." "Privilege" in this context suggests an undeserved benefit, like inherited wealth. But the problem, it strikes me, is not that white people en masse experience an undeserved benefit. The problem, rather, is that people of color experience an undeserved harm. The rhetoric of "white privilege" suggests that the solution is to take something away from white people, their privilege. (Perhaps that is why so many white people get defensive when asked to confront their privilege.) But the real solution, it seems to me, is not to knock down the privilege but rather the harm. For example, the solution to unfair treatment of people of color by police is not to extend that unfair treatment to white people, but rather to put a stop to unfair treatment by police, period. Meanwhile, I'm not convinced that white privilege automatically extends to every facet of existence in this country. Rankine has little patience for the guy's remark to the effect that his son faced a disadvantage in getting into Yale. And yet, is the suggestion implausible? Whether you think minority preferences justified or not, they seem difficult to square with the idea that whiteness must always in every circumstance furnish a club pass, bonus points, or a get out of jail free card. Perhaps we should focus more on eradicating unfairness, which means race-based disadvantages on the one hand and certain wealth-based advantages on the other.
3
65 year old white guy here. My recent experience with white male privilege came in the form of a traffic accident where another driver (white) turned in front of my Lexus (helping to underline my privilege) and totaling my car. She was completely at fault, no one disputed this at the scene. I was driving after drinking, had a small cooler in my car taking booze back home and also had more than a little weed in the car. Not once did I fear the police were going to look in my car or question my sobriety as I wasn't overtly drunk and clearly not at fault. I felt safe in knowing that in driving a luxury vehicle and a mature white male travelling with his wife would not be deemed a threat of any kind. When they were ready to tow my car and offered us a ride home, they said to get whatever from the car we wanted to take with us. I grabbed the cooler, put my weed into it, set it on the ground outside the car, where the police were standing around, along with other items we didn't want to leave behind and waited until they directed us to a fire department car for our short ride home-with my booze and weed in the cooler on my lap.
I was very aware that my race and car caused them to look past me and focus on the person who caused the accident. I wasn't surprised, but was well aware if I were of color and in less of a vehicle, there would likely have been more scrutiny.
4
@Verne
Glad you aren’t driving in my city.
4
Sometimes I think seeing one's own privilege and racism is like getting sober: you've got to stop drinking and/or drugging, of course, but one also must take stock of oneself fearlessly and, gasp, change. This takes conscious practice and requires a willingness to do what's necessary, since people often come to sobriety because they face total personal loss, including life. Dealing with our own racism requires a similar commitment to self evaluation and change. And it requires giving up privilege so that others may be treated more equitably....but there's the rub, no?
1
Or, the white guy that didn’t get hired, was called on the side by HR from his personal cell phone and told - ‘I want to hire you, you are the most qualified, but I can’t right now due to our diversity initiative. Please keep applying.’
This doesn’t diminish the white privilege that exists. It does describe that some people who are the most-qualified are being dismissed in corporate America today due to diversity initiatives. Initiatives are necessary to field a diverse pool of candidates and embrace a new mindset, but should still mandate the most qualified person is hired IMO.
This ‘set-aside’ effect is demotivating loyal employees, and leaving swaths of people disenfranchised and disengaged; which is resulting in less competitive and less productive corporations for America.
We need a middle ground of embracing diversity and hiring the most qualified people.
6
I was very disappointed to discover that in reality you had asked very few people and all from a very narrow subgroup.
The research you suggest in the title would be phenomenally useful - but you haven't done it.
Try it!
Get some students from a few colleges around the country (men, women, white, black, Asian, Hispanic, ...) and ask each of them to talk to some white men - some they know, some they meet randomly, some they stop on the street - about white male privilege.
I believe you would be amazed about a few things:
1. Many (not all) white men realise how lucky we are in many (not all) ways. We think this is terribly unfair and would love to fix it. Who wants a world where women cannot walk safely at night? Who wants a world where promotion doesn't depend on competence or ability? Who wants a world where you can predict someone's life-success based on the address where they were born?
2. White men often have great ideas how to help, and sometimes we know more than the activists - because we are the people you are trying to fix, we know what will convince us and change us. Do listen :) When I disagree with you, it might be because I have the same objective as you but I can see that your plan will not work with any of the white men I know.
Full disclosure: for years I worked on a "gender diversity and inclusion" team in a multi-national. My main role was to "translate" what women wanted to communicate into language that would engage men. It made a huge difference!
5
Who can afford to fly 1st class but the economically privileged? Don't conflate race with class.
6
@Riley Banks. Believe me, most were traveling on business and their companies would pick up the tab .
I am a 69 year old white male. I was raised in a predominantly white suburb in upstate New York. Growing up, I had relatively few encounters with other ethnic groups. That said, I consider myself to be a liberal politically.
With all due respect, IMO Professor Rankine overanalyzes the topic of her article. Her chosen “test environment” of airline travel conversations seems rather ordinary and mundane. The interpretation of these conversations could be considered to be problematic and open to ambiguity.
At the beginning of the article, Professor Rankine cites President Trump. Given his recent statements, President has overtly defined himself a racist promoting a racially divisive agenda. Professor Rankine’s arguments seem tame in comparison to the inequity and injustice she describes. President Trump’s overtly racist rhetoric demands a comparably virulent and potent response.
1
Rich with malice, but what a very hurtful perspective.
5
I think Winston Churchill said something like: "It takes courage to stand up and speak your mind. It takes even more courage to shut up and listen." It's the latter I think white, cis-gender, males like myself, whose positioning has no intersections, must do.
The article also raises another important point, which T. Coates has often raised: whiteness is amorphous. Where it used to be strictly Anglo, it has broadened over the years to include, Jews, Irish, Eastern European, etc. But, make no mistake, whiteness is always defined in opposition to Black. That frame has not changed and continues to be exploited as evidenced in the recent lawsuit brought about by an Asian family claiming discrimination in response to a Harvard rejection letter. The argument laid out in the suit was the same argument used by the white man sitting next to the author: someone less deserving, was admitted based on race. Could it be that Asians are now being admitted into the white club?
I believe you overestimated the white guy in the first class line. My guess is that he was so arrogant that the snide comment WAS directed to you, and worse that he felt sufficiently haughty to verbalize his disdain with perfect obliviousness. I'm white and grew up in a white world. But my family taught me early on that racism was basically abhorrent. Yet year after year many of my white friends and acquaintances shocked me with their proud racism and general disdain for most of the world. These were well educated people often of some weath. I had always thought of racism as being something coarse that would be beneath anyone with even half brain. But i learned over the years that arrogance, bigotry, disdain, and common racism is a time honored tradition. And its' not limited to white men (although they may often be the most egregious) i recall listening to a local (black) taxi driver in the Bahamas who made disparaging comments about other nearby islanders who were invading his turf. It wasn't pretty. I often wonder if all the creatures of the world are predisposed to fear of "the other". Yet to me, nothing is more inspiring than to witness the sincere embrace of our fellow humans. Its the difference between toxic enmity and that warm enlightened feeling that i have no words for.
As an overweight, bald, upper middle class, hearing-impaired, white, Christian male who was raised in a poverty-striken home led by two hard laboring deaf parents, I get and have been judged a lot ... especially in airports. I do not deny racism exists. I also don’t deny judgments are made by people for all kinds of reasons ... many have to do with your skin color, your age, your shape and your sensory abilities. That said, this entire essay was insightful but it was the last line that had one of the greatest and most hopeful statement I’ve read in years on the topic of racism: “... a shared longing to exist in less segregated spaces.” My faith tells me there is no race ... God sees us all as equal parts of the human race ... yet I know this world is broken and we are all flawed. I pray we all can live together in greater harmony and I hope people read this essay to the end as our longing not to be segregated aligns with what I believe is a Godly desire implanted on our hearts to be in unity with Him. So it should not be just a dream, but a demand from each other that, as Jordan Peterson said, should be a “reemphasis on the potential nobility of the human being and the moral responsibility to make that nobility a reality.” The human race was meant to be noble and it will take grace, mercy, justice and enlightenment ... just as Professor Rankine has demonstrated to us here.
1
This is complicated stuff. For sure, I’ve benefited from family wealth, skin color, access to good schools, presumption of innocence, and haven’t had to endure the painful racist episodes that most people of color endure daily.
On the other hand, I’ve had my own career obstacles, made mistakes, suffered aggression from alpha males in the workplace and struggled in the pursuit of happiness.
Some aspects of white privilege are so unconscious and institutional, It’s hard to recognize. Am I responsible for a system I did not build or ask for? Maybe so.
I saw glimpses of a similar bias through the lens of anti-semitism, hearing a friend’s Dad talk about “Jewing Down” someone on a car. Did he know I was Jewish? Did he know using that term made me feel quietly ashamed for both of us when he used it?
As a manager/owner of a small business I tried to practice affirmative action and to pay and promote people in an inclusive way. And to treat all employees with respect. Did I try hard enough?
After five interviews as a candidate for ED for a non-profit, I lost to a women. Did my status as an over represented middle-aged white guy work against me?
I know POC bear more of the brunt, but don’t almost all of us suffer the pain and inequality of unmitigated capitalism and corporatism?
How do we build a country where white privilege is no longer the dominant factor, and people from different backgrounds are all comfortable in their skin? Can we get ever beyond racial identity?
2
White male, child of the 50s and 60s, and a Reform Jew by birth. But I "don't look Jewish," which - sorry, Rabbi - is a fluke of luck that has stood me in good stead on more than one occasion; it is usually assumed that I'm a "WASP." I see awful and good behavior from many angles, and I emphasize with Prof. Rankine's experiences. Many white men are jerks, true, but despite prejudices that all of us have been programmed with, I think most people indeed just want to get along. Perhaps my view is more deeply rooted in my insider/outsider roots as well as being raised by and around smart strong women. I consider myself lucky to have my background. If that's "privilege," OK, I'll take it, but with gratitude for my luck and a commitment to try to respect all people. I hope I succeed.
2
Thank you for this. I am a white middle-aged Jewish woman. I consider myself to be passing for white and recognize the privilege (and invisibility) that brings (which is privilege in some circumstances and a disadvantage in others). I work with people of color in a racially mixed industrial neighborhood and feel every day the respect and courtesy I receive simply because I am a nice white lady. I think about the racial component in all my interactions and debate with myself every day about whether that makes me racist. thank you for the additional food for thought and for sharing your experiences and thoughts so honestly. It helps.
1
I grew up white and working class in North Philadelphia. I very little to none of this “privileged.” I saw a lot of hate and occasional violence directed at me and my three brothers. We dealt with it, meted out our own when an opportunity presented itself, and worked hard to get out of that neighborhood of lovely 3-story row-house. As an engineer, I have worked hard to overcome the prejudices that some used to attach to me (and other white inner city Philly folk) due to our speech, way of describing things, our occasionally aggressive nature). It was what it was and is what it is. Until a larger majority of blacks take ownership of their lives and futures, they will remain underemployed, underutilized, underachieving, and under appreciated. The statistics reflect much of the reality. Sorry to disabuse you.
7
Here’s a twist. I’m an urban planner and I told a young black female intern about my white privilege and the history of racial segregation in Upstate NewYork. She was absolutely stunned as she had no idea about any of this history. Funny how they don’t teach that in high school. Her head was spinning. She told the intern coordinator (black) what I Told her (that racism was largely ingrained in my psyche and I have to work hard to root it out, among other things) and word got back to my boss that I was out of line. My boss said she couldn’t believe I was intentionally trying to be racist. In the end the intern learned the most from me. I gave her some books to read. I was called out by a a black person for telling a black person that I and the entire system was racist. It’s that ingrained and subversive in our region.
3
Took it me a while to figure out what disturbed me most about this article. In the end, it's this: Ms. Rankine has the privilege of getting a feature article in the NY Times to complain about a series of daily inconveniences and turn them into a political issue.
White men deal with the exact same inconveniences ALL THE TIME. People cut ahead of us on line. Flight attendants and waiters forget our drink orders. People make rude comments. We do not, however, get to attribute any political significance to these actions. And we don't. It's just life. The person on the crowded subway recently who intentionally took up two seats and played loud music on their iPhone? That was annoying but I didn't consider it a political issue, just merely a rude person.
So a privilege exists for Ms. Rankine, and it has nothing to do with her wealth and prestige job. It's her ability to take her daily inconveniences (which might be racism or might be only her negative confirmation bias) and make them into someone else's problem. The fact that a white man was rude to her is now my problem.
That's not fair. I don't jump ahead of lines. I don't make rude comments. I have my own struggles. Why should I be burdened by hers? Why should I have to recite a mea culpa for my very existence?
It seems like the "woke" left is trying everything it can to make the racial divide worse. Instead of telling a whole class of people they are a problem, why not just implore everyone to be better human beings?
16
The author made me realize the value of going to an ivy if this is the quality of the instruction.
I want to take her class.
I'm disappointed by this article. The author seems to assume that every place in the US is the same, and that everyone has the same experiences and narrative that she has. She also reminds me a bit of my son, when he's certain everyone is making fun of him, and I have to tell him that he's placing way too much importance on himself. She does think a great deal of herself, and seems to think that everyone else is focused on her as well. I realize that she's no doubt encountered a lot of racism in her life, but that doesn't mean every exchange is racist.
And yes, if you had asked me what I thought of "my white privilege", I would accused you of a racially tinged slur. Because you're assuming that I come from a society that has enabled me in some fashion. That assumption in itself is racist. You should instead ask what I think about white privilege in general, or how it MAY have influenced my life. Because you don't know me, or where I come from.
As for your jobless friend who you think needs to take the long view -- no, he does not. HE did not do those things that led to his privilege. The fact is, if he didn't get some job due to racially-motivated hiring quotas, he was at the short end of a racist policy. But I expect things will have to get a lot more ridiculous before the author sees that.
3
This author must have a very sad life. To spend all of their waking hours thinking that everything is based on one's race. The author writes, "I was always aware that my value in our culture’s eyes is determined by my skin color first and foremost." Says who? The vast majority of people do not care what another person's color is, we are all racing around trying to make ends meet, satisfy the needs of our family, and trying to be happy and content with the challenges of life that we have. When I travel around the US, I see plenty of business people of all races clearly on business trips, and there is more integration of races and sexes than ever before. I think it is a false narrative to keep people in their own business.
I think it is very sad to teach people that everyone is biased against each other; actually, "we are all in this together" so let's get over our colors and stereotypes. I think if a white person wrote an article like this it would be considered very prejudiced and bigoted.
15
This is a horribly unjust situation.
Therefore each of our Democratic presidential candidates has the responsibility to convince the voting public how unfair it is and tell voters what actions and policies they will require of the government and citizens to correct the unfairness.
If they remain timid and silent, we must not support them.
And the eventual nominee must make the evil of white privilege #1 on their campaign platform.
There is no other option.
1
The genius of Western criticism is its ability to cannibalize the culture from which it came. Whiteness studies is a way of turning the tables on the Eurocentrism of cultural anthropology and folklore studies to refocus the pitiless lens of analysis on the former beholders and making them the subjects. Here, they’re white mem, and they are squirming uncomfortably under the lights the way all subjects eventually feel. If Claudia Rankine can’t see that she has appropriated the techniques of objectification and dehumanization used by the dead white males of those disciplines, she is fooling herself. Rankine’s bio says she is a poet, yet, like too many academics who teach arts and letters as well as write, she is donning the mantle of a social scientist. She is delving into the categorizations, the jargon, and the generalizations of a social scientist, yet the impressionistic and poetic tropes one hears at her Racial Imaginary Institute, with its Afro-Pessimist and whiteness studies panelists, mostly come from literature. My confusion stems from her insistence on giving the aerie faerie, subjective musings of a personal journal the weight of sociological inquiry, even as it effectively turns the tables. The difficulty she had with those prickly white men comes with the territory—objectifying people for ethnographic research is a scientist’s province—not a poet’s.
3
Beautiful. Just so beautifully written and voiced. My specific experience with white privilege which leaps to mind (other than everyday living) is the time my two small children and I were driving in a rural area outside of Memphis and I was pulled over by the police for expired tags. As I was handing the officer my license and registration and apologizing for my forgetfulness, I was hyper aware that if I had been a Black woman, I would be terrified right now. When the officer let me go with a warning, I knew that if I had not been white, I would have gotten a ticket for sure.
4
Very interesting and thought-provoking essay. I find myself wishing that Ms Rankine wasn't so perceptive, so the world, as it is, wouldn't hurt her so much.
2
Brilliantly conceived and written. As a university professor at a large state university where a diverse student population evolves each year with a new class of freshmen, our "American" society should take a lesson from how the students themselves define inclusion and acceptance. Most "freshmen" are inclusionary and I would say visionary; they are the future.
4
After reading this engaging and arresting piece, I was left just hoping Dr. Rankine's students appreciate the gift of being in her class.
This needs to be a book.
9
I am a 66-year-old white woman who I grew up in a white middle-class community. My graduating class had one black young man, and when he received his diploma, he got a partial standing ovation. I was shocked because I knew him, and he barely had enough credits to graduate. It was a lightning bolt moment in my life, for it was the first time I witnessed racial prejudice in real-time. He was the designated poster child for ethnic diversity.
I left the area at 19 years old and lived in different parts of our country. Your travels confirm what I have been acutely aware of; 'white privilege' is alive and well, It has just been politely hiding in the woodwork.
The angry rant we now hear from these humans who wear white skin, primarily lead by the male gender is but a secondary emotion. What drives this train is fear. The fear of losing the power of the many, the title of a white majority offers.
Thank you, Ms. Rankine for taking this journey and sharing. I probably won't live to witness the day of an awakening of the human race to truth; We are all the same under this skin we wear, and diversity is a gift from the universe.
3
76 y/o white male here who was always aware of his privileges. I wish Ms. Rankine had asked me, but I seldom fly first or business class anymore. I do remember flying coach years ago and a black professional woman, on the stand-by list, took the empty seat beside me. For an hour or so I silently admired her beautiful black hands with their white palms. I spoke to her praising them and asked if I might hold one. Delighted, she gave me one to hold, and we had a nice trip, unforgettable for me.
3
@john
This is a truly bizarre comment. Luckily you didn’t ask to feel her hair.
If someone spoke that way to me on a plane I would ask to change my seat. Just creepy.
2
Lovely, thoughtful, insightful and generous article. You have a very deep well of patience and perspective. It's through stories like these that we can all try to learn to live better.
8
Ms Rankine lives in a different part of academia than I do: one where the professors fly first class. In my world (math and science), the professors fly economy. The universities and conference centres do not reimburse first-class or business class travel for anyone.
24
For clarification
Priviledge in America is synonymous with Racial Superiority
2
A professor at Yale, one of the most privileged people on the planet, is whining about how horrible her life is for some slights, imagined or real. Try working as a server in an Appleby's for a few days and then you may understand what humiliation on a daily basis feels like, regardless of your socially-constructed identity.
This is why they hate us. The rest of the world and working people in our own society hate us because the cultural elite in this country inhabit a narcissistic bubble of abject privilege while whining like adolescent babies. Like this professor, they claim victim status while ignoring the peasants below who toil away at their menial jobs with menial pay and who daily confront their desperate lives. "I was made to feel uncomfortable in Business Class." Oh, you poor dear. Was the orange juice not fresh squeezed either?
This is why we get a moron like Trump, the manifestation of class hatred who taps into this resentment for the cultural elite represented by people like this professor.
48
Really wish NYT would use more non- academics on race discussions. People from non- echo chamber environments spouting the same cliches and stereotypes. All the nyt race writers seem to have to pass an ideological litmus test and all end up sounding the same with no assumptions challenged..
33
@Raz: there were free African Americans at the time who were “free” to organize and create... and they did. And there were servants and slaves who organized and created as far as they were permitted. That is for starters... and... oh... I give up... can’t we just celebrate the things people did without applying false concepts of race... and who said our value was measured by what we organize?
More white people are on food stamps and welfare than minorities. More white people take government subsidies..
I see white poverty not white privilege ...
18
You must not be in First Class, Aaron!
Go on up there and you will see all of the privilege.
I cannot see it from here, either.
2
Not as a percent of the relevant population cohort...
2
The whole concept of white privilege is an excuse for people who did not have the drive or discipline to work hard and make something of themselves. My grandparents came to this country legally, as young adults, but with little education and not able to speak English. In the old country they were at the bottom of the social scale if on it at all. In the US they had menial jobs. They worked hard, learned English and were able to send their kids to college. Their kids then were able to send their kids to college and thereby economically survive without resort to excuses. Those who talk about white privilege ought to try working. In fact the work ethic does work. You get ahead by working hard and not by saying you did not have the advantage of white privilege.
21
Bian fails to understand that when his/her grandparents came to this country , the very white privilege that Bian now denigrates and chooses to ignore, allowed them to jump in front of the people of color already here waiting in line for a job. They rented apartments and enrolled their children in schools in neighborhoods unavailable to people of color. And it was all without the grands having to do anything themselves to avail themselves of these advantages. That was only the beginning of the white privilege upon which all three generations have built their financial and social capital here. Your inability to acknowledge how your family has benefited is itself part of how white privilege works.
1
Exactly so!
Why Whites? Northern and Western Europeans made the US and Canada into economic success stories.
Look at Hispanic countries and their socio-economic cultures. Look at African countries. Be honest. Would you wish you were born in Guatemala or Nigeria?
Non-Whites come to America and succeed. It's not a racial issue although, sadly, bigotry is on the rise.
Rather than teach about "poor me" subjects let's teach about Western values and how to make it. My German-speaking grandfather learned plumbing. His two great grandchildren graduated from elite universities. Let's investigate those dynamics.
37
My father, a high school drop out, was the son of immigrants and was raised in foster homes while my mother was raised in a one room house which her father built with his own hands. When I hear privileged minorities talking about White privilege, it truely disgusts me. People do find themselves with many forms of privilege including educational, social, economic, geographical, ethnic and race. Sometimes these work in backward fashion. It might be more beneficial to be poor rather than middle class. Barack Obama and Kamala Harris certainly benefited from being Black. Privilege is a complex reality and simplifying it into White privilege is simplistic and self serving and racist. That Yale would employ this auther speaks to the decline of that university.
300
@Michael Green
I hear your pain. I would ask that you think of these issues as both micro and macro matters. On the micro side, your father's and mother's stories are compelling proof that privilege is a personal thing at one level. My family story is not as fraught as yours but I can both sympathize and empathize with it. On the macro side, however, there are the assumptions that everyone makes about everyone else on the basis of how they look -- and skin color, hair texture, facial features -- they all play a part. I am a white guy -- that's how I understand myself and how I've been perceived by those around me in the Northeast where I'm from and live. When I travel to rural Arkansas, or even rural upstate NY, I'm a Jew. Not white. Not black. Just Jewish. In those places, my privilege is curtailed. I feel it. It's palpable. Especially when one of my brother-in-laws is with me -- the large, patched-in biker (who is black as coal) -- because when he walks in behind me, I can feel my privilege being restored (if only by a fraction). Our friends and families see us; the rest of the world sees what they want to see -- and they (we -- we!) base that conclusion often (mostly? always?) on race at some level.
158
I think that you are incorrect to dismiss this article as a form of simplification. Isn’t it time that we have these discussions? Isn’t important that we recognize the validity of both her and your viewpoints. I am a white male, how can I possibly understand the viewpoints of a black women or a Hispanic woman or even a white women if I don’t listen? Isn’t dismissing her viewpoint the same thing that you are accusing her of, dismissing the viewpoint of an economically disadvantaged white person? It seems to me that we have something to learn from each. I would love to be able to participate in this women’s class at Yale because this whole concept is rather new to me and I think would be important to my ever evolving understanding of American history. But of even more importance is how it will influence the lives of my young grandchildren. I want a better future for them. Not just economically but socially as well. It certainly does not hurt us to listen.
139
@Michael Green I missed the part in her essay where she claimed that white privilege is the only kind. But ask yourself: when you go into a shop, does a clerk follow you around to see if you're going to shoplift? If a cop stops you for a broken taillight, are you afraid you'll be shot? That's white privilege.
199
I do not think we should judge white men by the behavior of white businessmen in first class. They are all jerks and the worst beneficiaries of white male privilege. But they are also fueled by the grandiose entitlement of class privilege and the intellectual failures of having attended college before these kinds of discourses became routine subjects of discussion. Like most of my yuppie white male friends (gay, straight and otherwise), I am in my 30s, do not fly in first class, do not have children whom I am trying to slide into Yale whatever way possible. None of us would be so ignorant as to speak to Ms. Rankine in the way these men do. Which is not to say we wouldn't have our own internalized white supremacists tendencies. As a public intellectual, Ms. Rankine has a responsibility not to re-entrench whiteness as an essential category which, for the purpose of this essay, is equivalent to a white male heterosexual business traveler, which, in my estimation, is often one of the least imaginative and intellectual porous categories of people. Why not ask your young male students what they think? Why not ask the white men who are boarding after you? Or the white male (usually) gay flight attendants what they think? These men share white male privilege but they also share being in a circumstantially subordinate position of power in relation to you. This conversation is so much more complex than this essay. I hope Ms. Rankine, with her venerable empathy, plunges a little deeper.
113
I fail to understand why white people are so touchy about there special place in American society.
Being white opens the door to countless opportunities. If you decide not to take advantage of these special venues, please don't act as if they weren't offered to you.
most of us dont get one opportunity no matter how many hard earned degrees we have. White people dont have to worry about being shot just for walking out their front door.
Read the newspapers and read the comments here in the NYT, white people are special.
115
@Tony, black people don’t get shot for walking out the door; they get shot for refusing to follow police instructions. White people also get shot for that, more often per year than blacks do.
There are no special opportunities that open up just for being white. Opportunities open up for academically successful people. For any given level of achievement (as measured by SAT, GRE, etc. scores), being black opens more doors than being white due to the demand for diversity exceeding the supply of academically successful African-Americans.
51
@Tony
I can only guess why white people are touchy based on how I feel . . . which is overwhelmed to even begin to fathom the brutal history of white on black dominance and violence. White privilege is a residual of that brutal history of dominance. And while I did not personally participate, I am implicated. I'm not saying it is an equal burden to bear, but it is a burden for thoughtful folks nonetheless.
How do I fix it? How do we fix it?
12
@Alonzo, if you didn’t personally participate, you cannot be implicated, even if you want to be. No one can be in any way responsible for anything they did not do, good or bad.
20
Thank you
2
So called white privilege is nothing more than an excuse by non-whites for not succeeding in life. It's easier to blame someone else for your shortcomings than to look in the mirror.
7
White privilege ala Chicago all the red light camera and ticket writers in white neighborhoods. Black alderman demanded they be taken down in their neighborhoods too many tickets were being issued. Live in a white neighborhood miss your water bill a month and you have an orange turnoff notice in 3 days. Blacks run up tens of thousands in water bills then get them forgiven for no other reason than they are black.
5
Fire your therapist. That man was insulting you.
2
When will the NYT let a white privileged male working his butt off to pay his bills and taxes publish a rebuttal to a black racist elitist article?
8
Great essay.
Another choice quote from James Baldwin:
“Whatever white people do not know about Negroes reveals, precisely and inexorably, what they do not know about themselves.”
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1962/11/17/letter-from-a-region-in-my-mind
1
my fathers white privilege was born out of getting up every morning at 5am whether he was sick or their was a blizzard outside and went to work. later on in life with a bad back,bad knees and bad heart. he had the privilege of retiring with his house paid for and doing some traveling before he passed at 83. He spent 6 years under german occupation during WW2 and never used that as an excuse for his lot in life.
14
"White privilege" does not exist. We just had a mixed race President, for goodness sakes.
This is not to say that whites and other races accomplish the same things, or take part in various pursuits according to their distribution in the population.
There are a disproportionate number of Black athletes in football and basketball.
If you look at the doctorates awarded in mathematics this year, almost all of them went to Whites and Asians.
Not all races commit crimes at the same rate.
People are NOT all the same.
People who use the term "white male" to charaterize a whole population are just as racist as the people they are criticizing, but few seem to realize it.
8
I don't think the poor whites in eastern Kentucky or the trailer-dwelling denizens of Alabama consider themselves "privileged." Maybe Claudia Rankine does.
11
Lefty white guy here. Worked for Sanders, voted for Clinton in November, would like to see Warren run against Trump. We have a manipulative, race baiting, quasi-Fascist in the White House. But articles like these - largely a long winded musing on petty rudeness in First Class - are a gift to Steve Bannon. Steve eats this stuff up, as does the GOP. I also found that the piece, like much acadrmic writing, was disorganized and rambling, and could have been edited to half its length. Is there an editor in the house?
16
Maybe she should try flying coach (where the majority of white men and women fly) rather than staying in first/business class with her other privileged circle.
11
.
Better me than you.
One group or anothr will hav The Privilege, but it shouldnt be applied in an overbearing way.
When I was in white-minority Hawaii in the '80s, whites were disparaged : my "mainland accent" was a detriment in job hunting,
it marked me as a "mainland haole" [HOW-lay.]
Bc of my caucasian race and mainland ways I was advised mostly by whites but some "locals" too how to stay in my place --- which beaches, neighborhoods, hangouts, etc would be.......better for me
.
.
2
Wow, life without white privalage sounds awful. I'll be sure to hold on to mine!
2
Our schools are nothing more than institutions of PC liberal/progressive/socialist indoctrination.
7
@Lee Holland I do not agree with you, but I am disappointed in the New York Times for publishing articles like this that fuel this belief. Race is such a volatile subject in the country with Trump as president. The media directly aided his election and these types of articles will contribute to his success in the the next election. The NYT has the opportunity to present evidence based articles demonstrating how people of color are discriminated against in every aspect of American life and maybe even give policy ideas on how to fix racial inequality. Instead they publish an article by a professor at Yale giving anecdotal evidence about her racist experiences flying first class across the world.
1
She's on a university faculty, flies first class to S. Africa, has a therapist and sees white male privilege everywhere. I want a pair of glasses which help me see those privileges, since I've been jostled and threatened by people like her numerous times.....next she'll want me to pay reparations for long past injustice, as if they were stored in a bank she manages.
9
one cannot '...interrogating that question....' interrogate a question as it's inanimate and unable to answer.
however, i am pleased that your article of definite value has been published.
1
Since there is only one biological DNA genetic evolutionary fit human race species that began in Africa 300, 000 years ago there are no black nor white nor yellow races.
What we call race aka color is an evolutionary fit human pigmented response to varying levels of solar radiation at different altitudes and latitudes primarily related to producing Vitamin D and protecting genes from damaging mutations
What we call race aka color aka ethnicity aka national origin is an evil malign socioeconomic political educational demographic historical white European American Judeo-Christian myth meant to legally and morally justify humanity denying black African American enslavement and separate and unequal black African American Jim Crow.
Racism aka bigotry and prejudice based upon color aka ethnicity aka national origin in America is real. Even though race is not.
See ' The Race Myth: Why We Pretend That Race Exists in America' Joseph L. Graves; ' Watson Defined' : ' The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness" Michelle Alexander: ' Dog-Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class ' Ian Haney Lopez; ' 13th' Ava DuVernay
2
@Blackmamba
Then why does my 23andMe report say that I’m European and Jewish? Race is not a myth, except for the American construction of ever-expanding “whiteness”. White privilege is also a myth.
2
As a 60+ white male with loads of "privilege", I wonder why I should give any of it up voluntarily. Exactly what do I get (and what do why white children and grandchildren get) by giving it up? It will just make our lives harder. Would other racial groups in the same position give up their privilege? Do I see Asian people giving up their slots at Harvard to free up space for Blacks or Hispanics? Do I see Black stars in the NBA giving up their position to let more white players in? Do I see wealthy Blacks in South Africa giving up their privilege to lower income Blacks.? The answers are obvious.
Harping on the evils of white privilege will just drive white voters to Trump. To combat the problems of racism and inequality there needs to be another story line than whites, specifically white males, are the source of all evil in the world. Especially if you them to vote for you.
6
The privilege of white , rich people, criticizing other whites for not being as sensitive as they are.
Most people of all races just go to work, and go home, not posting on the nyt about privilege.
White people posting about horrors of white privilege.
Give me a break.
4
I read much of your piece, but finally had to stop reading because of all the racial stereotyping. Are all white men (or the majority) rude like the one who stepped in front of you?
You may have a white husband who is probably as privileged as you given that you teach at Yale, but it seems that you do not understand the diversity within white people - you want to stereotype all white people.
You may be the one who needs to do research and go to places other than your privileged hamlet of Yale to discover that most white people are not nearly as privileged as you.
7
"staring at my semi circle of oak trees.." in New Haven where it's a safe distance from violent black crime? Hmmmm. Sounds like privlidge to me.
4
This was more about privileged white men (first class flying) not white privilege.
4
Lately, I’ve been thinking more about racism, sexism and many other things in the context of a broader category: aggression. In recent years, Americans have come to admire aggression as an indicator of success and positive change. Donald Trump was elected president precisely because he is so outrageously aggressive. It’s impossible to imagine his election if he was only slightly less aggressive. Successful business and political leaders are typically highly aggressive. However, not all aggressiveness is created equal. When blacks and other minorities are aggressive, they are considered threatening. When women are aggressive, they are considered unfeminine, even unnatural. (As we now see in the reactions to the Congressional “Squad”, to be female, minority and aggressive is a near-criminal combination in the eyes of many.)
I believe that this explains why there are so few female and minority CEOs. The mostly white, male corporate boards deem non-aggressive candidates as unsuitable for that reason alone. But they are likely to deem aggressive minorities or women as distasteful. This is not to say they are opposed to women or minorities overall; they do not typically oppose their employment in middle management. But there does seem to be some unconscious line that is not to be crossed.
The group at the airport as acted on the sense of self-importance and disdain for the rights of others that are hallmarks of aggressiveness. It didn't matter who they pushed aside.
1
@JimH, I think that you have brought up an important point. The culture since the 1980 has increasingly favored aggression as a positive character traint. You point out good reasons to think that culture punishes these same traits in women and people of color. Look at the Westerns from the 1950s: for all of th eir many faults, the protagonist, even the John Wayne characters, were never aggressive. The aggressive types, gunslingers, were always proto-fascists, whose time was shown to have come and gone.
I would bring up another aspect of this problem: with the unenlightened and aggressive self-interest of Ayn Rand's philosophy having become the dominant worldview, everyone is also in competition with everyone else. We don't like our competitors. But when we are told it is a meritocracy, we have no basis for being a "loser" except that we deserve it. This is not something people can live with. The racists have a handy explanation: your competitor was not legitimately in the competition.
This is why tying anti-racism and anti-sexism to pro-market competition and free trade as the Democratic Party centrists have for 30 years is self-defeating: the aggressive competitivenss both favors the Trump types aesthetically and it leads people to want to exclude competitors. It is no accident that the only real progress on race, gender and sexual preference equality, and the immigration reforms all happened after decades of New Deal structures and policies.
1
Those white guys in the 1st class seats? Here’s a few of the ways they got there...
1. Born on 3rd base and thought they hit a triple
2. Grew up in a mostly a white world, graduated from mostly really well funded white schools (Biggest predictor of SAT scores is household $income)
3. Worked hard and thought they did it all by themselves
4. Didn’t work that hard but got lucky
5. Never lived in poverty
6. Had lots of mentors along the way
7. Hired and promoted by white guys who graduated from their college and had similar backgrounds
8. Role models. Saw how the senior management white guys did it as they were starting off in their careers
9. And some of them grew up in lower middle class families but somehow had access to public schools and universities and then out worked everybody...which was still a massive advantage versus the minority kids in the same town
Terrific article.
3
White privilege is real, most certainly. But it can be a bitter pill to swallow without the acknowledgement of interlocking and intersecting class privilege. I wish Ms. Rankine had paused for a moment to reflect on her choice to fly first-class, which in a just world would not exist, or her position at Yale, an engine of social inequality. Someone with her talent and bibliography could teach at any university she wanted, but she chooses to work at Yale, demonstrating that her devotion to a left politics ends with the safe entry of oppressed groups into the capitalist system built for white slaveowners. White privilege is real, yes, but until we acknowledge that rich people are the enemy of everyone, nothing will change.
4
A beautiful, powerful essay.
This is an issue that I’ve struggled with a lot. At what point is a person responsible for the acts of their ancestors? Here’s the truth: no one chooses what ethnicity, nationality, gender, socio-economic status, or sexuality they’re born into. As long as you do the best you can in the moment to recognize and overcome your inherent biases, what more can anyone ask for? Is the child of a murderer automatically a murderer? Is the child of an abuser automatically abusive? To the extent that self-determination exists, if people acknowledge past atrocities and do their best to live the right way, is it fair to condemn them for acts that happened before they were born? Where does it end? I’ve never walked in your shoes, but you’ve never walked in mine either. From my perspective, we all need to meet on common ground as best we can. Let’s not alienate people, regardless of background, who want a better future for all of us. Let’s focus our attention on the individuals who refuse to recognize the past and fight against it, rather than fighting amongst ourselves. We have much bigger (presidential) fish to fry…
3
it would've been interesting if she'd talked to whites who lived in a country/culture that was not dominated by whites.
i'm white and lived in japan, in sakai, nara and osaka, off and on for 19 years.
i'm also canadian, not american, so it's possible my perceptions of race could be different.
japan was 98.9% japanese at that time--1993-2012. 70% of the remaining 1.1% were korean or chinese ethnically.
i was treated differently--both negatively and positively--but i were very aware i stuck out like a sore thumb, that people had many preconceived notions of me--mostly that i was american--and that i'd never fit in no matter how good or bad my japanese was.
also, that if i had a beef or a problem with japanese that i would probably lose....it was proven when a 20 year old kid drove his car into mine while making an illegal turn.....and the police weren't much interested in talking to him.
being there for that long made me treasure diversity even more than i normally did.
finally, my family--on my paternal side--is now seven generations in canada. it started in the 1880s when my great grandfather came from pre-partitioned ireland.
it now includes england, german, romania, india (sikh), cameroon, italy and japanese by marriage.
france, wales and china on my mother's side.
3
@brupic
and Canada is the only country on the face of the earth where this is possible.
I think we'd all agree on that.....
1
@brupic
oops...I WAS not I were...
I suppose that I should not complain that I need higher scores on civil service tests if I want hired by the government or that disadvantaged groups get priority while bidding on government contracts. I should also not mind that my parents back in Appalachia are living at near poverty level
The fact that my ancestors were killed in the Civil War wearing blue should not make a difference either. Yes, I felt all that privilege when I burned through my 401K to keep my house while I was unemployed for months at a time. That is why I moved half way across the country for a job to feed my family. You know we got over the fact that our ancestors homes were burned and starved out of the Rhine Valley because of their beliefs and came and built a home here in America the hard way. So, I will just bow my head, be ashamed and acknowledge all that privilege. When I am too old to work and homeless I will just think back on this thoughtful article.
6
If somebody can be fired without a fuss, that person will be more easily hired, and probably won't fly first class.
2
"If you live your life as a struggle, it will be a struggle."
5
My god, what a revelation: people are rude while traveling by air and they mostly feel offended by people who are within 50 feet of them when traveling. Ms. Rankine, come on back to the economy gate area, boarding line, and section of the plane if you want to see some across-all-races self-interest, entitlement, and thoughtless nastiness. We'll be glad to have you.
6
We aren't supposed to generalize about others but here we have someone generalizing about others. And this is OK because "white people" deserve it. I am a gay man who is white, I am decidedly not "priviledged".
8
@Mack -- Not so privileged, perhaps, as if you were straight. But do step back -- just one or two steps -- and imagine yourself a gay man who is black. Ask yourself: Would you trade the life you live for the life that you're imagining? Or, imagine yourself a straight man who is black. Would you trade the life you live for the life that you're imagining?
Hierarchies of privilege exist, and as a white guy, gay or straight, in the American South, you're near the top of those hierarchies. Or so it seems to me.
The rudest people I've ever seen in lines were Indians in India, men and women alike. No order at all, just pushing and shoving to get ahead. I don't think being rude in a line is restricted to white people or males.
8
Most important of all: This question really should be addressed to the White Men in the GOP who are in power, in the Senate and House of Representatives. Actually, it was "asked" last week and their silence was DEFININIG.
2
Let's get something perfectly straight- "White Privilege" is owned and orchestrated the top .001 percent of America's wealthiest - I don't know them - so stop trying to cast me in the same light as them just because of my skin color.
2
"White privilege" does not exist. We just had a mixed race President, for goodness sakes.
This is not to say that whites and other races accomplish the same things, or take part in various pursuits according to their distribution in the population.
There are a disproportionate number of Black athletes in football and basketball.
If you look at the doctorates awarded in mathematics this year, almost all of them went to Whites and Asians. Not all races commit crimes at the same rate.
People are NOT all the same.
People who use the term "white male" to characterize a whole population are just as racist as the people they are criticizing, but few seem to realize it.
2
Whew!
So much to unpack awesome reality based examination of racial truths about America and Whiteness
Brilliant
1
Ms. Ranking, don’t you think “interrogating that question” says about all one needs to know about your intent and the possible responses, no response, you will get?
2
When I was 17/18 ( young & White) I was playing & singing Live music in various Night Clubs in the Rhythm & Blues side of town. I was threatened & insulted all the time and told I couldn't possibly play that stuff cause I was white. Well - I'll tell you what - I kept on playing what I liked - regardless of the Racism. And I kept on getting Gigs - because I was good at it.
A few years later the work was in the C & W (white) side of town, & I was good at that too. And still getting insults. One night some Yahoo in Boots danced by the stage & told me to stop playing that "jazz". "we don't like black Music here". What a laugh ! I kept up what I was doing & got hired every day of the week.
It has gone that way for decade after decade. You aren't going to put me in a box. This country stinks when it comes to prejudice, hate preconceptions and preconceived wackiness. I have experienced it all. One size does NOT fit all. But I'll tell you one thing - we are going down down the Hatred tube mighty fast.
5
Being black, or Asian (all types), or "other", and a good student, is, nowadays, a sure-fire recipe for a full-ride scholarship at most universities looking to fill their diversity quotas. Whereas being white and not rich, is not good enough. How does your racial [sic] privilege feel?
2
@Arthur G. Pym
True enough except for the East Asian/Indian students—at least at the top schools. See, e.g., the lawsuit against Harvard for its admission policies that make it significantly harder for Asians to get in (while favoring black/Hispanic students as “real” diversity). Asians must get 100 more points on SAT than whites, 200 more than Blacks.
2
Kudos to the author for sharing her experiences so the rest of us might begin to reflect on them. I'll be re-reading this one.
2
@GK Yeah, science fiction can be good. Too bad her story goes nowhere.
4
I'm a white woman, now 70, and have had the same experiences you have, except when I was married to a doctor AND he was present with me. This has been going on my entire life in places as diverse as Seattle, Peoria IL and Jacksonville FL. You are my hero.
I have benefited in various ways from my fortunate circumstances of birth for a long life. On the few occasions when I was told an equally qualified "minority" had been "privileged" ahead of me, I had no resentment, because those fortunate circumstances meant there would be many other opportunities (if I had the sense to make good use of them).
What a privilege it is to be able to fly from world-class university to international conference in first class.
5
@David in Toledo -- "What a privilege it is to be able to fly from world-class university to international conference in first class." Indeed.
One of Prof Rankine's points was, I think, that this amazing privilege was treated by some to whom it was accorded as to be accorded only to them. And not to a black woman, whose skin colour, whose gender, in their eyes foreclosed access to that privilege for her.
Her sharing in that privilege may even have devalued it for them...
As a now-well-to-do cis-gendered hetero white male, I am under no delusion that I live in the same world as a black man in a similar demographic. None whatsoever.
For starters, I no longer think about my race. I say no longer because I thought about it a lot as a minority white child who lived in a mostly black and latino community. I remember what it felt like to be the other, and perhaps because of that I've kept my eyes open to the perceived 'otherness' that is the genetic burden of non-whites.
No one follows me in stores. No one locks their cars when I approach on a sidewalk. No one suspected that I was a racial preference token in college or graduate school or medical school. No one asked if I needed remedial help with my early medical school studies. No one asks to see my MediCal card when I pick up a prescription. No one asks me to enter through the back door when arriving as a guest at an event. No cop has ever pulled his gun on me because I was illegally parked.
These are all actual events that happened to black and latino friends. Space prevents me from submitting anything close to an exhaustive list.
9
This is a resonant piece to me; Rankine's thoughts are well-articulated. And it says a great deal on the face of it that this woman, one of our most accomplished and lauded poets, repeatedly felt hesitant to inquire about what was inside these white male heads.
By the end of the article, she was actively engaging in dialogue, instead of a monologue within her head. I hope there's a follow-up that captures future dialogues she has with white men. She has a gift for inquiry.
One other thing: I got a bit derailed at the beginning of the piece when she mentioned the white jerk who cut in line at the airport and then disparaged her to his "buddy". I had the same thing happen to me, except deplaning after a long international flight. Stepping out into the aisle, a white American man behind me, younger than me, started launching insults. His traveling partner joined in. I said nothing, but they continued to harass me, even launching a threat to my safety. I ignored them, but the fact that I still remember it some 25 years later is an indication of the emotional impact it had. I believe there's something about accompanied by someone one believes shares their views that emboldens some men to be, well, jerks. To anyone they feel they can outnumber.
Not saying Rankine's perceptions weren't accurate -- that the men she cites weren't racist, only jerks -- but I sure wish THAT had been the man she had an active dialogue with. He needed it, in the worst way.
2
For years I remarked about the ‘white man in a suit’ privilege, which still exists. If you’re white, neat, and wearing a suit, in many circles you have instant credibility and license to gain access anywhere. It’s real. That’s white man’s privilege. But then I saw a hilarious comedy show episode about a black guy who gains instant credibility if he is neatly attired and wears eyeglasses. Funny but not completely unserious. Race obviously matters to people, but mostly as a cue to fall on stereotyping. The question becomes, though, how much of this privilege is based on race, and how much is based on perceived economic rank?
14
Being a white man today is a lot like some aspects of being black. For example there's often the complaint that a black person in a prominent role becomes a figurehead for black people generally. Fail or fall short and your entire race will be judged. But to be white, and particularly a man today, is to have the sins of every other white man not just of today or of your own country laid at your feet from the crusades, through colonization and slavery and the foreign policy of the 70s and 80s.
Black people also often recount that they are expected to be deferential and not rock the boat when it comes to race. Yet the same is true of white men. The author's clear perspective is that any challenge to her constructs of "white privilege" is at best "white fragility," and perhaps even racism. When accused of privilege, we're supposed to smile politely or simply nod our heads in agreement. Any comments on race are supposed to be self flagellation.
To be white today is to realize that talent is not supposed to determine your opportunities any longer. White men are considered to be "overrepresented" in tech, leadership roles, and political office, so regardless of your qualifications or talent, the real question is, is there a "diverse" (non-white, non-cis male, or non-straight) candidate available?
Humans have 24,000 genes of which fewer than 400 influence skin color. Maybe one day we'll come to see skin color as the truly tiny part of who we are that it is...
17
What White Men Privilege? I've worked hard all through my working career, experienced periods of unemployment, and have now retired. I never experienced what is being labeled WMP and consider it to be more about jealousy than fact.
12
@Bayshore Progressive
Some people are willing to put the work in, and some want it handed to them.
4
White privilege doesn’t mean you don’t have hardships in life it means your hardships aren’t due to your race.
3
White men as an entire population do not enjoy "privilege." Homeless white heroin addicts or meth users have no upper hand in this world. Jail cells filled with poor white men stuck in a cycle of deep poverty don't enjoy perks. And, yes, I fully realize that those forcing the privilege argument would contend that privilege doesn't necessarily equal economic wealth.
If there is a privilege anyone has, it's being an American. Our lot is far better than so many of the impoverished or war-torn countries from where our ancestors emigrated.
That a professor and poet has the time to conduct an amateur social experiment, write it up in the NYT Magazine and get paid for it is all you need to know to see how good we have it.
16
Perhaps some day 3.4 billion boys and men around the planet will recognize their profound unearned privilege granted throughout human history by other men over now 3.4 billion girls and women...then change that. This is the enduring injustice that's always been the basis for racism, homophobia and species-ism.
* Not holding breath.
3
@Maggie
Look at the natural world. This isn't an injustice, but a natural phenomenon. Be patient and realistic. Change and progress take time, and women have it a lot better now than they did just a few decades ago.
Overcoming and mastering our primitive, base instincts is part of becoming civilized...a process that is ongoing.
4
Made sense until the “species-ism”.
I’m only surprised that one of the Democratic presidential candidate haven’t uttered ‘reparations’! That will come as the contest gets tighter. If I change my sex do I become exempt?
1
I fly first class often. I also have had people step in front of me while I have been in line waiting to board the plane. I have had people line up next me, forming there own line or acting as if I did not exist. Acts of rudeness. My white privilege means I don't have to think of these as racially motivated acts of rudeness.
14
Whites think of white privilege the same as Asians think of Asian privilege, blacks think of black privilege and Latinos think of Latino privilege. It is advantageous to be a member of the predominant racial group in any country.
However, most competition is interracial, not interracial. For example, white Americans mostly compete against other white Americans because whites make up 76.4 percent of the population.
8
I'm curious what the reaction would be if some old White guy decided to teach a course at Yale on the Black experience.. I applaud your desire to learn more about an alien culture in the summer prior to teaching a course, but wouldn't some depth if understanding of the subject be a prerequisite for teaching it at an Ivy League school?
9
@Dave C
You'd think so, but apparently the right politics and demographic are enough. It should be called Liberal Privilege. That entails the privileges of going around attributing made-up privilege points to anyone who has achieved more than you and demanding that society at large reward you for your shortcomings, a fast track to tenure so that you can keep spreading hateful rhetoric without losing your job, and the ability to organize and participate in riots whenever a Conservative speaker is invited on campus by a student group.
4
I am sitting in my backyard with tears running down my face after reading this article. The indignities, rude behavior, yelled insults must not only hurt the soul ; but also damage the heart. The first time someone said some thing to me about my “white privilege,” I became defensive and said “ I’ve earned everything that I have.” This is true; I grew up poor; but it is the wrong response. I can’t possibly know what it feels like to be a person of color and a minority where one is abused, neglected, harassed, bullied, and beaten merely because the color of their skin. All over the world we sometimes view people with suspicion just because they look different. Everyone just stop it now! Bark less, wag more.
4
These are tough conversations. Being privileged comes with its own restraints and punishments: not being able to clearly see who you are and what you’ve become, not knowing how other people really see you. Ever step away from these so-called privileges frees you.
2
While I agree white privilege is a factor; I would argue you have this framed wrong:
Not all white people have "privilege" unless you define the term to mean free from experiencing prejudice.
It certainly doesn't mean all whites make more money. With more blacks becoming extremely successful today, that should be obvious.
So my problem with the term "white privilege" is it ignores economics. A poor white is not going to feel privileged.
This was seen in the Civil War. There was a movie about the true story of some poor whites in a Southern town who recognized the war was only about fighting for the rights of the wealthy to own slaves, and opted out.
So change the term to: Wealthy white privilege, and you have a case. Because see wealthy whites also have privilege over poor whites.
As more blacks are becoming successful (a great trend!) it is insane to argue the differences are mainly racial today -- instead they are economic.
That doesn't mean there aren't disgusting racists around. I'm just saying you can't assume this is the majority today.
10
WM here, I have had white people cut the line, also have had black people do that. I never thought of it as a racial thing, only as an act of rudeness. What would the author believe if a black person cut the line in front of her? Since she sees the world solely in racial terms, how would that be processed?
10
The only real white privilege is the privilege of knowing that some people are just jerks, having nothing to do with race. Rude behavior at the airline gate? Bad service/attitudes from flight attendants? As a white person. I know this happens to everyone, all the time. I'll bet Ms Rankine knows it too - presuming she's been on many flights where no one bothered her and she got her drink the first time.
If racism is really as prevalent as some would like to believe (so that they can teach a class on "white studies") they wouldn't have to resort to mind reading to make their point.
14
As an older white man, I wish I could say I don’t see color. But I grew up in a declining Midwest that blamed every ounce of decline on an “other.” Detroit was once great - it wasn’t the economy that ruined it it was blacks. The best thing I ever did was move my small children to the west coast, where we were not a majority. Because of my upbringing I will never be able to see a person of another race and not hear that little voice from the past use a slur. But I can do my best to shut it down and to try to make sure I’m the last generation who has to hear it.
6
@Victor What's the west coast of Ukraine like?
1
Bravo!
Has the author considered, while in her cushy First Class Lounges or amongst her trust funded students, that she may just be experiencing just “privilege” instead of “white privilege” - something which has no basis in race?
I went to an Ivy League school and I also fly first class. People of all colors in such environments can just feel over- privileged and act rude.
When we apply “racism” to every small transgression we are essentially crying wolf aren’t we?
9
This reminds me of conversations I had in high school such as "ooh, he looked at me so funny.... what does that MEAN?" A pseudoscientific study I think. Lumps on head....
8
The author has a paradigm-her collected set of assumptions-which is her biased world view.
We all have paradigms / bias.
The author, however, can articulate and cite these assumptions very well, as she does in this article.
Her bias is that she lives in a world of White Privilege (WP).
Victimology is in the waft and weave of the fabric of WP, the whole cloth she sees as wrapping, shrouding, or even as fashioned into a tailored fit up there in First Class.
If only she could disabuse herself of WP & not inculcate her students with this bias. (As an academic, how could she not also see the faultiness of her selected sample group?)
From the article:
“And then came the realization that we were, in fact, in the midst of a discussion about the perceived loss of white male privilege. Was I implicated in his loss? Did he think so?”
The realization is no verity.
Affirmative Action (AA) is at its essence a hiring program with the discriminating factor being race. ( Or fill in any one of the protected minority classes under federal law, I think now up to 12.)
If you are an able-bodied cisgendered straight white middle aged male, you are most likely to be discriminated against-all other things being equal-in favor of one of the 12.
The author could only see a lamentation on a loss of WP and not a fellow traveler who now shares a common experience of discrimination in hiring.
More faulty thinking: A therapist telling a patient what OTHER people think is a quack; patient is duped.
10
You asked the wrong question. You should have asked what white men thought about privilege. Not THEIR privilege. You make an assumption right from the start that because a man is white they are privileged.
Just because a man is white does not mean he is privileged. I work in an occupation where I care for the sick and injured. There is no skin pigmentation that I would think is better or worse. They are just people. All people. Every walk of life. Is your question valid? Of course. Does it solve any problems? No. You just make the divisions worse. I really dislike that racist in the Oval Office. People feed off his ignorance. For me, life is one person and then the next. They get the same care. THey don't all speak English and they have different cultures. Your article simply compounds the problem and the paradigm will not change because of your article. Do people have privilege? Of course. And it comes in every race, color creed, religion, sexual orientation. The only non privileged person is the one sleeping on the street or fighting their own demons or simply living payday to payday. There is so much racism in the world. Humans who act and react because they see someone different than them are the ones who feel privileged. I am the old white man who worked all his life and never made more than 50K a year. I am a left leaning progressive. This nation should be about acceptance. Not about who is different and who is better than the other. But then, this is a human failure.
7
Here is the problem with the her, and the general, fascination with "white male priviledge". Oppressed people see the world through a very narrow lens and that lens is corruptable. Men, and whites in general, don't see themselves as "privileged" because they don't see themselves through the lens of whiteness. Some may see the the world through their lens as gay, handicapped, poor, etc., "white" men. Some "whites" may even see the world the world through their lens as oppressed women. And it's these lenses where the fantasy of "white (male) privildge" falls apart. Gay "white" males are definitely not privildged and gay people in general have been badly mistreated and maligned by "priviledged black heterosexuals" (and "white priviledged heterosexuals", "Hispanic priviledged heterosexuals", and so on). Essentially, there may be degrees of priviledge but, very few have not been the "victim" of those with "priviledged". The danger of this narrative is that people are tuning it out because it is inherently, if not blatantly, racist.
10
White privilege?I was on the admission committee of a major Medical School and the advantage was to the underrepresented minority,black or ceratain hispanic .Certainly being white male was a disadvantage but to be Asian was a real downer.I am so glad my Korean Surgeon made it
11
@GDK I applied to medical school as a white male from suburban NYC in 1999. I knew that my grades and MCAT scores had to be much higher than any person of color. And yet once in medical school I never once even looked at another ethnicity and thought “black privilege” or “Hispanic privilege” even though they had an advantage in being admitted.
This article is simply reminiscent of the victim of the week culture we now live in. Sure there is racism and that is terrible. But not every small transgression or dirty look or someone cutting in line is racist.
5
I would have preferred an historical and statistical analysis to her observations of white males in the first class line at the airport. Anecdotal experiences is what informs most people's opinions which is also why most people are woefully uninformed about various subjects, including this one about race. "Feelings aren't facts" is something we all should remember. Trump and his racist supporters harbor a set of beliefs based on emotions which have no basis in reality, which has led us to this unfortunate moment in American history.
4
I guess I thought this was going to be more data and less personal reflection. I also want to know what White men think about their privilege. Perhaps I need to get off my duff and do some research about it. I was reminded of a resentful ex who couldn't get the jobs he wanted because of "diversity."
"Privilege" implies an undeserved, a nuanced, tacit waterfall that anyone who hasn't gotten what they want bristles at - hence the "I worked for everything I have" attitude coupled with the attendant belief in American meritocracy.
2
This is a wondrously good essay, extraordinarily well written and, more important, well thought.
Two things struck me. One is the overdetermination that many blacks feel in living in a white-majority society. We whites go through life without thinking we "represent" much of anything. Maybe it's different for white men these days; they are a bit defensive. I am older, and I'm well past thinking that I as a woman or as a white represent much of anything. I've been rendered invisible. But the blacks I've known seem to carry a burden of representation around with them, and I sometimes find it maddening. I will explain later.
I also detest the "I don't see color" or its alternative, "I am colorblind." I enjoy my friendships with people from diverse backgrounds, including racial, precisely because of the differences. You live long enough, you get sick and tired of white people.
A heads-up: I grew up in the Deep South and, worse, in a Ku Klux Klan stronghold. This was a long time ago, though, and the New South is quite different. Anyway, I fled at age 18 and swore I would never tolerate a racial slur again. And I haven't.
But I say all this to get to a point: No one is going to change a racist. I know these people. I'm kin to them. Get past it and enjoy your lives. Being concerned about every action in terms of what you're projecting is needless. Racists will not be affected, and those of us able to see you as people will see you as individuals, not representatives.
3
This is what goes for a socially relevant discussion of power dynamics these days in the Times? I stopped reading halfway through after this author had apologized for her own entree into so called "White Privalege" you know...the yard with trees, and I don't travel first class on planes... and the matter of that professorship, which again seems plausible only if one plays along the same lines as the power structure in general.
It will always be about social class, my favorite public teacher the recently deceased Dick Gregory was very clear in his most acerbic condemnations of white privilege that it "was a certain kind of white man that held power over others" and not simply a matter of whiteness.
I am sorry but as a white man raised as a minority in a Spanish/Black neighborhood when I read this piece I am reminded of the time a family member, whom was raised with me in said area, dating a black individual, who had gone to prep schools and was to be attending one of the best colleges, and wining about his lot as a man of color, amongst white privilege... My sister laughed at him.
She told him of the times I had to fight and instruct her to run home when we were jumped...We had lots of these times and it never made me love all people less, or assume anything more than "when you are poor its tough out there! This woman has every trapping of privilege, it comes across as amusing for her to claim the system exploits her.
8
You Americans lived in the wealthiest country that's ever existed. The reality is you all enjoy an economic privilage, in some circumstances exponentially so, to others on our planet, even among your poorest citizens. Yet to read your newspapers convey you as the most miserable, angry, and outraged of all of us.
10
“Twenty-five years after they participated in one of the world’s most atrocious instances of mass violence, their experiences in Rwanda show that peace and reconciliation are possible.”
By Hollie Nyseth Brehm and Laura C. Frizzell
My Lord! The author wakes and sleeps finding faulty with every man she comes across! Are there subconscious bias in workplace and society? Absolutely. Does it means everyone should look at her and say, "sorry I am white mail and I am sorry for the privilege I have." Come on. I too find bias and discrimination when it comes to key roles. But not wherever I go. I have been stopped as a person of color and humiliated by other people of color in airports. Please NYTimes, if you carefully read this author has great privilege being a Harvard prof flying business or first class all the time. Move on.
10
I have no problem with learning how I am perceived and what I don't notice, but before a member of one race presumes to school members of another race on how they should see themselves, and negatively at that, I think she should seriously sit as student to find out how she is perceived by them -- not how her race was traditionally perceived, but how she, a Yale professor telling others they are privileged, is perceived.
I promised myself I would grow my hair when I retired -- I had a whole career of keeping it neat and tidy for the endlessly required "business casual". So I did. Would Claudia Rankine like to know how it is to be driving while, walking while, going to doctor's appointments while, old and white? Pulled over because the young female cop thought she had an opioid bust given my profile? Treated like I had Alzheimer's in store after store, complete with millennials talking baby talk as if that makes you more understandable to the demented?
And how about going to the doctor, and before the visit begins, being asked where I would be sleeping tonight? Or going to a routine procedure and being surrounded in classic restraints pattern because I didn't have enough urine for a sudden on-the-spot drug test?
Go a few pages over, Ms. Rankine, and look seriously at the interactive map of the opioid crisis. I'm older than you, and I can remember learning as a small child back in the 1950s about starvation, poverty and early death in a place called Appalachia.
8
"White privilege” is an invention of progressive ideologues and nothing more.
A quick trip to Paducah, Kentucky will be very instructive for anyone who thinks that white skin - by itself - conveys some substantial economic privilege over any other skin color.
Race baiting is the core of the progressive strategy. Without claims (mostly false) of racism, the policy programs (mostly socialist) of the progressives cannot be justified.
9
Most White people are as touchy about talk of White privilege as tall people would be of talk of tall privilege, good looking people of good looking privilege, smart people of smart privilege, people from educated parents or educated parents privilege.
almost no one -- except those with guilty consciences or brainwashed in college-- wants their struggles and accomplishments reduced because of circumstances they have had no control over. It seems to me talk of White privilege is not only unnecessary when it comes to achieving greater equality, it's harmful, as it alienates those who want to help.
8
Brilliant, thank you. Only one comment. To show that the white men forming their own line was white privilege, not male privilege, you asked that we imagine black men doing the same - and indeed, we cannot. However, you didn’t ask to imagine a group of white women doing the same, and indeed we cannot - so it’s not purely white privilege, it is inextricably linked to male privilege.
3
@Stephanie
Trying to moderate a racist accusation with a sexist argument, are we?
Well, not only can we imagine black men, white women, or black women doing the same; I see it happen every time I go to the supermarket, which is presumably more often than the author or yourself embark on a plane.
Except that instead of doing it unintentionally and distractedly, these people (older women specifically) tend to feign interest over near the beginning of the line, loiter around for awhile to establish their presence there for anyone noticing them, then try to blend into the line once it starts moving. If it's not in my line, it's in a line or two over, and it happens all the time. But instead of turning these annoying displays of incivility into a form of oppression I can accuse others of, I just call it rudeness and move on.
1
It's certainly no piece of cake being a middle-aged white male. We're always being blamed for something. Some white males are arrogant jerks, no doubt spoiled by their rich parents, but not everyone should be painted with the same brush.
I really get sick and tired of listening to people whine about how life is "so unfair". I've suffered from depression for most of my adult life, and I don't go around playing the victim card.
I sure hope that my son isn't taking classes like this in college. BTW, there are more females attending his college than males.
8
First of all, I empathize with the author and think her perceptions of racism are real. I have two experiences as a white male in America I’d like to share: during my first job I would often have to arrive at 5 am and deal with a nasty, vindictive boss. One morning as I was walking in, I looked up and noticed a young black male standing outside; He immediately yelled: “you’re a racist!” Only later did I realize he probably interpreted the scowl on my face as derision at him, while in reality it reflected how miserable I was at my job. Many years later I was hauling my three young children onto an airplane by myself without help and an older black woman nicely asked If I needed help- I was in the midst of responding “no, thank you” when my two year old began tipping over a barrier and I grabbed her, so all that came out was “no” Her response was “Fine- I guess you don’t want a black woman’s help.” I wish people of color could give some of us the benefit of the doubt - maybe actions are not meant to be racist or even remotely drawn out of white privilege or our shared cultural history of racism, but something much more mundane.
8
You would do better getting information from white males if you drop the “white privilege” term. It is used as an intentional insult, not a useful description. It’s sort of like slapping someone in the face and asking them how it feels.
10
I don't understand what sort of "diversity card" that Asian American friend (of that white man's son) could have used to be admitted to Yale Early Action. Everyone who has been following this issue knows about the 2009 Princeton study showing that Asians had to score a hundred and forty points higher on the S.A.T. than whites to have the same chance of admission to top universities. That Asian American friend must have been an outstanding candidate by any measure.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-uncomfortable-truth-about-affirmative-action-and-asian-americans
4
Authors such as herself will continue to perpetuate the notion that racism is everywhere, whereas Africans who have immigrated here are happy to be here and love this country. I mean you can say “oh it’s cause I’m black” all you want, but in reality rude encounters happen to people of all races. Get over it.
6
Millions of black descendants of slaves are prospering in America. Millions more black and brown men have traveled here escaping persecution, starvation, death, disease, war, etc. Contrary to the always hateful views of the left, American blacks are privileged vs. other blacks in the world.
7
If Ms. Rankin wanted to question white men about her belief that all white men are privileged, she should have followed standard research protocols.
Ms. Rankin's own sense of privilege led to the believe that she had the right to interrogate white men about "their privilege."
The irony is that Ms. Rankine abused her own privilege, in an effort to prove that white are privileged, having chosen a group of men whom she knew shared her own economic privilege, rather than choosing to pose her question to white men of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
Her economic privilege allowed her to fly first class where she interrogated while men who had no way of escaping her, and to interrogate men in business class lounges.She chose the most economically ,privileged group of white men to whom she had easy access, selecting a sample of men whom she believe would support her beliefs.
Ms. Rankine did not travel to Appalachia , to shuttered factory towns, to areas that have been hit by natural disasters to homeless shelters, to shuttered factory towns, to V.A. hospitals, to the unemployment office, and so forth .
I hope that she does not have tenure. Yale teachers should know how to conduct research, and that research requires informed consent.
14
@DJS " I hope that she does not have tenure."
Leftist, woman, minority. She'll get tenure, fast, and fit right in.
2
It would have been nice if this article addressed why people treat other people differently. I believe it has to do with stereotypes.
1
Maybe the answers you seek are elsewhere. Is "white privilege" so unique as to merit exclusive focus? Your privilege as an able-bodied person, your American citizenship, your money, your access to "elites" at Yale and imprinteur your works garner through association with that elite institution, your youth compared to the elderly, the list goes on and on and on of how systemic structures aid or hinder even your own fate. We are ultimately all individuals with a unique set of advantages, disadvantages, some thrust upon us, others sought out. Is it just about power at end of the day? You are in first class, get the bigger seat at the front of the plane, but still get slighted for the drink order? That is the level of "microaggression" which grates, what about the others who walk by and squeeze into a tiny seat with no room 10 feet behind you? It is not that examining any particular bias such as "whiteness" in our society is not worthy in itself, it is just that to make that somehow a unique fulcrum is to miss why white men say "I worked for what I have really hard". In other words, it is a misattribution to have whiteness be the dominant factor in the outcome for getting a supreme court seat. In the context of an admission application review, lower gpa/test score criteria for certain minorities is a "privilege", one meant to try to correct the larger societal disadvantage that minorities experience in trying to get those scores.
5
Just want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this instead of working. Excellent work. I hope it creates even more dialogue to join the 1803 comments before mine.
1
I can’t walk alone on a secluded beach without fear of unknown men. I can call it out but cannot change it because I can’t control all men. I am afraid and a target because I am a woman. That will not change.
2
White male privilege is hard to define, like anything else, in broad strokes and irrespective to personal history. For me, it’s feeling guilty for not necessarily living up to specific societal pressures that should “come easy” to me as a white male, and not doing enough to advocate for fellow non-white male friends, colleagues or, in an often toxic gay community, partner. I admit, I don’t recognize all of the privilege afforded me, but I always try to learn other perspectives in the process and do better for myself and others.
I feel the author, despite minor acknowledgements of their own, has amplified some classist micro-aggressions common to just about anyone to make a point about race and privilege. Strange coming from someone who frequently flies first class and is an Ivy League academic—huge privileges to which a vast majority of Americans cannot relate regardless of race, gender, and sexual identity. These anecdotes feel disingenuous in their retelling as they may speak more appropriately to personality and individual fragility, which ultimately undermine the intended cause. Tone is important to discussion, and that seems lost on the author. Righteous indignation over the more mundane is not productive. In my own over-generalization, this is common to the Yale bubble.
6
I admire Professor Rankine's humility in exploring complexity.
1
What humility?
3
I'm a white male. I think very seldomly about my various privileges. In my experience, most people who have privileges don't think about them very often. It's the people who don't have them who think about them a lot, and perhaps often wonder what the people who have them are thinking.
When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.
3
What is most intriguing is that the debate over white privilege is primarily one between whites and other whites. It really is about education and wealth as much as it is about race. Oddly enough, it is those with the highest educational privileges that spend the most time dwelling on it and even pointing fingers at those with far less priviledge and opportunity. I have yet to hear about a while liberal arts student giving up their privilege to attend school so that a person of color may go in their place.
3
"What do whites think of their privilege?"
Where is the author going with this?
A lesson of life is that if a question seem intractable, there is probably something wrong with the question.
To make a point, the question could apply elsewhere-
What do the young think of their privilege over the aged?
What do the attractive think of their privilege over the unattractive?
What do the tall think of their privilege over the short?
What do the able think of their privilege over the disabled?
The point is: what are the intended purposes of these questions? If they are to be sensitivity training of the privileged, they are too antagonistic and invite pushback.
If they are precursors to prescriptions such as a rationalization for reparations, it's an unwise motive.
The starting point in any experiment should be: what do you want to achieve? And that means a sober looking forward for useful prescriptions, not a backward looking antagonistic blame-laying.
A healthy starting point would be, say, what do we have to do so that a black child born today will have the opportunities the same as the rest of the population. And to do that will require curing some community disfunctions which will require much more than eliminating racism.
I will not offer prescriptions here to answer what we should do going forward, but just want to make the point that Ms. Rankine's experiments and approach are very far removed from--and perhaps counter to-- helping that black child born today.
3
@Leonard Miller "A healthy starting point would be, say, what do we have to do so that a black child born today will have the opportunities the same as the rest of the population."
Absolutely. But any criticism of single-mother, fatherless households, the idealization of "gangsta" culture, and embracing other ways out of poverty than basketball scholarships or a career in the rap industry would force the author and the community she thinks she represents to face their responsibilities, and drop the victimhood bargaining chip.
1
I am a white woman and having been in very similar travel & business situations I would say that these white men treat all women in that dismissive privileged manner...sadly it is even more pronounced if the woman is a woman of color aka "minority". So strange since women make up more than 50% of live births and the general population. Women clearly are the majority not a minority, and that needs to be brought into balance without further delay.
1
Absolutely beautifully written. Which hides the amazingly thin content.
Mrs. Rankine started losing her authority when she decided to interpret rude behavior, not on the understanding of the reality of the situation, but her conflating history of 50+ years ago to 2019. Then further when she made no meaningful attempt to understand what white privilege is according to the white men she spent nearly the entire article NOT talking to. She didn't break down any of the conversations down beyond 'hot takes'.
4
I am a white male and I think it is OK to cut in front of a line as long as you have a "service dog" .. They are wonderful for this! I regularly cut in line at the grocery or a restaurant - nobody says anything. They may roll their eyes- but for the most part they are too afraid to say anything. I'm sure if they knew my "service dog" wasn't a real service dog- and I simply purchased his red service vest off the internet as well as a bogus certificate - they would be more vocal -- but many don't know the truth I'm hiding- so I just manipulate the system.
3
Thoughtful, self-probing, and honestly expressed. As a professional black woman, I too have tried to engage white men and women in non-threatening conversation about their privilege while at the same time mindful of their fragility and my anger at their ignorance and clumsiness around race. It is indeed very frustrating. Open and honest conversation needs to be had about our shared and troubled history. We need truth and reconciliation but so much gets in the way. This piece beautifully explores the complexity of thought and feeling that we go through trying to effect change by personal interaction. The walls of history and racial mythology make it so difficult. Yet this essay had a hopeful ending, not happy but hopeful. Encourages me to keep trying.
This article opened my eyes to the fact that whites are a monolith and they all share the same experiences in life. Thank you Claudia. The best way to combat privilege is to take away from the privileged group to bolster the other. In the year 2040, when we're all dependent on the government, awaiting our monthly rations as if cattle in the barn, we'll all finally have equality of outcome along with numbers tattooed to our forearms.
4
I am sorry, I could not get through this article. All this talk of so called white privilege and racism of late just seems so wrong-headed and unproductive. The real issue is culture and culture clash. There is no white privilege. What is perceived as white privilege by some is really just an observation that white people tend to understand and embrace the dominate culture of this country. By doing so they naturally enjoy the benefits of swimming with the current -- success comes more easily. However, the dominate culture is colorless. Anybody can learn it and live it. Obama is the best example of this, but overwhelming numbers of immigrants and former minorities know this as well. And, if you want to subscribe to the values of a minority culture, go right ahead. The dominant culture is accepting of minority cultures -- just don't expect easy success unless you are truly gifted at something. One more thing -- the dominate culture is not stagnant, it is always changing. Feel free to push your own ideas but expect push back.
Does the dictionary definition of racism exist? Are people really discriminated against because of skin color. If so, I think it is only because skin color is being used, as it always has been used, as a quick, though error-prone, way to detect clashing cultural values in someone. Is it possible for people of different skin color to like each other. Of course, but shared cultural values must exist first.
2
If you insist on seeing everything in terms of race, you won't see class, sitting in your Yale classroom with your Yale students. Neither will you see class, looking only for white privilege, among those affluent enough to share with you the dilemma of a "business or first class" flight, nor in comparing notes about your different trips abroad to Africa. In fact, you won't really see race either, at least not as it complexly shapes life and its challenges for the vast majority of Americans of every color who haven't anything like your privilege and, whether you have lost sense of it as such or not, relative affluence.
7
And as far as religion and white priveledge is concerned, the work of Willie James Jennings is powerful. "The Christian Imagination" - one of the best books ever recommended to me.
1
I also don't like the term "White privilege" but not because "privilege" suggests that everyone desires white dominance. Rather, I tend to differentiate a "right" from a "privilege," although that's perhaps a false distinction (as a privilege is a special right or advantage). Redlining isn't white privilege. It's economic and racial discrimination of people of color. A White man cutting in front of a Black woman isn't privilege. It's arrogant. And repugnant, as well, if the White dude thought a Black woman couldn't or shouldn't be standing in the line for first class. It's not a privilege to be treated with respect. It's a right. So when someone isn't treated with decency and respect and her rights are trampled on, that's not privilege. It's discrimination. And all that isn't to say that White people haven't benefited from the wildly unjust and discriminatory laws they've created. But I view laws that preference one group over another as unjust and not as a privilege afforded some and not others. Was it a privilege that only men could vote until 1920? Those who fought for the right to vote didn't fight fight for the privilege to vote. Segregation of schools was wrong not because it privileged White kids who received a good education but because it discriminated against Black kids who didn't.
1
There are many kinds of privilege, white is just one. All we can do is be aware of it and try to be as fair as is reasonable in whatever situation we are in.
1
Self awareness is so difficult. Especially for the priveleged.
The author neglects another example of racial strife alive in the country today. The condition is known as "colorism." It refers to a culture of superiority inherent in ethnic groups of light complexion over people of darker complexion. They feel entitled to demean such people with impunity as part of their "traditional culture."
To many white people, this issue probably goes unnoticed because these ethnic groups treat them differently. But within the circles of people of color, their ways of condescension can be virulent. It applies to immigrants from countries with a history of slavery and colonialism such as Brazil and India.
The scale of immigration from such places today recreates a mean dynamic of new racism for black Americans. Just when people thought the old racism was tamed by the civil rights movement, they are faced with a new type of struggle for racial respect.
We must understand that ethnic diversity is not a strength unless there is a common understanding of racial equality. It means that the problem of racism today is more complex than the old white dominant model.
Perhaps new immigrants should be required to learn about our history of racial struggle, and to show respect for the hard fought standards of equality. They should not add to the problems of race in the country they want to join. It's not just a white male problem anymore.
3
As usual, several commenters make the point that, while white, they had to make their own way and have achieved what they have on their own. That is, of course, in many ways, at least partially true.
What is missed here is this part of privilege: they didn't have to be aware of being seen (or not being seen) because of the very color of their skin; they didn't have to worry about being stopped by police or an unfamiliar neighbor because of their skin color; what some see as being blind to color (of others) is something no person of color ever gets to experience.
It would be good if people who don't get the concept of white privilege could read the current NY Times article "16,000 Readers Shared Their Experiences of Being Told to ‘Go Back.’ Here Are Some of Their Stories" https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/reader-center/trump-go-back-stories.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
You might then get another way to look at this.
I am white, by the way.
1
@Barbara CG
I find it interesting that the "privilege"-obsessed are so fixated on Whites. If Whites are such a privileged group, and if oppression is always defined as "by Whites, on others", why is it that Asians don't share the same experience of being stopped by cops, or the same dismal education levels as Blacks and Hispanics? Could the former metric have anything to do with crime statistics? And if the White founders of our country were so intent on creating a society by Whites for Whites, then why are Asians thriving? The logic of privilege, and by extension, victimhood, is flawed. Better work on another culture-wide shakedown scheme.
2
Teaching a class in whiteness sounds like one of the easiest things one could do. Just sitting here, I can think of a dozen angles and tropes and themes and mopes. I have at least 50 standing in line stories, tales of men and women, white and non, cats and dogs. I could just run amok with stories and angles. I could begin to count the angels dancing on the head of a pin.
And to think this is done at the ivies.
4
@Liz " And to think this is done at the ivies."
....And embraced by the "paper of record" ...
1
For me, without breaking it down, white privilege has too much in common with the concept of original sin. In order to be useful, I like trying to categorize types of privilege.
*The luxury of not having to perform on behalf of our racial group. Tough one. How can we empathize with those who carry that social burden?
*Arrogance. We should be mindful and respectful.
*Outright discrimination. We should try, as some commenters described beautifully, to right everyday wrongs.
What other categories are crucial and what could we do?
1
Using ‘people of color’ to identify a group of people and compare with white is old. I would rather see the distinction be people and colorless people. White is the absence of something / so colorless seems more accurate and puts that group in place.
It is sad to think that this professor gets paid to teach at Yale. White men freed black slaves during the civil war except for two black regiments that played a minor role in the war. White men have to give up jobs to the various types of so called minorities who get jobs and slots in college with lesser qualifications. In reality the term white man's burden is a more accurate description of the situation white men have been in for a very long time. The real question is why do so many minorities fail to succeed even with the preferential treatment they get. Minorities in the Washington DC schools have test scores that are in the 28th percentile while whites in the city are in the 85th percentile. This happens now after 50 years of affirmative action. Lets hope the Supreme Court soon does away with the discrimination of affirmative action that white men are burdened with.
6
An eloquent piece. It certainly makes one think but I feel the author uses too broad a brush. That's not to say that white male privilege is an urban myth, it is not, more so in the U.S. than perhaps anywhere. However the behaviors described are not the sole purview of the white male.
I have lived in all white rural and suburban communities and I have lived in urban areas where I was the only white boy for blocks in any direction. I've had experiences that were humbling and enlightening. Some that were breathtaking in the unabashed prejudice and some that were straight up terrifying. I also came of age in the time of Equal Opportunity and as much as people hate to hear or acknowledge this; myself and others like me have been passed over in favor of people of color just so an employer could check the boxes on a compliance report.
I guess my point is this; my experience tells me that stupid comes in all 54 flavors. We are all the product of our own experience. To try to understand another person's experience is essential to our society. In this piece I'm not hearing "I want to understand you" so much much as "I want to understand why you don't realize that everything about you is wrong."
I don't believe that Professor Rankine is trying to put anyone on the defensive here, but this is a trap we all seem to fall into when we try to discuss race/gender/orientation/age/whatever differences. Maybe I'm just a snowflake, then again maybe not. Maybe its just an awkward subject.
1
This is an interesting article, even though it seems to be quite racist itself. It seems that any white man, because of the fact that he’s white and therefore dominant, is automatically at a moral fault when dealing with non-whites, and especially blacks. That is undeniably racist. This article seems to be addressing people of privilege to recognize that there is an unequal distribution of privilege among the privileged. It’s like complaining about not being able to afford a Rolls Royce and being stuck with a BMW only because I’m not white. Many of the real problems in our society are a result of economic predation, those predations are generally colorblind. Though white dominance is real, it’s not a unifying message that’s going to tackle the problems plaguing our society. I hope the Democrats give up on this kind of divisive rhetoric and focus on the problems that unify rather than divide.
2
This is an incredible piece. While reading it, more than the insight it provided, I could sense part of the exhaustion that those without the benefit of white privilege must experience, both consciously and unconsciously.
I am a 72 year old white male. I belong to a Unitarian Universalist church with a black lesbian minister in North Carolina. In her sermons she has often talked to our mostly white congregation about white privilege, racism and prejudice. As a former social worker I have worked with all races and back ground and have not thought about myself as a contributing member until she mentioned the book 'White Fragility' which i read with difficulty because it pointed out that as a member of this society we all contribute to racism. Even my job contributed to it because the system itself is set up to support White Privilege which in its urns supports class privilege. I consider myself a secular humanist but am beginning to become aware of attitudes perhaps unconscious that are racist. To become aware is the best I can do right now. Apologies? To whom?
157
@just Robert
Did you do your best at the time, with the information and understanding you had at the time?
I honor your courage to grow, and to learn, and to remain open to change.
16
@just Robert
Apologies are pointless. Work to change attitudes and minds.
8
@just Robert
From a fellow UU.
Yes, let's be aware and open to seeing it in ourselves. Let's speak up when we see and hear racism. Let's hope that we can do that with grace and humility so that it is heard and not shut out. Let's work to make this country a place where persons of color have everything we have in all the same ways.
I'm uncertain if African Americans want apologies. I am certain that they deserve equality and need it sooner, not later. Thank You, Ms. Ranklin, we need to have this conversation.
14
I can go shopping alone, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
I can open to the front page of the paper or look at Congress and see people of my race widely represented.
I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
I can swear or dress in second-hand clothes without having people attribute these choices to the morals, attitudes, or poverty my race.
I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling any penalty for such oblivion.
I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in charge,” I will be facing a person of my race.
If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.
I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared.
I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of race.
I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.
2
I am so thankful for this article and the author for her work and vulnerability.
2
Professor Rankine, I very much enjoyed reading your article. I feel that it is very important to explore the complexities of our racial system, but it's very difficult to do so, as you indicate. We need much more of this type of effort in order to avoid reductive thinking as we become aware of systematic oppression. Thank you for this wonderful work.
6
I, a white female, was the only person waiting in line to speak to someone at a hotel check-in desk. A minute or so after I got in line another (white) man came up and stood not behind me but adjacent to me. A minute or so after that another other man lined up behind the man adjacent to me. It was one of those interesting moments that either could be nothing or, more likely in my opinion, a subtle example of male privilege at work. Did he not see me obviously waiting? Is he expecting to go ahead of me? Was it more natural for the other man to fall in line behind another man than a woman? I’ll never know for sure what the man was thinking, but I made sure that he did not cut ahead of me.
15
@Lisa There are many badly brought up people - male and female - who cut in line. In fact, that person lacking in manners could be someone less, or more, privileged than you.
1
Or the second man mistakenly thought you were the mans wife and did not want to encroach on your space .
God forbid we think of something normal in today’s society. Every act is first thought of and labeled racist bigoted sexist etc.
Maybe the second man didn’t know you had arrived before the first man. There is no indication in your piece that he was trying to get ahead of you.
I liked the examples in this article, including the nuances of interactions. It's a matter of re-training, which takes time. Two books with detailed examples and observations of interactions include Robin DeAngelo's book "White Fragility" and Elijah Anderson's "The Cosmopolitan Canopy". Both include both inner and outer dialogue.
Participating in race workshops can be pretty daunting and intimidating, but less so after reading some books to get context first. It's easier for me to take it in for the first time from a book, because nobody's getting in my face in front of a group of people because I said the wrong thing. Just makes people not want to speak up. I'm on the fence about the wisdom of exposing people like that, although I realize sometimes it's necessary. Still, better to learn from other people's mistakes first.
In my own dialogues with individuals, all the educational media attention does help. Acknowledging other people's presence and personal space is part of basic civility but we all have blind spots. If nobody ever talks about anything because we're all too afraid to initiate, then nothing will ever change.
3
Yes, it is much easier for white males in America to succeed, but success is never easy. Much of the defensiveness about the phrase "white privilege" arises at the perceived suggestion that whatever edge white privilege affords is entirely responsible for an individual's success. As a woman married to a successful white male, I can testify that much of his success comes from getting up and going into the office every weekday for 45 years, working hard, and enduring enormous amounts of stress in the process. If white males were given credit for that, it might be easier for them to imagine whether a black woman who did the same thing had a harder or easier time succeeding.
18
@Karen H I truly do not understand your comment. Almost anyone who is successful has put in the work and time and effort. The point is that people of color, and women of all colors, do not even get the *chance* to do so in many cases, and when they do, they are required to work *even harder/longer/better* than their white male counterparts (in the example of work).
Never mind the fact that you complaint has nothing to do with, say, the white man's expectation of being "first in line."
Sheesh.
I am a white female physician working in a mostly white male dominated practice. I work 11h/d. I have to do work from home on weekends resulting in 60h work weeks. I endure enormous amounts of stress. I am married to a busy, professional white male and I have 2 kids. I can tell you that putting in the same or more sweat than my white male colleagues, they enjoy advantages due to white male privilege that I do not. Whether the weight of their opinions in meetings or how staff tiptoe around them or their ability to get away with bluntness or to cut folks off when need be or demand that things don’t change because they like the status quo, I could give a litany of examples. It is different for them than it is for the rest of us. Yeah, we all work hard and I definitely have invested in my own success. But they are at the top of the food chain and enjoy privilege that even white women don’t enjoy. That privilege greases the skids for them all the way through life. And as a white woman, I enjoy privilege that none of my fellow females or other males of different races do here in the US. If it’s hard for me keeping up in this world, I can’t imagine how much harder and more frustrating it is for minorities.
4
White privilege at its finest.
I’m in no way an expert on race relations and class relations and I have no clear way forward to solve the structural and emotional issues plaguing our society. However, I am an expert on motivating people to reach for their potential and have coached and counseled many, many people of all colors and classes over the years to do the same. The one thing in my experience that most effectively derails an otherwise talented and motivated individual is self-identifying as a victim. I know, as a statistical truth, that an individual who believes they are a victim of something (regardless of whether this is true or false) will not achieve and overcome as well as someone who feels confident and in control, or at all. There are tons of structural issues which need to be worked on by all colors of people and all classes for sure, but getting people to the table and focused on solutioning requires the thought that you might be able to control the outcome. This thought doesn’t exist in a victim point of view. Removing the victimhood identity is always the first step towards productivity.
31
@Evan Thayer I would imagine that seeing one's self as the victim of injustice could be highly motivating in the effort to rectify injustice. If you tend to be dismissive of such efforts, then it would be clever to decry the "victim mentality."
What if victimhood is a fact, because of institutional racism/discrimination and not driven by self identity?
Hence the lack of success in blacks compared to asian immigrants attending same high schools living in same neighborhoods. But what person clan race or gender do Democrats not want to label a victim. Oh yeah back to the article .... white males....
Thank you for this thoughtful essay. It's helped me, a white man, to better understand my own white privilege. It seems the best way to dismantle white privilege is to keep having discussions about it. I've found this to be a very difficult thing to do, an emotionally perilous thing to do. During my attempts, I've felt simultaneously shame, embarrassment, diminished, isolated, out of place, and confused. In my upbringing, I was socialized to not talk about race and breaking this socialization is painful. Yet I know I have to participate, not just listen, if we're to have a more equitable society. Thank you for sharing your experience. It's validated some of my experiences and given me more courage to participate.
16
Great read. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I wonder when people say they don’t see colors, they are fully appreciated how a color person feels about it. Humans by nature are born prejudice, and only through education and awareness that we develop empathy, for both parties.
An excellent article.....I want to comment on what I read as the dismissive comments of your therapist; as a retired therapist I had no right to explain the behavior of others and certainly had no right to categorize the experience of the client. My role was to reflect and assist my client on making meaning and decisions of response that felt congruent and safe. Not sure how you received the way the therapist responded but i would have felt invalidated and experienced a loss of trust.
3
Really well-written article and important questions asked...not all answered. An interesting journey for the author, as well, it seems.
I appreciate the acknowledgement that all have ingrained ideas about different races and kinds of human beings. I also hope for an end to the idea that skin colour or the location of the dirt on which one was born plays a part in the way that society pre-judges them.
3
Loved this article! And I agree with you. I am white and probably make racial errors, even though I wish not to. But I have to point out, if there is a line, my husband (white) cuts in front of everyone. Because he is rude. Because he has to be first. I hate this behavior, and have pointed it out for 48 years. He hasn’t stopped. So sometimes that could be the explanation.
8
He wouldn’t have able to “get away with it” at all if he wasn’t white.
1
Sounds to me like a lot of class privilege being served up with a generous heaping of entitlement. Might be time to step out of first class and the cloistered environs of super selective universities and see what's happening in the rest of the world.
31
I find the word 'privilege' used in this context to be inaccurate, because the positive aspirations it reaches for should be the norm. We are not referring to membership to an exclusive club with a private pool and study. "Shame on those with functioning toilets" it suggests.
13
Thank you for this deeply probing and beautifully written essay. It hits on all the conversations we don’t want to have, some are trying to have, are nervous to have, and don’t know what to do with IF we are having them. As an educator I have begun following the work of @triciaebarvia her mission to decolonize American education and educators. My growing awareness of how multifaceted and uncomfortable these conversations are, even when people are willing to have them, how much rage, embarrassment and required ownership are necessary to even to take a step forward, can overwhelm. These conversations can’t be sidestepped any more—not on a plane ride and certainly not in education. Thank you so much.
6
"And just like that, we broke open our conversation — random, ordinary, exhausting and full of a shared longing to exist in less segregated spaces." That bit brought tears to my eyes. This is what I think we all -- or at least so many of us -- long for. I know I do.
15
The Asian kid did not get admitted to Yale because of the diversity card; it was even harder for ze to get in.
17
Phenomenal read. Full stop.
14
I’m always struck with the way Chris Rock addressed all white privilege.
“There’s not a white person who would be willing to switch with me. And I’m
Rich!!”
21
@DCA
Chris Rock needs to get around. (Use the limo if he must.)
There are plenty of "white" persons who want to be "non-white." Some of them make the newspapers: If I can not recall their names it is because I do not consider them worth remembering.
But I do see thousands of students at the institution where I've been teaching for 30 years: The majority of them daily and proudly express a desire to be anything but "white."
2
@DCA
I would.
@DCA
There are even fewer males anywhere who'd switch place with a female.
1
I'm a white male that used to live in a primarily black neighborhood, renting a room from a black family. I can't count how many times I was pulled over for "DRIVING WHILE WHITE" in my black neighborhood. The implicit assumption was I was there to buy drugs. Most of the officers in the area at the time were black. Is this also racist?
32
This is an interesting line of thought.
1
...sometimes you just don't know what to write and express in making a comment, so this is the perfect time to listen.
6
And if your only response to people who disagree with you is that they should shut-up and “listen,” you’ve lost the argument.
Why don’t you “listen” to what some of the objectors here are saying, and actually offer reasons why we’re wrong? Who knows, maybe you’ll actually convince us!
Except, of course, that’s the troubling totalitarian nature of the discourse of the “woke” left. Not only do they want to convince everyone that white people are inherently harmful to the world, but they want to silence them as well. Not just with demands that they shut-up and “listen” but by also arguing that any white person who disagrees with someone like the author is, ipso facto, a racist.
2
I wonder what you're answers would be if, instead of an Airport, you'd ask your questions in a coal mine?
Obama, while at Harvard Law School, transformed the debate about affirmative action to one about economics. And, sure enough, the USA has very low upward migration; if you're born poor you stay poor; if you're born rich you stay rich.
I'm sick of identity politics. That goes for both left and right. Right now, we have a showman in the White House who is a genius (stable or otherwise) at playing the identity politics card.
What I want is equality. Not shame; equality. Not "white male privilege"; equality. As long as the debate focuses on race or gender I want to shout "enough already!" Instead:
I want real equality. Real justice. That means a good education without crippling debt. That means health care without the threat of bankruptcy. That means if a cop shoots an unarmed man, that cop is at least convicted of manslaughter. Not black. Not white. Not male or otherwise. Merely, simple principles that define us and can make us proud to be who we are.
You know; as a "people undivided..."
39
I served in the military amongst a broad group of mostly white males who didn't have any privilege at all, particularly when it came to gaining the opportunity to attend a college or university, much less a prestigious Ivy league school.
This likely explains my later feelings of guilt at sitting in college classes as a veteran undergrad, not thinking, but knowing for sure there were many shipmates of mine who were far smarter and hardworking and deserving than I who were never going to get the opportunity to attend anything. I got lucky.
Thats my white privilege.
When you talk about white privilege, be very careful and never make the mistake of applying it to all white males, you're talking about a select group of wealthy pampered whites who've always had wealth and the luck it buys and will forever, because their Mommy and Daddy bought it for them. They typically attend highly selective schools.
You are not talking about me. I'll show you the scars and medals my privilege got me anytime you like.
26
@angry veteran Yes, well... what you're talking about is class. Ask the black people you served with, and whom you grew up with (if there were any) and then tell us you didn't benefit from being white.
1
You missed the point.
1
" I wanted to Know What White Men Thought About Their Privilege. So I asked."
No. You , a woman so privileged such that you can afford to afford first class chose to pose your "question" to a group of men whom you knew were economically privileged, in order to support your assumption of white male privilege. You didn't travel to Appalachia or other impoverished areas , to shuttered factory towns, to prisons, homeless shelters or VA hospitals .
. Unlike Jon Stewart ,who had been using his privilege to fight for health coverage for 9/11 first responders, not only have squandered your own privilege , but are using it to harass strangers .
You didn't travel coach, pose your question to white men in coach, and donate the difference in air fare to those who are less privileged than are you.
Your own sense of entitlement is such that you believe that you have the right to intrude on others. including when they are seated on airplanes, and can not escape your accusations.
Your sense of privilege far surpasses that of any of the white males whom I know ,none of whom would interrogate strangers in airports, on airplanes or elsewhere.
You are a privileged individual ,who views yourself as a victim, while it is you ,who believe that you have the right to interrogate strangers.As someone who teaches at Yale, you should know that accusing millions of New York Times readers of "white male privilege" increases his chance that Donald Trump will be re-elected.
42
Good points. There is definitely white privilege. But most of that is money privilege. OJ showed us that. Money doesn't over come all racism, but it over comes a lot of it.
2
@Al
Thank you. I did not mean to suggest that white privilege is non-existent, while I agree that most o that is money privilege. You've made an excellent point in terms of OJ. Money privilege translates into ""Get out of Jail Free Card" whether one is black or while.
One can boast of groping women and go on to be President. One can be appointed to a life-long position as a Supreme Court Justice even if there is a credible allegation of attempted rape.
Those who choose politics over justice are blinded by their agenda to the extent that they fail to consider the safety of their own loved ones.
Harsh.
Matt from Nevada caught the essence of Ms. Rankine's erroneous assumptions. Matt stated, "if you can only see race, you can only see racism". Most of the article by Ms. Rankine involves her immediate profiling of individuals based on their sex and skin color. She then judges them by what she 'imagines' they are thinking. Coming to conclusions, secondary to such obvious confirmation bias, is dangerous and false. For an academic, I was disappointed by her adolescent need to confirm her preconceived ideas, leading to accusations which lack of objectivity.
24
White privileged is something I never really thought about until recently. As a white male in his early 60s I have known about racism and misogyny my whole life, but I didn’t understand the depth and breadth of that discrimination until I started to really examine all the “passes” regarding everyday experiences I get in life that blacks, Asians, Latinos, middle easterners, and women of all colors have to deal with every day. I would never say my life has been easy, but I have NEVER had to worry about being shot, arrested, belittled or underpaid because of the color of my skin or my gender. I am sad that I feel embarrassed just for being who I am and that at this stage of my life I feel that my country is regressing to an extent that I feel like I am living the early 60s all over again.
10
Very interesting paper (long too), food for thought. BUT, if half the seats in First Class and Business Class were occupied by "people of color," how would that change the reality of those in Economy? The paper, written by a Black member of the American Bourgeoisie wanting acceptance into that group of "privileged Americans" completely ignores the whole question of CLASS. It is those profiting from an unjust system who feed and encourage racism to divide those who produce the wealth. I have seen racism smash its teeth on the rocks of (class) consciousness. Nevertheless, if you have the time, this paper by a Black woman professor at Yale (whose husband is White and yes, I think that matters too) is well worth the read.
The question can't be who gets into the 3% who will serve at the pleasure of the 1%.
9
@George Kazolias The couple of times I was bumped up to business/first class on flights to London, the majority of the people were Arab, African, or from the Indian subcontinent. I assumed they all had immense privilege of some kind or another--whereas I was just a lucky fellow. I agree that class issues are greatly muted in the current debates. I also think we should stop yammering on about things like white privilege and put our shoulders to the wheel on the coming climate crisis. People who cut in front of you in line are not subjects for profound meditations--they're just jerks.
1
This piece reeks of the implication that "there is white privilege and therefore white people are less authentic and worthy." There is no questioning of blacks at all. It's a slam-dunk indictment of whiteness, and I wonder why this is possible every time I endure the black woman far larger than me rudely, aggressively wedging herself in to sit between me and someone else on the subway that we all share.
18
As a non-practicing (agnostic) Jew (ethnic white) who is a (left-leaning) senior citizen of the U.S. the (only) privileges that I feel that I have is that I am still alive, I am healthy, I am not impoverished financially, and that I can feel empathy for (all) those who aren’t as fortunate as me. As luck would have it, I was born (but in the Bronx, N.Y.) during the Siege of Stalingrad and not in Mother Russia. These are my (blessings) privileges. I look forward to (more) poetry from this talented (observer) professor.
7
The clarity and courage the author exudes in speaking to people about White privilege is laudable. In her exposition, it is clear that privilege is as steady as the rhythm of heavy rain, as tightly bound into our society norms as a well-weaved tapestry. White privilege is suffusive in its seductive powers, subsuming all of us to be numb to an incredulous norm. Am I, a minority, complicit in her or his privilege? Would I start my own line at the airport check-in? Would I disturb the 'peace' to point out the 2 drinks that have been passed to the person sitting next to me, while I received none?
3
... the third of my 3 awakening stories ...
3. I mentioned I work at two different SF startups. My nominal job is about driving the patenting effort. But my core human skill is spotting what is "broken" or "missing" in a system, and fixin' it. As you might imagine, working at startups moving a million miles an hour, there's mistakes a plenty being made.
I realize that it takes a tremendous sense of personal privilege to decide, on my own, that there is a mistake, that it's a big one, that it needs fixing, and that I possess not only the skill, but the agency to do so.
But, I'm also aware that I am a privileged white male who has a lot of rope to play with. And my approach, in working on these problems (that no one hired me to fix), is to recruit young co-conspirators in the company to work with me, and then when the fix is accepted by the wider company, to push any credit onto my younger colleagues.
Hey, don't hear me say I'm being "selfless" by deflecting this credit. I walk around these companies showered in white male privilege.
I won't go so far as to say that it feels sickening. Just that I'm aware that it's grossly unfair, and that I see my role as I age being to use that unfair privilege to boost the success of my colleagues, friends, and loved ones who don't enjoy that privilege.
I'll tell you, this approach feels so much better in my belly than taking all the credit ... like I used to do. :)
2
@Peter
how's your arm ?
I don’t understand, if a person is traveling with someone, they leave, can’t they join their friend back in line?
If it’s constantly stated , correctly, that blacks make less, are under represented in professions, is it a shock to assume a black person wouldn’t be traveling in first class? Incorrectly.
When we hear constantly about the high rate of incarceration for black males, doesn’t that encourage racist thinking that one should be careful around young black males?
No it’s not right, just thinking aloud.
1
If you made an effort to listen to your use of language regarding the human diaspora, then you might realize that the adjectives used to describe the human beings around us are also loaded with classifications with regard to privilege and status. When you tell a story, instead of simply saying, “I saw a man being rude” you will likely add “I saw a black man being rude,” when in fact blackness really has nothing to do with that story. Think about this, and discover how extensive language colors and covers our privilege as white people.
1
I live in a building with two entrances (A and B) and two sets of mailboxes. The other day as I entered A building I saw a new mail person who was black in front of the B building. I assumed she was entering the B building and I went inside the A building. Seconds later the door in the A building opened and there she was. I turned to her and said " I'm sorry I didn't see you and let the door close before you came in." The incredulous look in her eyes told me she couldn't believe what I was saying to her. If this is a reaction that white privilege has brought us we have to change and treat everyone with more humanity. It will be better for all of us.
2
And so white privilege required you to apologize to a black person for something you did not even do??
You did not slam the door on her she was not behind you when you walked in???
@eddiec I totally agree. Telling people that their skin color is why they are poor or rich, successful or a failure is the definition of racism. Some black people resent white people because of the racist propaganda we are bombarded with from every aspect of authority. The author of this article is either willfully trying to destroy the system of government that made America great. Or she is too ignorant to understand she has been demoralized and subverted into believing that skin color = value. There is privilege. But is has almost nothing to do with color any more. During slavery and Jim crow (democratic institutions) she would have been right. If it were still a problem Obama would be have never had the opportunity to perpetuate the same racist rhetoric in this garbage article.
Speaking as a someone resembling an aging hitler youth who struggles with various dimensions of identity, accountability and fairness, I found this article magnificently humane, insightful and helpful. Enough to inspire the first comment I remember after 20 years of reading the times online. What a leader, so steadily courageous, lucid and measured, honest and effective. I'm grateful this lady is teaching future leaders and writing for the rest of us.
7
... continuing my "awakening" stories from my last comment:
2. In my late 40s, I had a three-day growth of stubble and was driving a beat-up old Toyota Corolla, speeding on Highway 17 in California. A young white cop pulled me over for speeding. He came to my window and said: "Are you aware that your tags are 2 years expired?". I paused, thinking, and then responded: "We have five vehicles and receive 10 pieces of paper a year -- insurance and registration. Evidently, we've only been getting 9". He didn't say anything, just nodded and went back to his car for a few minutes. When he returned, he gave me a temp registration, wrote down my speed to 5 over, and told me to get it taken care of.
I might have forgotten this story if I never had read "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander (a former law school classmate of mine).
Reading Michelle's book, I realized that had I been a disheveled black, rather than white, I would have been face down on the pavement, with my hands cuffed behind my back, and the scar tissue in old injured shoulders tearing.
If that interaction of mine with the white cop wasn't about white male privilege, then there ain't so such thing.
9
Yeah buddy I’ve seen the videos. You mean you were a white respectful male addressing the officer as sir or madam. Provided what ever they asked you for and answered their questions so they let you off with a warning?
Or were you an aggressive black male with 3 priors demanding answers swearing being loud disrespectful and belligerent. screaming racism before they even spoke.
You mean that guy ends up in cuffs face down. ??
I’m a person over 60 who is white but nothing was handed to me except that my parents were able to provide a good and loving home where learning and respect for your fellow human beings were encouraged and fostered. I was fortunate that they were able to afford to send me and my sister to college. My parents’ parents were immigrants and my parents earned everything they had through their own efforts. In other words, no one handed them or us anything; I had to work for what I’ve achieved in life. If that is privilege or we benefited from privilege, so be it. I’m not going to apologize for it.
19
“Not me,” he said. “I’ve worked hard for everything I have.”
5
This thoughtful well written article does not reflect on your personal journey or your success story, it really wasn’t about you, I don’t believe that the professor was specifically asking you for an apology either. How about viewing this as someone who, like you has worked hard to achieve success, and is exploring the perceptions and preconceived notions about groups that you are apparently unwilling to acknowledge?
5
@James Blohm I actually didn’t think the article was that well written or conceived. I have a hard time taking seriously any person who teaches a course on whiteness, whatever that may be. Most of us have to work hard to achieve success. Some have the benefits of getting assistance, whether it be wealth or whatever. I think most of us would be glad to get a little assist. When I hear people complaining that someone had an assist through privilege, I hear the wish that they had that benefit too. You get that by working harder than the next person, the assumption being that we all have equal access to the benefit. That is where the government comes in, to make sure we all have that access.
5
"They couldn’t know what it’s like to be me, though who I am is in part a response to who they are, and I didn’t really believe I understood them, even as they determined so much of what was possible in my life and in the lives of others."
This gave me chills. Because as a (white) woman, I relate - women respond to the world/ rules not made for us. But who would we be if we go to participate in the rules? Then add color on top of that - which I have not lived. And wow. Wow wow wow.
10
Oh how I wish I could attend one (or many) of your classes. This essay was an amazing read, even as it pushes such ugly facts to the fore. Wouldn't the world be such a better place if we -all- could have such conversations? I mean, I -think- I'm aware of my own white privilege, but I do know that there have to be many times I just don't see it as it happens.
I'm looking forward to the release of your collection.
3
As if frequently the case with anyone having a salient difference, Ms. Rankine attributes more to than that characteristic, in her case race, than may in fact be the case. In 2019, there's more to causation than race. Not that race doesn't significantly contribute negatively to the actions of people towards her, but that it's entwined with other things.
For example, who else do those self-defined white big wigs step in front of? My guess is that they jump the line far more often then when race or sex could possibly be a factor.
China would be a good place for her to go teach for at least 3 years so that she could watch -- as a 3rd party -- behavior in others similar to what she has experienced in the United States but not attributable to race. There may be other places to teach -- anywhere where everyone else will be of one race.
She can use her Yale privilege to get a teaching post away from this country for a while.
To me, this column embodies fundamental attribution error run amok. The author will only be able to get a fuller perspective upon return to the US after a prolonged period outside of it.
And she needs to get a life.
17
I am firmly convinced that most white men fully recognise that we are what you mean by privileged, but we hate being called "privileged" which means something different in most contexts.
If only people with society-changing ideas could learn from advertising agencies and do some focus-groups before settling on a term.
"Privilege" works great if you want to talk to the victims, but fails miserably if you want to talk to the "privileged", because the word (more than the idea) makes them defensive.
12
The author flies first class and yet says "the price of my ticket does not translate into social capital." Oh really? I've never been able to afford to fly first class anywhere. First class travel is an expression of privileged social capital. It is the highest class, higher than my place in the financial and class structure allows. The author is highly privileged herself--as her position at Yale as Iseman Professor of Poetry also indicates. I would ask her about her privileges if we sat in adjacent seats on a plane, except that would never happen because she is much more privileged than I am.
36
Money does not equal social capital. Ms. Rankine is as privileged as Mr. Henry Louis Gates. Mr. Gates is a black man who teaches at Harvard who was arrested on the porch of his own house. Neither get the benefit of the doubt that white people with the same positions would get. Neither is thought to belong where their education and money allows them to be.
2
The end goal of conversations and awareness of racism is less racism, which benefits a society. What is the end goal of conversations and awareness of "privilege"? Less privilege? What is the benefit of that? How will it make anyone's life better?
Awareness is simply the first step in the direction of an end result. In this case, awareness seems to be the only step and the only goal.
7
The end goal of the discussions of white privilege is to get a majority of white people to agree they have it ... and then make them pay reparations. It’s basically a first step in imposing a form of collective punishment for the sin of being white ... first you have to convince enough people they deserve to be punished. And with all the comments here from white people apologizing for their existence and promising to renounce their privilege, things are off to a good start.
And before anyone accuses me of overstating or exaggerating this, it’s no secret the goal of the “Woke” Left is to make white people pay reparations ... just read the article Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote about it or the recent debate in Congress about forming a commission to “study” reparations (said commission likely being composed almost entirely of proponents of reparations).
I agree we’d all be better off just teaching people to not be racist and to treat all people with respect, but that will never happen, as long as America is governed by the MAGA crowd on the one hand and the “Woke” Left on the other.
14
This essay is interesting as far as it goes, but the author only deals with people of a certain social class: they are flying first class overseas; they are concerned about children getting into Ivy League schools. In short, they are used to privilege and, I expect, to wielding privilege.
It would be instructive to see a similar conversation carried out with people waiting in line for the local dollar store to open, or waiting for subsidized dental care. It is true that a much higher percentage of those people will be people of color, but assigning "white privilege" to every white person breaks down at the bottom of the income scale where there is no privilege to be found. Knowing that there are more black people suffering from grinding poverty doesn't ease the grind on white people in that position.
Until such time as conversations around white privilege recognize that truth, the concept will remain one of more interest to the moneyed (largely coastal) elites and will continue to push poor, rural, and uneducated whites into the MAGA camp.
13
I have spent most of my adult life in close collaboration with people of color, and have never stopped seeing incidences of persecution - Living While Black.
Recently, with two home health aides making my life possible with their love and hard work, I've been forced by my conscience and access to finances to defend them from regular attacks by the legal system, which is extremely biased and prone to take hundreds and often thousands of dollars from them for no cause. The criminal justice system exacts fines and fees, the housing courts regularly take deposits and make threats, traffic cops regularly stop them, in some cases actually telling lies about what they have done.
You need only go to your local court and sit through a session or two to find some poor working mom who can't pay many hundreds for a parking fine or small speeding ticket, or something the police wouldn't even stop me for, since I'm white.
Yes, Living While Black is hard, and it involves putting up with insults as well, almost every single day. It's a crime!!
6
The kindness expressed in this essay made me feel just a little bit more hopeful about our divided world and more determined to confront my own (invisible to me) racism and sexism. I have nothing to add expect
"Thank you, Professor Rankine. You have offered a level of care I do not deserve. As a Christian Theologian, I call this grace."
8
The concept of white privilege is intellectually lazy, but it’s a convenient way for the speaker to silence “white” people whom she disagrees with. It also, as others have pointed out, erases the struggles of “ethnic whites” (as the author bizarrely puts it).
My grandparents were Russian immigrants and Jews who faced discrimination and exclusion when they arrived in the US. My father, years later, was unable to buy a house in certain parts of suburban Connecticut. He was told there simply weren’t any houses available. Was this also “redlining”?
As a gay woman, I have fewer legal rights and protections in this country than any black person, including this author. I also do not have the benefit of affirmative action or built-in community to support me. I’ve encountered my share of Black people who openly hate me and use their (usually Christian) religion as justification. Do they have “straight privilege”?
Discrimination is complicated, often insidious and doesn’t usually announce itself as bigotry. The author is right about that. But she’s wrong to claim to know what white men are thinking about her, and to pretend that her own behavior doesn’t influence others’ opinions. It does.
The biggest problem in the US today is that no one wants to take responsibility for themselves or their lives. Sadly, that moral and intellectual dereliction is not limited to any socioeconomic or racial group.
41
There definitely is such a thing as "white privilege," but I think this article glosses over other types of privileges that are more salient to most Americans. Prominently, socioeconomic privilege. It loses resonance for that reason.
Most white Americans are not wealthy people who are thinking about whether their kids will be displaced by Asians at Ivy League Universities. They're working class people without college degrees that are mired in financial insecurity and struggling to pay the bills. These Americans, observing their own tenuous socioeconomic position, likely fail to see any privilege whatsoever.
The author came from a well-off Jamaican family that provided her with a better living environment and early education at a prestigious Catholic School than most white Americans could afford for their children. Comparing herself to say, a rural white American living in an impoverished drug-addicted community with almost no educational or career prospects - would that person's "white privilege" really supersede their socioeconomic hindrances?
What of she were to walk up to such a person, as someone coming from a relatively privileged background, and demand they explain the "privilege" they presumably experienced growing up? Wouldn't such a person naturally feel chagrined?
In some circles, "White privilege" may be an overused canard that diverts our attention away from the socioeconomic oppression that stifles people regardless of skin color.
24
The social, economic and political criticisms of white male privilege in this article, and white’s invisibility to it, may be fair and just. But, the moral superiority associated with not being white is unpersuasive, and worse, impedes non-whites’ advancement.
First, it’s worth considering that all humans are prejudiced, that is to say, inclined to see the world from their own individual and group perspective, and to justify their social and political standing, whether high or low, on those perspectives. But articles such as this strongly imply that non-whites, solely by reason of skin color (rather than unjust social structures) are morally superior to whites, at least as long as whites fail to recognize that they are treated better than non-whites. Very little evidence or argument is given for that position of seeming moral superiority. Further, non-whites, by so implying, deprive themselves of economic, political and cultural allies they might otherwise have, and divert focus from the economic, political and social structures that sustain and increase inequality.
Second, and more importantly, by making such arguments, non-whites deprive themselves of power and grant it to whites. If the central task for non-white improvement is to get more economic, political, and social power, arguing that whites should recognize their privilege seems counter-productive. It merely reinforces that inequalities can only be remedied by whites’ munificence.
10
I guess when I read a column let me this as a white male I feel that I am no longer taken seriously as a human being. I have been reduced to a stereotype, a mere receptacle of white privilege. I consider myself a human being of good will who tries, at some personal sacrifice, to create a better and more just world. This column makes me feel invalidated and reduced to a caricature. It confirms me in my desire to emigrate to a country where I can feel appreciated for my modest contributions to the common good and leave America to its insoluble moral dilemmas and its increasingly insipid discourse.
19
The story of the man cutting in line was a bit ambiguous, but I had another interpretation. If it was the friend in line who said, "it's amazing who they let into first class," my first reaction was that he was chiding his companion for being rude. You should not let rude people in first class. The author's belief that it was a racial comment could be true, but her description of the incident did make that clear.
I think intent matters. While there is obviously institutional racism and I recognize my white privilege, as Freud might say, "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." "Where are you from?" might be a micro-aggression implying they are not a real American, but it could also just be natural curiosity and an ice-breaker to start a conversation. I choose to give people the benefit of the doubt, rather than assume the worst. Perhaps that is part of my privilege, but too many on the left assume the worst in ambiguous situations, and I think that is unproductive.
13
I am white born in the 60s my father moved here from Ireland in the 50s I have not had any white privilege nor do I believe in such a thing
11
My Irish-American relatives hint at the same theory. But they had:
1.) Free or reduced-rate Catholic Schools in the 60’s.
2.) Weekly access (via mass) to a powerful network of priests with political clout.
(Now I can only cringe at how that played out.)
3.) Forced-family-unit due to women being prohibited from divorcing alcoholic husbands.
4.) Many working men had strong pensions from government or railroads that kept their eventual widows from becoming homeless. (Not as prevalent anymore.)
On the plus side, you may be able to go back where you came from!
Ireland has nationalized healthcare and will let you live there with at least an Irish-born grandparent. Sounds like that’s another privilege you forgot you had! Enjoy!
1
I comment as a member of an immigrant family of now-assimilated minorities whose color is white.
I suspect that Professor Rankine is a competent teacher of poetry whose application to teach at Yale received a "plus" rating because she is black.
That's how far her race, along with browns and reds, but not yellows - Asians (because they are, in general, smarter and harder working than the rest of us) - have progressed in today's America. Asians have achieved a lot, but they are now discriminated against at Harvard, Google, and other places where diversity is more important than merit because there are simply "too many" of them who are well-qualified.
So be it.
My spouse - also a member of now-assimilated US minorities - and I have given serious thought to what we will do should the Democrats win the Presidency and both houses of the federal Congress next year.
Currently, we are very likely to spend a lot more time in one of our former countries. Austria, which we visit every year, is our most likely choice. It is a country where we will not be discriminated against because our color is white. It also wants to control who immigrates, something that the Democrats in the USA have rejected.
7
I am an old white man, an Anglo-Saxon Protestant, even. I have had a privileged existence. Privileged upbringing in Australia (even though working class), privileged university education, privileged career in Geneva, thanks to the work permit I got from my Swiss wife. I ask myself, why have I been so privileged?
I sometimes wonder how I would have managed if I had been born with the same intelligence (I am obviously very intelligent) and the same moral qualities (many, you cannot doubt it) in Haiti. Haiti, because one of my daughters, fostered, is Haitian. She is supposed to be black, though after I have been hiking in the Swiss mountains for a few days, her color is not so different from mine. Seventeenth century French plantation owners, no doubt.
I have benefited from white privilege all my life. I have difficulty to image what advantages I have enjoyed. I have difficulty to image what disadvantages I would suffered otherwise. I get a glimpse of some from my Congolese-Swiss son-in-law, who occasionally tells story which shocks me. But he doesn’t want to shock me.
It is far from perfect for “blacks”, whatever that means, in Switzerland It seems it is far worse in America.
2
We would be so complacent with President Hillary, President Trump makes us stop and read this essay. For that, and his ever shining beacon on things we disagree I am grateful. This is the conversation we need to be having now. As an aging white woman that has enjoyed much white privilege before realizing the depth if it, I’m eager for a change.
Underneath my burnt-umber skin iives this male biped-human who, if my skin were torn away, would be a money rich guy who gives most of it away because nothing would have impeded my (logical) path to acquiring those riches facilitated by a 'natural' in-born talent inside the full package of 'me.' In other words, If I were 'white,' and based on where I almost got to as I am, I would be rich. That would have been easy, because I could have imperceptibly mounted the upward curve train without the placed upon visual impediment of skin.
2
Ms. Rankine's emphasis on listening is heroic. Making herself vulnerable in this way to the harms that could arise from inquiring from white men about the issue of white male privilege is nonviolent communication, something that most of the dominant in society are too cowardly to do. Thank you.
3
I don't feel like this article really says very much. It sort of meanders. But I don't expect more from the magazine now. It really needs better editing.
Anyway, I know I benefit from white privilege and male privilege - which are intertwined but not exactly the same thing - but I am not entirely sure how I can define it. Certainly I can define it in all the ways I am not discriminated against. But it can't really point to something in my life and say "yes, I am benefiting!" My privilege is, I think, far more subtle. But what is it? I really don't know.
2
So as an approaching 60 white guy I hadn’t thought about “white privilege” much but my consciousness has been raised.
I noticed white privilege a couple years ago while waiting by a popular national chain hotel counter. There was a (what’scorrect blackorcolored) person there also. When the attendant (what’scorrect blackorcolored) came out from the back asked me if I needed help I said the other gentleman was there first.
Couple weeks later at a National vitamin supplement store the cashier lopes out to the counter and looking me dead I the eye says “I can help you.” I nod toward the (what’scorrect blackorcolored), saying he was there first.
It kind of resonates with me now
181
@Jim I think now the most common terminology is "person of color" as a very broad category. ("Colored" sounds very dated and negative in the US.) Black (sometimes capitalized, sometimes not) and African-American are also used. I'm a white person, so I can't really say what anyone *prefers*. But that's what I see used most. Good of you to notice these things. Once you start to look, you see it a lot.
30
@Zora and @Jim,
I commend you both and thank you on behalf of my mom and dad(both civil rights African-American blacks) who were arrested for sitting in lunch counters.
I thank you for my grandmother and grandfather (who were afraid to drive in certain states (Texas, Georgia, SC, NC, Ohio) after dark and always stayed at relatives homes along the way when we traveled up the east coast.
I thank you personally that Jim offered to his compadre that the person of color or black was their first.
In college, I had a white room-mate move out because I was African American, I've received bad grades due to racism. I was hired, a white male was paid $5,000; after the 2007 recession, that same white man laid me off the same week my mother died and gave my job to a lesser educated white male (while I was on vacation)
There are hundreds of items I could list, but these few as well as both of your comments show me that white people do care.
The African American/Caribbean/South American/African continent (slave 1700s - 1865 descendant of American chattel slavery period ) should be analyzed in the right context when it comes to reparations.
My parents and grandparents passed away, my grandmother lived to her 90s, but she was sad in the end. My grandfather worked himself to death. My father and my mother both died early due to racism.
My mother was indeed heartbroken by racism in this country. Again, thank you.
52
@Jim
Maybe he was deferential toward your age. I'm now 66 and find I receive a lot of deference on the bus and train, elevators, hallways. Just saying.
11
This is just one more article that reminds me that, yes, I have experienced white privilege (I am white.) Each article I read, or each person I talk to makes me redouble my efforts to be a better person. I appreciate that Ms. Rankine has taken the time with this detailed piece so I can see the problem through her experiences.
2
Hi Claudia. Thank you for the imagery of flying in the clouds while encountering and contemplating white dominance. Have enjoyed hearing of your successes and adventures. Ran into John a couple of years ago in the village. I enjoyed this article, even if it breaks my heart. Mostly, though, enjoyed being U's teacher for a couple of years. Please give her my love and best wishes to you, looking forward to reading you.
1
A fascinating article, one that really made me think. Thank you to both the Professor and to the NY Times for publishing it. Maybe when our society is completely diverse, in a 1000 years or however long it takes, we'll all come to terms with this. But who knows if we'll last that long. I see the biggest problem with white males as their propensity for getting us into wars. Historically and currently, men in general, but white men most recently have an aggression and a need for dominance that makes me question whether human society as we know it will survive.
4
@Eva Lockhart
Men in general? No. Throughout history, men in general have been slaves and serfs and soldiers and laborers and farmers.
What will kill human society is wasting time wringing hands about non-issues while the world chokes and burns and poisons us and every other living thing on it. When that happens, women will have been just as complicit as men.
6
Gerald Horne, in The Counterrevolution of 1776, has a take on whiteness that Dr. Rankine did not mention. According to Horne, since enslaved Africans clearly outnumbered slave owners in Virginia and the Carolinas, the Founding Fathers, dominated by Virginia planters, had a strong incentive to enlist every white male in the task of terrorizing the enslaved.
Patrick Henry was quite explicit about this, but the entire planter class, including Thomas "all men are created equal" Jefferson, worked to unify the white population and expand its ranks through immigration.
The greatest fear of the planter class was slave rebellion. The concept of whiteness was a bulwark against that possibility, and when the slave rebellion finally came, in the form of Lincoln's emancipation, the white population of the South was united in the task of restoring the old order as quickly as possible.
Slavery is more than our original sin. It was a major reason for the split with England and a corner stone of our democracy. It lives on in the cultural and political institutions of whiteness.
4
Ugh. Travels amidst white business men. My condolences. You are beyond brave to try to connect. I’m white. But a woman. And petite. I’ve had the stepped in front of in line, the orange juice scenario and the out of that entree (because they asked me last although I was in 2B) many times. Usually the culprit of bad business class service is a white FA. I’m relieved when the FA is male. I’ve also found European men even worse than American in terms of pushing ahead, grabbing overhead bins and generally making me feel invisible.
I can’t imagine the rage it might stir up in me were I an accomplished black woman from a prestigious university who is likely overlooked and underestimated in so many situations. Your equanimity is inspiring and I’ll think of you the next time I’m traveling by air or simply feeling disempowered.
Thank you for this article - beyond the travel commiseration, I learned a lot about the phrase itself, and white privilege, that I hadn’t thought about before.
11
First of all, I have never see anyone standing in line for first class. And even if there were such a line, it would be so small as to be irrelevant. One might even call it a gathering, or cluster, of privileged people, no matter their color, most likely in a private lounge. That's why they call it first class, I believe. The people standing in line are the ones flying in coach, the part of the airplane where lack of leg room is in part related to excess of leg room in first class. After all, that small cluster of privileged people up there are taking up a lot of space.
Secondly, I find it unsettling that the author of an article interrogating privilege would be so relentless in asserting her own, from teaching at Yale to staring into the semicircle of oak trees in her New Haven backyard to crisscrossing the United States, Europe and Africa in first class, to waiting in private lounges, etc. I mean, good grief! If the author’s economic privilege has not adequately translated into social capital (I don’t agree) for her to feel fulfilled, then perhaps she is a little too focused on her own privilege per se.
32
The author is making an argument: that white men have privilege on account of their race. That argument is invalid. If it were not, then all white men would be privileged people. And all privileged people would be white men. If you doubt this is what the author is asserting, then draw two circles, one for privileged people and one for white men. Unless they perfectly overlap--in which case there are no privileged people who are not white, which in untrue--then you end up with part of the white circle that is not privileged. How big a part of the circle would be up to the person drawing the circle. But the reality remains that the two categories, though they may overlap, are not one and the same. One does not cause the other. Hence, there is no such thing as white privilege.
(One might argue that all first class flyers are privileged people and vice versa, but this would be untrue as well. I was once upgraded to first class, some remarkable oversight no doubt, and it took about five minutes for the other people in first class to figure out I had been upgraded. They treated me accordingly.)
14
This was the most illuminating piece on the subject of race that I have ever read.
I thought I understood the privilege my white skin gives me -- and most of the points she made, I had understood before. And yet, she gave me a deeper, richer sense of the issue.
I am grateful to her for that.
7
Ms. Rankine, this was a tour de force. I enjoyed every minute spent reading it.
5
As here, identity politics only serves to reify exactly the fictional categories it nominally wishes to deconstruct. This is paradoxical and counter-productive. Such serves to divide and leave us each in the obliette of inessential misidentification. The favorite word in this essay is "I."
15
I quite value seeing the academic approach to the conditions I work within every day. It's refreshing to read the point of view of another middle aged black professional female.
I have to laugh at the different ways we would deal with some of the situations she described. We as women of color never know what it is about us that may trigger someone's ire or disdain: do they think women (especially middle aged women) are lesser, invisible, or do they think people of color are less than human? That's what I boil it down to. But like the author said, we never know if we are letting our assumptions drive the bus, and be mindful.
If I found myself sitting on a plane in first class, and the white man in front of me kept, however inadvertently, reaching back, seeing my brown face and looking at me 'like a stone he tripped on', I wouldn't have smiled.
I've been in the trenches of the practice of law: I've prosecuted, I've defended. I've been called by the defendant's name by other lawyers searching for their clients, I've been insulted by police officers who thought a black prosecutor was a problem. It gets old. I would've caught his eye and stared him down. I appreciate that the author was trying to journey into these men and their thought patterns, but I guess I've had enough of that. I tend to take the bull by the horns. Thanks to the author for her work.
9
I loved this article thank you. I prefer the white dominance language as well. I used to teach a Prejudice Hate and Violence course and when I spoke about white priviledge I noticed that some of my students stopped listening. As a white woman I try to address privileged comments when they occur although at times I am overly reactive. I believe that my tone is legitimate and justified however for the receiver they can more easily dismiss me. If I was still teaching this course, reading and writing a response to this article would be a course requirement and worth 50% of the grade !
4
What do white men think about their privilege ? Judging from the remarks I've heard over the decades, a huge number of them view it as perfectly normal. And acceptable. The natural order of things...
It's not just the remarks. Behaviour reveals mindsets.
And it's not just white men who think this way, as a glance at the directors of America's top art museums - or a read through some museum directors's memoirs (e.g. those of Sir Roy Strong) will demonstrate. You'd think that virtually all grads in history of art were white men.
1
The challenge of this topic is that generalizations are being made in a world of individuals. And generalizations are rarely accurate. I have watched ALL the men I know, having to deal with generalizations that dehumanized them. Almost all of these generalizations have been attached to skin tone. For me the question becomes, "Would you rather be considered a victim, or a victimizer?" As a victim, one may feel justification for anything they may do or say...after all, they are a victim. As a person on the perceived dominant side, one must carry the burden for every heinous thing that has been done by that group. One must constantly be told how their humanity as an individual is meaningless because they are part of that group and therefore privileged. And they must either be angry or ashamed or both for the perception that somehow they are part of the problem, regardless of their actions, their beliefs, or their experiences. I know that profiling happens. It has happened to friends of mine, strangers I have observed, and my own nephews. But knowing the inner pain I have carried most of my life regarding how others who are darker complected than myself are treated, I worry for my white sons. How can anybody carry the burden for so much wrong, even if they really aren't conscious of carrying this burden, without it affecting their lives, their happiness, and their mental and emotional well-being?
9
@Cat
I think we can start by being less defensive. Anger and humiliation are not useful unless they can be redirected into something positive. It seems to me that if you mean to say that you are white by saying you are on the perceived dominant side, you are holding on to some defensiveness. The dominance is not anybody's perception, it is reality. If one feels that all of humanity are brothers and sisters and we are all in this together, we need to do what we can globally to work on intelligent management of our resources, and equitable sharing of these resources. This may be beyond what we are capable of as humans, I don't know. We need to move beyond us vs. them and tribalism. Simple things like being a friendly person towards those that are different from us in the present help towards alleviating the burden you mention. Also, being open to and able to discuss reality without acrimony is probably good as well. I'm not saying those things are easy either. What does everyone else think out there?
3
@Matt
If a type of language and approach is consistently receiving a defensive reaction, you have two choices:
1. You can keep pounding away at it and keep receiving the same result, while smugly blaming everyone else but yourself for that outcome.
2. You can change your language and approach to produce the outcome you desire.
Now, it might just be that the outcome you desire is to confirm your own biases and write books and papers on the subject in order to get a professorship at Yale, which comes with lots of nice privileges, like having a nice house in Connecticut, flying first class around the world, and getting an op-ed published in the NY Times, all while patting your own back for making the world more "woke" from your perch above the hoi polloi.
7
Back in the 1980s, there was a questionnaire that gay people passed around. It was full of questions that were asked of gay people, rewritten to ask the normative center-of-crowd straight person: "When did you decide to become straight?" and "Have you ever been refused a job because you were straight?"
There is privilege and entitlement given to the center of the crowd, and it's no fun.
But do not propagate the notion that if you're white and male, you have it easy. Not everyone in the that category, is in the center of the crowd.
We gay men still do not have protection in the workplace; our lesbian sisters remain targeted for physical violence; our transgender brothers and sisters have targets painted on their back and are considered the ones to make fun of, at this political moment.
There are substantial injustices that African-Americans face. Elevating them should be the goal, not creating infighting by insulting whole demographics of other groups.
6
In my experience, perception of skin color is relative. Skin privilege is more like majority-based privilege. I am white-skinned, of Scottish-Irish heritage. I was called "dirty foreigner" and discriminated against in several languages on different continents and in different hemispheres by darker or lighter-skinned natives! When I was in the Peace Corps in Africa, I was considered an unwelcome, colonial predator with pale, white skin in the all dark-skinned African environment. Later, when I worked in Frankfurt, Germany, I was considered "dark-skinned" because I had a tan and I have dark eyes and hair and I lived in a truly pale-skinned, blonde environment. Germans asked me: "Are you from Spain, Sicily or Turkey, i.e., one of those dirty "brown-skinned" places?" When I worked in Hawaii I was accused of theft by my Japanese boss because I was a white person from the mainland who is a foreigner and can't be trusted. It turned out the boss's son had simply borrowed some money from the cash register to get change from the bank. It seems discrimination based on skin color is rather relative. There is hope that diversity in USA, which may well now be the majority, will overcome the fact of white privilege, if not the memory of it.
8
'What has it taken to cleave citizenship from “free white person”? '
American citizenship has been expanded from that qualification, but never "cleaved" from it. A "free white person" - i.e., one without an arrest record - will always get a fast green card and an express ticket to citizenship.
2
I'm white. My early childhood to age 12 was spent in a working class Boston neighborhood -- roughly evenly black and white. I'm first in my family to go to college. My mother was second, and it was because her black, female boss made it happen. For all that, when I was admitted to VERY WHITE Boston Latin in grade 9, I truly realized that poor and white was better than poor and black. All that said, I've enjoyed a great life and live in a small Harlem building where income and career status is not at all correlated with race and some black families have far higher income and status than I. Someday this will be normal, no matter how much today's Republicans hope otherwise.
6
As a white male brought up and living in the U.K. this article opened my mind to these issues in a way I haven’t come across in the U.K. print media. Thank you to the author.
2
The lines for flyers who qualify for early seating on a plane are now almost long as any other line. If you are a long time frequent flier, like I am, it is hard to discern where one line begins. And I too, like the offending white man, wonder how so many people qualify for early seating. Was his tone related to you, or just the overall situation?
5
White privilege is a myth. People of color can get into a college with lower grades, have affirmative action programs galore available to them, are a protected class, usually cannot be fired because of the threat of being labelled racist, etc.
15
@DJ Even if we all agreed that the past cannot be referenced in conversation about the present, and could pretend that the history of America - how wealth and opportunity have been built and passed down within families and communities- did not contribute to the opportunities and outcomes in the lives of people of color, I would still beg you to re-read the article and re-evaluate that claim. The existence of programs that try to correct for a very real imbalance (however heavy-handed or misguided they can be) seems unfair when they exist to benefit a group that isn't yours but focusing on the thing someone else might get that you don't get is too narrow here. It's easy to say 'If white privelege exists' why aren't I farther ahead. Race politics in America is not about you though. Being White allows you to believe that anything and everything can be about you (me, us). "i didn't.." "my parents didn't.." "the Irish..." "Why should I.." etc . The major split right now in reckoning with this seems to be between people who are willing to understand that and people who can't. It's Ok. Part of it is that you don't have to while the Author does.
6
Very happy about it. Now I hope minorities will level up to the same privileges some day.
1
What privilege?
6
I had a good laugh about this jet setting Yale professor sitting in first class obsessing over white privilege. It reminds me of the celebrities who fly private jets to climate change conferences.
For the record, I wholeheartedly reject the premise that white male privilege explains any of the problems of minorities in the US. I also reject that my acknowledging any privilege will help anyone.
You know who does have tons of unacknowledged privilege? First class flying liberal arts professors from Yale.
35
After reading this article and many of the responses I now know that I am missing nothing by not flying first class. Lots of unhappiness in our country. Very depressing.
7
White male here. When asked about my white male privilege the first things I mention are the obvious ones, in no particular order; no fear of being stopped for "driving while white", being treated with suspicion or disrespect for no apparent reason, the priviliges during childhood of attending good schools in a safe neighborhood, never being groped or leered at while at work or on the street, the list goes on and on.
This article bored me. I was hoping to hear what a series of white men would say, when asked directldy by the writer, what they thought (if anything) about their white privilege, such as "Hey, do you men realized you've just formed a separate line to be boarded for First Class?"
I'd like to hear what all the men she encountered had to say about that encounter: did any of them say "oh, yeah, I see your point.. sorry!", how many of them gave defensive replies, how many expressed remorse, said they see a bigger picture. now.
14
Ms. Rankine, Senator Warren, et al., all members of the class of the 'New Privileged'.
9
"Would they connect the treatment of the undocumented with the treatment of Irish, Italian and Asian people over the centuries?"
This shows the bias of the writer. The cases are entirely different .. ther Irish, Italian, and Asians were not here illegally.
Illegal is illegall is illegal, and illegal immigrants deserve one and only one treatment: immediate deportation.
Its that simple.
11
Asian immigration was outlawed in 1882 and maintained until WWII.
5
@CSK But unlikely Blacks they don't keep arguing that laws a hundred years ago were somehow an impediment to their success NOW and they don't keep asking for reparations
How would the poet appreciate a colleague in the Department of Sociology offering a workshop on poetic forms? Out of his/her element? Oh, yes, I would agree.
8
It's not white privilege. Its more like black subjugation that's the problem. Not being shot by police is not a privilege. Not being tailed in shops is not a privilege. Not being searched by TSA is not a privilege. Those are normal civil rights that in most of the developed world are taken for granted by all citizens and residents. The fact that being black in America is such a different experience is the shocking part. But you can't blame the average white guy for that either. Institutional racism is real and needs to be addressed. Peoples hearts and minds is a much harder objective and all the dense academic articles like this one will not make much of a dent on that.
25
As a woman of colour I was very interested in Claudine’s experience.
Of course she is a brilliant writer however I felt NYT’s editors were reluctant to do their part in finessing the end result.
6
If you want to have a discussion about race, a discussion where you educate me about the unrecognized benefits I've enjoyed and the insults and humiliations you've suffered, I have a suggestion.
Let's find a word that encourages us to acknowledge these truths without at the same time protesting our personal exceptions to the these standards.
I can't speak for all white males, but I know that I, and I suspect many others of my group would be happy to discuss White Advantage. It's something most of us willingly acknowledge. But when you call it White Privilege or White Supremacy, we feel a need to call attention to whatever hardships we've accomplishments that we take pride in thinking of as the product of our hard work. And then we hear about White Fragility.
Privilege doesn't feel all that privileged when you share it with 200million other Americans, many of whom had far greater privileges than you had.
At some point, you have to ask yourself, is your goal to make us feel ashamed (or to pretend to because that seems the desired response) or is it to spread enlightenment and help people be and do better?
20
Grievance Studies are not legitimate academic pursuits.
28
Statistical studies confirm significant disparities which show that white people with European ancestry enjoy more advantages and non-white people with non-European ancestry suffer more disadvantages. But identifying the causes are just speculations, the actual cause and effects are not confirmed. The reliable measures are averages for huge populations of people. So they do not describe individuals more than the odds about whether that person is likely to be better or wise off than another based on race.
The white male privilege assertion simply ignores the reality and asserts if the average white male is better off, then all are better off, thus they all are privileged.
The author then begins to confront all white males with their being privileged, disregarding the fact that likelier is not certainty.
6
Ask a young poor white male with limited educational and employment opportunities how he feels about his white male privilege. I saw Don Lemon tonight laugh hysterically at the idea a white person could ever feel discriminated against. Liberal identity politics--Trump's path to victory, again.
22
"each time he removed or replaced something in his case overhead, he looked over at me. Each time, I looked up from my book to meet his gaze and smiled"
I'm pretty sure he was flirting, and you were responding. Claudia, people aren't normally taking things in and out of their overhead lockers on a short flight like that.
9
Reading an article like this reminds me to be grateful I left the country and made my home overseas. People have a choice in how to perceive, feel, and welcome the world. You have a choice in how much to emphasize history and determined fates, and how much to emphasize today, tomorrow and the attitudes and approaches you can take to make the future a better place. You have a choice of which battles to fight. And the words we choose matter. Words paint reality.
We can dwell on the white privilege, have classes about it and write essays, poems, and songs. We can make it the dominant force in our life. We can feel oppressed by it. But history is like the geological layers- dig a hole, analyze the soil, try to figure out how the land formed the way it did. You are studying dead things so that you can define the living accordingly. No change will be born of this process.
I would like to see this energy put into creating a better future. Not just Claudia - higher education as a whole. Study the future.
Claudia is right in everything she says. But I feel her choices of emphasis and chosen internal dialogue is everything that makes it wrong for our future.
14
When we talk about white men only being 32% of the population yet holding so much power it's important to remember that white elected officials changed immigration policy in just the 1960's which resulted in a far more diverse America. About 90% of the USA population in 1960 was white.
The range of diversity found in Canada, USA and much of Europe is both new and unique. It was created by white majorities voting for more diverse societies.
I think we are all richer people for it. But let's remember how new this change is how far we've come and how far we have to go.
26
As a caucasian female in the US I was recipient of similar treatment from US males in corporate and university settings, and lost jobs because of my protesting against the system. I think the US culture is toxic to most anyone with a moral conscience, not just people traditionally identified as oppressed by it. The author has achieved great privilege, no doubt through the pressure of over-achieving as an under represented person in her field. But her approach to criticism just reveals her participation in the system instead of really changing it.
14
It’s hard to tell 200,000,000 citizens they’re privileged.
I think we too often mix up race with economic class, like U.S. blacks celebrating OJ’s acquittal. That had more to do with economics, he could afford the dream team of lawyers. Maybe there’s some epicenter of relative normalcy that more of us can (or do) share.
20
Wow. This was an amazing column to read. It's painful and lovely, thoughtful and awkward. I hope Professor Rankine is able to relax more into simple conversations to find out who is this, this person sitting next to me? That, it seems to me, is one of the essences of white privilege--the lack of introspection and suspicion: the ability to have a casual conversation without pondering hierarchies and the relative power between the two people talking to each other.
16
The thing that people often seem to forget in this discussion is that we’re talking about averages. I wholeheartedly agree that black people have a harder life on average compared to white people in the US and many other western countries. However we mustn’t forget that these are averages. There are also a lot of white people who are way worse off because of different circumstances than their race than certain black persons. So I can understand the irritation if for instance a poor white man has to hear a well-off black man tell him that he should be glad that he is white and privileged, while the white man notices few privileges about being white.
26
@Mees the generic or average or even less than average white man might be irritated, but that doesn't excuse them for their failure to imagine the many layers of hardships they've never needed to consider.
@Paul Garber You’re completely right, but I also think that the rich black man shouldn’t be excused for their failure to imagine the many hardships that don’t have anything to do with race the poor white man faces and don’t just see him privileged because of his race.
1
@Paul Garber
I'm irritated by your many assumptions about what hardships anyone has or hasn't had to endure just based on their gender and skin color... or your designation of "generic".
2
'I Wanted to Know What University Professors Thought About Their Privilege. So I Am Asking'
Ms. Rankine- graduate of Williams College and Columbia University, continuing her life of ease and privilege at Yale University.
A new privileged class has emerged, but dares not acknowledge or allow the recognition of this new privilege to the public; this group must continue to cry poor and oppressed.
Leverage the immutable characteristics for economic and political advantage, contrary to the meritocracy required for opportunities by others.
35
Honest conversations about race are nearly impossible in this country, and the truly elite and privileged are cheering us on as those of us who have seen our lives hollowed out by them attack each other instead of the source of our misery.
I would not blame any white man for not engaging in the conversation this woman wants to engage them in (cue comments from white men who would LOVE to). She's not actually looking to learn anything. She's looking to have her pre-conceived ideas about white men confirmed and no one will escape the trap, even the "woke" white men.
I don't run in the same elite circles as Ms. Rankine, and I have never flown first class in my life. If I did, maybe I'd see more of this privilege all around me.
What I do know is that nobody who is struggling in life, regardless of color, wants to be accused of being "privileged", and no good is going to come from forcing that label on someone who doesn't deserve it. Nobody who has had a young man go to war and not come home, or come home with parts of his body or mind missing, wants to hear about their privilege. No white men who have stood in unemployment lines with their black brothers from the defunct factory want to hear about it. Nobody who has had their father die an early death from working in the coal mines wants to hear about it.
And to deny one's own privilege is not the same as denying that racism exists and is a big problem in this country. The two thoughts can reside in the same head.
63
Why do people feel so much guilt about being privileged?
Acknowledging privilege - or the lack of any social impediments when EVERYONE else has them - does not make you guilty of anything.
Many White people recognize this and have no qualms acknowledging their privilege. The question is why many don’t.
5
@J.C. No man need fear the questions Rankine might ask because she doesn't seem to ask any questions. She experiences a situation, wonders what is going through the mind of the privileged white man she has encountered, comes up with her idea of what he might be thinking and lets it go at that. I too would like to hear how these men might respond to these questions, so it's a shame she never bothers to ask them.
12
Absolute best thing I have read here.
9
Thank you for this thorough and thoughtful piece on a difficult topic. I appreciated having the opportunity to listen and learn from the author.
4
I taught courses treating white privilege, race, gender and sexual orientation. Here's the thing. If you teach as I did in a largely liberal institution, what you'll find is a kind of "preemptive agreement" from the privileged. The sad part is, students of color, women and others seem satisfied with this kind of ritual admission. But here's the deal, you're not going to get preemptive agreement from blue collar white males, nor, frankly should it be expected. The literature of white privilege, is designed and executed for the privileged who maintain their privilege by nodding in agreement with whomever accuses them of anything. Those blue class workers-sure argue if you want that they are privileged by race. do not feel privileged, and in fact are often not, other than in an abstract academic way.
The more I read the literature of the construction of whiteness, which I taught, especially Roediger's work, the thinner and more tendentious it appears to me. I feel I was taken in, and I think most who confuse preemptive agreement with a real conversation are too.
37
You may have taught whiteness in history classes somewhere, but it doesn’t sound as though you understood it.
This is all about power. I grew up and learned in the post-Civil Rights Movement era, when it was easy to absorb and agree with the need to eliminate the oppression of people of color. This is focusing on the impact of white supremacy, not its origins and structure.
Looking at American citizenship and identity through whiteness flipped my learning, as a white woman; I wasn’t looking through a window anymore, but at a mirror. These lessons are harder, and they are more deeply personal and challenging, but they are essential to getting closer to the truth about American identity and power. If it feels uncomfortable, fellow citizens, then you are probably making some progress in your understanding.
1
...should be titled "What PRIVILEGED White Men Thought About Their Privilege".
10
As a white woman divorcing a "privileged white man" who never describes another human without adding "black" in front of who they are if they are African American. Years ago he met a friend of mine and said, "you didn't tell me she was black". But, he'll tell you he's not a racist. Just one of many reasons he is becoming my ex.
15
The mostly female occupants of my floor in my office building would find ourselves waiting in line to use the single seater women's restroom while the men's room stood empty. I suggested to the building manager that if both rooms had locks on the outside door--as the urinal is not in a stall--they could both become all gender restrooms and therefore be more accomodating for all possible genders and also relieve the women's room back-up. He said he would look into it. Weeks later, nothing had changed. I asked him why and he said the one all male office had objected. I was flabbergasted, and then I realized, oh yes, that is privilege. The men did not see this as a more fair distribution of resources, they saw it as their exclusive access being taken away!
12
@Dymphna
Men are always thinking what you think they're thinking, and for the reasons you think they're thinking that. What other explanation could there be?
3
I reeeaaaallllly want to take this class.
2
This is a good read and strikes a nerve, stirs things up. I’m a 60 white male from Seattle. I grew up in Washington State and have led a conventional life – married, grandkids, white-collar job. I did some racist things as a youth, for which I got called out. I mistreated girls, joked about homosexuals, and made fun of others. I denigrated people who smoked or drank. Fear my wrath. What losers! I now recognize this imperviousness (or obliviousness), this unfettered freedom to speak and move about the world, as the antecedent of white male privilege. Yet my epiphany fails me. Now, increasingly, I’m privilege’s target – labelled and accused, examined and corrected – in the news, by interest groups, and, most recently, by a young friend’s outspoken girlfriend. Do we really need one more divisive fractal through which to examine an exceedingly complicated and angry world? Men are to blame. White people are to blame. Immigrants are to blame. The intelligentsia is to blame. Our founders are to blame. Can I give it back? The privilege? I didn’t want, take, or steal it. It was conferred. And who’s to blame for that?
13
Excellent, thought-provoking piece. As a white person, I know that unpacking my own racial biases, absurd stereotypes, layers of denial, and feelings about white privilege will be a life-long process. It's painful, complicated, and ultimately, heart-breaking. Thank you, Ms. Rankine, for your willingness to go deep.
14
At the end of the day we should be focused on bringing people up not dragging people down. Amen.
18
If you are in first class , everyone is privileged.
if you are male, you are more than twice as likely to be a manager regardless of your colour
The term is Bayesian or Conditional probability
7
No doubt I benefit from "privilege" - when I interact with a police officer and the criminal justice system, when I'm "just shopping" in a store and in assumptions made about me when I apply for a job or buy real estate. But I'm not white, I'm Jewish and I resent being lumped into some general category of "whiteness".
This show a complete lack of understanding and historical perspective the professor is requesting. Jews were blocked from purchasing real estate in some areas (including exclusive areas in the Northeast, restricted in the professions they could enter, limited in admissions to the top universities and suffered the day to day indignities of casual anti-semitism well into 1960's. Through the early part of the 20th century, European Jews lived in walled ghettos and were subjected to government sponsored lynchings (pogroms). Not to mention systematic programs of extermination that are well known and documented.
I am not minimizing the issues facing African American today in a society that is not as inclusive as it needs to be but the issue is not white privilege but extending those privileges to all in our society.
12
I understand this resentment as I am Jewish as well and initially felt this way. However, even as white Jews we have privelege in our day to day not afforded to people of color. If we walk into a room filled with mostly white people who don't know us, we fit in more easily than a person of color in the same situation. It doesn't take away from what Jews have experienced, but being Jewish does not mean that we don't have white privilege.
11
This is a wonderful article and I'm thrilled the NYT chose to publish it. I'm worried by some of the comments that amount to "but me, my experience, #notallwhitefolks." Individual experience doesn't disprove our shared reality, and no one should feel attacked or wronged by this article.
Generally, people are unaware of the impacts of their own whiteness in the same way that you have a pretty fixed idea of what your voice sounds like, yet are always surprised when confronted with a recording of it. This article contains the gentlest of reminders to maybe consider this in your day to day.
20
Thanks for sharing an important insight. We overestimate our agency in these larger processes, yet are still accountable to them.
2
I accept that White Privilege exists. So does white Anglo-Saxon privilege. That confers the privilege of origin and Christian religion. The whiteness of being a WASP is evermore so pure than white and being Jewish. Yet, because I am white and Jewish I can hide my detested religion and pose as purely white. And that does indeed confer real privilege. One segment of our family whose ancestral and well documented family name was Israel decided in the 1940s to change their name to Islin. They believed (wrongly in my view) that shedding their obviously Jewish name, they would gain greater status and acceptability. They were never really able to hide but they thought it helped from being too obviously Jewish and undesirable. Strangely too, when African Americans began their great struggle for civil rights in the 1950s and 1060s, I can recall my parents tell my sister and I that because we are white, we can hide our Jewishness and succeed whereas blacks cannot escape their blackness.
So, did we really have a benefit of White Privilege? The answer is yes and no. No, my parents and grandparents could not escape the draft in WWI and WWII. Being white did not protect them. My mother enlisted as a Navy WAVE in WWI but was not protected against overt anti-Semitism in the Navy. My sister though brilliant was only accepted to a summer program at Harvard but not as a full time student. Discrimination, racial and religious bigotry exist regardless of color. There is no safe color.
11
Stereotyping white people, or even just white males, is as bad as stereotyping members of any other group. The author's reverse-racism is helping to miseducate a generation of our society's elites.
57
The privilege of white men is by appearance only. White men do not have privilege in the way that it seems that they do, at first glance. At its best, the analogy I would suggest is "white collar slavery." These men think that they have it all, or some kind of purpose, but in reality they are bereft of something more fundamental... and it is not their fault. There has been a kind of evolving deception where the soft-arts have taken power a long time ago. Men now seem like the worthless rooster in a hen house that is really only designed to harvest eggs. Dumb men and women, of course, will have no notion of these ideas. Do not feel sorry for these white privileged men, feel sorry for yourselves for not understand the fragile reality that we have been burdening under. It is just too easy to point a finger at someone else, where ignorance in fact is everywhere.
10
The author lives under the tyranny of always seeing color wherever she goes. Sadly.
40
Enough with the white privilege!
11
“I don’t see color.” This is a statement for well-meaning white people whose privilege and blind desire catapult them into a time when little black children and little white children are judged not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” The phrase “I don’t see color” pulled an emergency brake in my brain. Would you be bringing up diversity if you didn’t see color? I wondered. Will you tell your wife you had a nice talk with a woman or a black woman? Help.
OK...I made it to the end...this part really made me sad..what's the point of this dialogue ....where is the LOVE..? If somebody tries to be good they are looked upon with disdain? But....this following quote really blew me away...reminded me of the Nazis who would distinguish between germanic people and pure arians:
“I couldn’t tell by looking at this man I was sitting next to, but I wondered if he was an ethnic white rather than a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant.”
10
Given how many flights this author takes I wonder if she is aware of her blatant American privilege.
36
@Kevin
She is not.
16
It's weird that this is basically a story about all the times the author didn't ask random white guys about their white privilege, after thinking about doing so.
23
Implying what their responses would be wihtout ever testing the hypothesis presented is just irresponsible
15
I’ve read Claudia Rankine’s essay twice, and a great many of the comments.
My conclusion: white privilege exists, but so do many other types of privilege, including— but not limited to— those conferred by gender, wealth, ethnicity, religion. good health, good lucks, athletic prowess and fame, to name several.
While Dr. Rankine is entirely correct that white privilege exists, I suggest that it is a too narrow a lens through which to view the world.
By all means, challenge society’s ingrained prejudices. But remember that most of us are members of both privileged and non-privileged groups.
Treat others as you would be treated, judge others by their character and, whenever possible. be kind.
43
I think the term "white privilege" gets a lot of backlash because, quite frankly, it isn't a great term.
It is not a privilege, for example, not to be arrested (or questioned by cops) for merely walking around in your neighborhood. It is completely unintuitive to call THAT a privilege. Indeed, I think it is wrong to call that a privilege at all.
To continue the example, it doesn't feel like a privilege not to be arrested for doing nothing illegal or wrong. I, as a white man, do not feel privileged for not being arrested or questioned by police for walking around my neighborhood after dark. That is just how people ought to be treated--people ought not to be arrested for doing nothing wrong or illegal.
The problem is not that people of color lack privileges that other people have--the problem is that they aren't treated as people ought to be treated.
Privileges AREN'T things that everyone ought to have: we don't think everyone should be the heir to a large fortune. Rights (ethical or legal) ARE things everyone ought to have: we do think everyone should be able to go about their business without police interference so long as they do nothing wrong.
The term "white privilege" is a bad term because it confuses rights with privileges.
20
it is absolutely privilege. you have the privilege to walk around with considerably less fear from the police. not everyone has that.
6
@Mason
You missed my point. A privilege is not the same as a right. A right is something everyone should have; a privilege is something for which it is fine if not everyone has it.
Walking about without fear of the police is a right, not a privilege. Not being discriminated against on the basis of race is a right, not a privilege.
5
Privilege dictionary definition:
A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.
Something can be both a right and a privilege if it is a right that should be everyone's, but is granted to only a certain group, such as walking around your neighborhood at night without being questioned, which is a privilege that is granted far more to white people than it is to people of color. It doesn't matter if it "feels" like a privilege to you or not. Plenty of things don't "feel" like privileges simply because you've never been forced to exist without them. You're a white male who lives in America and is rich enough to own at least one device that you can write this comment on, and as such you benefit from many luxuries that you likely don't always consider. Whether or not you consider them privileges, they are there and you have the upper hand to many others because you have them.
3
Living in white skin, as I do, I thought this was helpful. What I took from it was how Ms. Rankine longs for meaningful conversation about the different experiences we have based on the systems we reaffirm day in and day out with our words, our works, our patterns and expectations - systems that distinctly privilege white experience. I long for that kind of conversation too. I wish I was standing in line next to her at a coffee shop (I don't fly often) and could strike up a conversation like the kind she sought with white men. I appreciate her honest discussion of how hard it is to actually open our mouths and say anything. I heard a lot of nuance in her inner dialogue, free of shaming, but eager for an experience free of a world where whiteness doesn't dominate. Thanks for this!
16
@RC Last sentence was meant to say "eager for an experience of a world where whiteness doesn't dominate."
@RC, if you want to see a world where “whiteness doesn’t dominate”, there are many countries you could make an extended visit to, like India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Algeria, etc. If you chose to live like an ordinary local, rather than a privileged tourist, you would probably soon find out why so many from non-white dominated countries are choosing to try to emigrate to those that are run by whites.
11
It really bothers me that people think "I don't see color" is a racist statement. I have never seen "color" as a characteristic of any person's essence.
I was, literally, raised by the women who worked as our housekeepers; my mother was an absent socialite. In our privileged upbringing, I saw others as my mothers; I saw their neighborhoods as mine. I lived at the border of segregated neighborhoods and crossed "customary lines" to play with children of darker complexions, questioning why they didn't attend the same school, a block away, as I did. I wanted them there."My Mama wants me to go to [the school six blocks away.]"
All other neighborhoods in which I lived were well integrated with several ethnic varieties. No, I don't see color, and I don't hear other languages; I see humans. Yes, everyone has a unique visage. I have never met any people who "all look alike," not even the identical twins who, when I was a teacher, tried, in vain, to trick me.
If I'd call police for neighborhood disturbances (usually blatant drug-dealing or domestic acrimony); the first question would be, "Race?" My standard answer was, "I don't know. He has black hair and a medium complexion," or "She has a very light complexion, but I haven't heard her speak; I do not know if she's Hispanic."
And, although I have taught people from Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, I have never met a "black" person. They look brown to me. I'm "ecru"
13
"I don't see color" is not an inherently racist statement -- it just comes off as such because when white people say it, they have the privilege to not think about their race. Many people have to constantly consider their race. When a person of color is walking around at night, they have to think about their race because depending on the neighborhood they live in, they might be stopped or questioned for doing nothing wrong. When a white person is walking around at night, they never have to take their race into account simply because it doesn't matter in that circumstance -- they'll likely have a nice walk and return to their home with no incident and no situation that forces them to think about their race. Case in point: A white person's statement of "I don't see color" reflects on their innate privilege to never consider race, and subsequently their limited understanding of that privilege.
8
Well said. And this is very revealing.
Not seeing color is not just about how one sees others, it’s about how one sees how others will see them, — IE seeing your own color — and whether not having to consider that is likely to result in harm to them.
1
@E.A. Thank you. That's an interesting idea, not having to think about one's own color, or, possibly, having to live with the feeling that color places oneself in harm's way.
You are correct, in that white people do not need to fear about "incidents" of police action while they walk around at night--regardless of the racial makeup of the neighborhood.
I can understand the apprehension of some people of color when walking through predominantly white areas, particularly where there is a hostile environment known to and practiced by certain narrow-minded residents.
"We are seeing the deconstruction of the white-male archetype" is a true statement, but it's happening at an imperceptible pace.
4
"I was waiting in another line for access to another plane in another city as another group of white men approached. When they realized they would have to get behind a dozen or so people already in line, they simply formed their own line next to us. I said to the white man standing in front of me, 'Now, that is the height of white male privilege.' " Great way to break the ice! As a frequent-flyer, let me assure you that the "start a new line" thing happens all the time, and is instigated by all kinds of people. Having read this article several times, I've concluded that the author is over-thinking things way too much.
34
White privilege is real.
Assuming individuals actions are based soley on the perceived assumption they are doing it because they think they are entitled to because they are 'white' is another.
Male privilege is the bigger culprit here. Not race.
I find it hard to believe the author would expect any better treatment in a first class cabin of non-white males.
5
As I read the article on teaching a course in whiteness by a black woman, I became confused.Then I continued to read and thought maybe that first guy on the plane thought you were cute or pretty. Now that is a real problem for me as a feminism. Always an issue with all men. SIGH!
Then you were on first class and everyone is privileged there including you.
Lastly I work in a state university, even the dean can't afford first class. Do you have any jobs open at Yale?
And to finish up my dissertation on humor is a good thing.
Smile this is a great country and we have "come a long way baby."
OOPs wrong commercial.
16
@Kevin Yes and I love it. My parents were immigrants and happy to be here no matter how grim things got. They had the privilege of spending time in the real Concentration camps They also had the privilege of working in sweatshops and as a charwoman but they still wanted that American privilege as do I. Let's keep it going. It is still the best there is.
1
And, here I thought everyone flying first class was "privileged." Narcissim knows no race.
I won't even dare expand on the thought of a middle-aged black woman teaching "whiteness studies" at Yale. The culture of American democracy is just lost.
27
Races don't exist, but racism does. I don't think race can be "seen" in any objective way. The author herself writes about the construction of race ex whiteness (Celtic, Slavic and Mediterranean peoples). That's why statements as this one are problematic: “Because if you can’t see race, you can’t see racism.”
6
Dr. Rankine, this white woman thanks you for honoring and exploring the exhausting complications of our racial bewilderedness, but most of all thank you for articulating this phrase: "the silencing mechanism of manners." I have dwelt within that phenomenon far too long.
3
The article was excellent. As a black male I have also experienced similar events while waiting in line for a first class seat. Unfortunately I did not take my fellow passengers to tasks to make them aware of their white privilege. However, when I was not served my drink appropriately I did write a letter to the airlines regarding this infraction. They were apologetic, which was understandable. When similar occurrences happen we should make it our duty to make others aware of it and promote further dialogue.
6
Dr. Rankine, thank you so much for this very well-written piece. It's the best food for thought I have read all day, and I would love to use it in the classes I teach.
4
First of all, I think the term “white privilege” is so jarring, is because it infers that everything good in a white man’s life came from being white (much the same way those with financial privilege are assumed to be in whatever position they are in thanks to daddy’s trust fund).
White men in 2019 America undoubtedly have an easier go at life than a white woman or male person of color with otherwise the same exact upbringing, connections, finances, etc. But, there is an insidious belief that “white privilege” is a golden ticket to cruise through life without struggle, and success is preordained when you enter this world pale and male. It also carries a whiff of accusation - like each of us is responsible for the failures of our multicultural society, and for the actions of deplorable white men we’ve never met.
I recognize that having the time and energy to feel slighted and hurt by the fact that others see your accomplishments as not yours, and struggles as not significant, comes with white privilege, so there’s a futility here in trying to make a point. But I will try.
Can’t we highlight and acknowledge structural inequalities, and point out examples of insensitive or brutish behavior, in a way that is perceived as less hostile? “White privilege” is real, and needs to be addressed, but the use of those words is clearly divisive (it’s akin to being called racist by some); a rebrand might be helpful if the goal is to educate rather than embarrass.
16
White privilege, white male privilege, old family white male privilege, old wealthy white male privilege. You can substitute female in a number of those categories, but there is a clear hierarchy.
I believe there are better ways of feeling better about yourself and acting as if you are superior to other people. Life is not need to be a zero sum game requiring everyone else to feel worse or inferior
7
I am a _________ _________.
I am privileged.
I am privileged because I was brought up in a loving family.
I am privileged because I grew up with neighbors who cared for me
I am privileged that I have been educated in public schools.
I am privileged because I have a spouse who loves me.
I am privileged to have a job that pays me a livable wage.
I am privileged because I have friends who are there for me in times of need.
I am privileged because I was born in a country that offered me protection and services.
I am privileged because I have access to medical care.
I am privileged because I am healthy.
I am privileged because my community has ample opportunities to volunteer to help people or a cause.
I am privileged because when I walk into a room people smile back at me.
I am privileged to have children with great opportunities to create a better world.
I am privileged because I am not walking backwards with blinders on.
18
A very interesting article that required a commitment of time and attention to read, contemplate and understand. At some point I realized that this is another thing that those with white and other types of privilege resent-- the effort it takes to understand others who have been shaped by different life circumstances and experiences than theirs. They would prefer not to have to bother.
9
Very few people have a "semi-circle of oak trees" in their backyard - let alone a backyard big enough for one, or a backyard at all. Very few fly first class. The author is only barely cognizant of the rarefied status she has.
She says she hopes to recognize stereotypes of whiteness in her actions, but then proceeds to apply some, and imputes to a rude white man all manner of racial bias.
There clearly are still big issues of racial discrimination and preference in this country. President Trump proves that on a regular basis, as does the fact that so many people continue to find ways to excuse his words and actions. However, the kind of approach the author seems to follow will not improve matters. It will resonate with a group of people who already believe - a classic sermon to the choir. It will not do anything to advance the larger discussion or reduce actual corruption.
"I know Y was x-ist because I inferred x-ist intent behind their actions" is never going to convince anyone who isn't already on your side. There are plenty of statistics out there demonstrating actual, provable racism. Use those instead.
PS I'd hate to be stuck on a plane beside someone who insisted on examining my privileges, just as they'd hate to have me examine, for example, their failure to be vegan or eco-friendly or bilingual or Jewish or anything of their privileges or choices.
28
Dr. Rankine's work on Whiteness reminds me of some of the writings of Early Twentieth Century sociologists with titles like "Social and Mental Traits of the Negro." It's just another elaborate exercise in characterizing hundreds of millions of people as a monolithic culture.
After, presumably, a lifetime of being treated this way has Dr. Rankine decided that retuning this treatment in kind is the way to promote a harmonious society?
35
Your story about the group of men forming their own line instead of joining the existing line reminds me of an episode many years ago in Panama. I had spent a couple of weeks working in Panama and was returning to the US. At the airport I ran into a man and his wife I knew who were also returning to the US. We got in line to pass through the Panamanian exit immigration process. A couple of well dressed Panamanians came up and started to cut in the front of the line; something they probably regularly did. My friend and I both said something to the men about how the line formed at the end, and the men retreated.
At the time, the mid 1970s, we felt that everyone should be treated the same, that there should be a certain fairness and equality for the people in the line. Obviously, the men in your story had no such sense of fairness - they thought they were superior and deserved to be at the head of the line. In Panama at that time, I was not surprised that there were people who considered themselves superior and deserving of special treatment. I'm disappointed that we have moved in that direction, but I realize we have.
1
I read with curiosity as to what exactly is white privilege. I approached the article with the prejudgment that it is pointless to ask a white man about his privilege because he has no frame of reference. Perhaps this is my own perspective. I know I am privileged but I could not tell you why or how and in fact could not care less. It does not affect me in my endeavours at all. On a separate plane, I have witnessed racism and bigotry and do find it offensive and do care (about opposing it). I think there is a subtle racism, however, built into our (my) culture and privilege that I cannot escape as it is native in me. So the article is useful as it does provide a very detailed and cogent perspective on a privilege that is real but perhaps invisible to me in my day to day. Thank you Claudia.
10
It just dawned on me: this article is missing something. We need to go deeper.
Here's a suggestion. For her next article, the author docks her private yacht in Marina di Capri and asks fellow billionaires about their privilege. Indeed, this may be the only way to uncover white privilege.
Honestly! If there’s a better way to make legitimate issues look like academic playthings of the elite, I don’t know it.
23
having a handicapped child lifted the veil of "-isms" , and for the first time i could see not only the individual transactions, but the structural elements. it is difficult to see privilege until you are no longer privileged.
15
You’ll never hear reasonable white men talk about privilege because the fear of saying the wrong thing, which can be as innocuous as a disagreement about the full extent of the privilege. This article validated that fear, as the author judged every action and conversation on the basis of race.
So, what you’ll always get is a skewed sample where the biggest idiots among us are willing to speak, and the reasonable keep quiet. You’d have to be an idiot to not know white privilege is a thing. You’d also have to be an idiot to open your mouth about this subject as a white guy to anyone who isn’t a close friend.
28
I attended high school in Alabama when the schools were integrated by court order and I served in the Navy when it was struggling with racial friction in the ranks. Because I was a southerner, I always assumed, I was summoned many times to attend the Navy's group discussions of race relations when others never were. I resented it because, while I knew plenty of hateful bigots in those days, I wasn't one of them. It seems like I've been involved in discussions of race, in various places and formats, for my entire life. All I have been able to conclude is that race in the US is far too complicated to be summarized in a phrase or attitude or set of assumptions about any person or group. The exceptions to every assumption are too numerous.
In the end, the past cannot be changed and the people responsible for egregious past sins are long gone. Perfect justice is impossible and guilt for sins committed by other people is useless. So we can only go forward, alert to past injustices and individually committed to doing better. Ultimately, each of us can only control what we do today and tomorrow, and responsibility for what we do is entirely our own.
337
@Purple Patriot Why are you assuming that only bigots could benefit from conversations about race? All of us carry around implicit bias and benefit from being challenged on our biases and assumptions. I think the flawed idea that only racists must and should talk about race is what prevents critical and honest dialogue. This is just "colorblindness" in another form.
38
If you do not perceive things from the experience of being the victim of discrimination, you probably do not know what it’s like. If you know how bigoted people behave privately and publicly, you know that those who are victims of them do not understand bigots from those who are not until they feel the sting, because they lack that perspective.
The big problem that persists is that people do not converse easily about race across races. They do repeat the same perceptions from the same perspectives, though.
11
@Meg, I think what Purple Patriot was saying is he also was a victim of bias. It's exasperating to deal with people who automatically assume you have negative views simply because of your background. Especially in those times, being forced into those types of discussion were generally considered remedial education. To be selected over and over again? I'm sure more privileged people were able to avoid unwanted participation because the assumption was he needs the talk.
Today is different, but I still think it's wrong to force people into discussions they don't want to have.
17
When someone says, "I don't see color," they are not talking about the first moments of a first encounter where that person assesses the dress, appearance, body language, etc. of another human being. What is meant is that after dress/appearance/body language/color are taken in, and it is clear that the other person is not a threat, assessment moves on to other factors like intelligence, kindness, education, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, religiosity, etc. Color is no longer a salient factor.
Want proof? Yes, for a moment, I'd momentarily recoil from a small group of African-American young men coming toward me on the street late at night, because of the higher crime rate for that group. My recoil would turn to color blindness when I realized that the men were carrying books, and even more so when those books were Bibles.
11
@O'Brien Excuse me.....some of us do, genuinely, not see color. Most of the time, I merely see facial features to help me remember the individual neighbor so I can remember him/her at a later occasion. Some of my best friends are of other races....really! But I never refer to their races in conversations or in describing my relationships with them.
Would your reaction be the same if it was a group of white males?
Capitalism encourages exploitation. In order to justify the attempted genocide and theft of Native Americans land and the enslavement of Africans to perform labor intensive activities for the economic benefit of whites it was necessary to promote the idea of racial superiority. Racism. The fact that native peoples and Africans were not Christians was a further justification of racial superiority. Capitalism and Christianity are the foundations of racism.
2
a few things stick out. 1) the author seems very intimidated, despite being able to profess a class on whites. 2) she seems a bit confused as if her conversations are sort of flirting - "would he tell his wife" - irrelevant? 3) the phrase ethnic white, not WASP - is that another kind of birtherism? aren't we past that? you mean there are "real" whites and "other" secondary whites? 4) why would the last man in the story think about diversity if he doesn't see color - maybe because you can't exist in corporate america today without having diversity statistics, diversity workshops, diversity evaluations. whether one "sees" color or not, it's something that is constantly being measured and everyone is expected to participate in that. 5) so, what to draw from this? it isn't research. it does present a couple of vignettes, from a professor of whiteness studies who is married to a woke white man but afraid to speak to other white men, trying to have a few random, unprepared, non-systematic hit or miss chats or observations to find out what white male privilege means - as such, more illuminating of the professor's personal self consciousness than what she wanted to find out about.
19
So patronizing. And what, pray tell, is the correct answer to this passive aggressive question? And from what lofty height do you presume to disparage people who aspire to MLK's dream of judging people by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin? I'm sorry you've had to deal with some rude people, but if you're a Yale professor flying first class all over the world, you're privileged, from where I'm standing.
34
All the comments saying this woman doesn't realize or appreciate her own privilege (to be flying first class) clearly have NO idea what it's like to be a woman, let alone an African American woman, in the United States. Understand that women often have to work harder than their white male classmates and co-workers to get the same recognition and still might be paid less for doing the same work. This pointing out of her "privilege" is most likely coming from white commenters and demonstrates ignorance of the concept of white privilege. Keep reading about it -- you'll get it some day.
6
@Meg I dare say you have NO idea what it's like to be a working class white man in the United States so I fail to see the point you're trying to make. Understand that lower class white men have to work harder than their upper class white male classmates and co-workers to get the same recognition and still might be paid less less for doing the same work.
Keep reading about it -- you'll get it someday.
White men are expected to do well; their failure is their own to live with. You try and live with that.
27
@Meg Yes, I have no idea what it is like to be a professor at Yale, to be black, to be a woman, and to fly First Class. By that exact same logic, neither does she know anything about a SE asian man's life. Yet I can still read her writing and think about it, on the account of, you know, our shared humanity?
The critique isn't that white privilege isn't real, or isn't an important topic, but the absurdity of it all. An extremely privileged person talking about privilege to other extremely privileged people.
11
I like Ms Rankine article, but the solution is a long way to go. With a little cynicism, when the Earth's population became evenly homogeneous light brown hue./it will happen, within a few thousand years/ Presently the same tension works among even the different shades of colored people.
The present antagonism in the society, same as to be white, "short and bald, with weak English". Try to get a job for a large "good" company. Who is helping us?
"Help yourself and the God will help you."
3
Is human dignity really a privilege? I think this conversation has been poorly framed. Also, lumping all White men together is fallacious. It is exactly as fallacious as lumping all of any "race" together. It would be nice if white men could take the blame for every historical evil, it would mean that no one else bears any responsibility for the problems in their own lives. Can you imagine a "scholarly" article like this delving into the inner workings of the Black male? People would freak out. Anecdotes are not science. Cutting in line happens, Black people do it too. I thought equality was the goal? Do we have to tear one race down to elevate another? Is it currently possible for a White person to say no to a Black person without being a racist? Is that equality? Trump loves articles like this.
16
I have a simple response to this. You’re buying votes for Trump. There are those who want to make things worse so the “revolution” will come sooner. Are you one of them? I am white and older. Little that Trump is doing will harm me personally. But it will harm people of color. You are feeding the flames of racial division. I get what you’re saying. I even sympathize, but a lot of people are on the defensive and see you as attacking them. They will vote for Trump. I’m sure he loved your article and is salivating over the voters you are sending his way and will do everything he can to fan the flames.
9
As an academic, I have taught in the last few years Douglass's "Narratives of a Slave", Coates' "A Case for Reparations", and Stevenson's "Just Mercy". If someone of any race were to read these three pieces of lit, one would easily ascertain a bleak history in this country for African Americans. It is crucial to recognize this history, absorb it, and wrestle with the demons of it. If your knee jerk reaction, is resentment of the topic, you've got some serious issues. We should be able to discuss the complicated and bleak history that we have evolved out of and where we are today. I would have loved to talk to this woman. I could talk about this vital topic for hours, because it is one of the most important issues we face these days.
3
@Mr. Sullivan
Despite your attemps to sell yourself as a woke academic who has read the right books and understands the issues in a way that "those" white men don't, she still wouldn't see past your privilege and your well-intentioned whitesplaining.
8
@Mr. Sullivan
The conversation must include behavior. Although only 13% of the US population, African Americans commit 90% of the crimes.
That informs opinions and perceptions.
8
Anton, I’m not sure it is actually 90%. For homicide it is only a little over 50% (though that stat does not include all the “nobody saw anything” unsolved homicides, most of which occur in black neighborhoods)
5
As an Italian-American with quite a bit of melanin in their skin, I appreciated Ms Rankine’s questioning of the origins of whiteness. I also found this article to be thoughtful and without judgement. What seems to be rattling cages in the comments is the word ‘privilege.’ Ms. Ranking points out quite clearly that she believes a more accurate term is ‘white dominance.’ That will probably still make some folks upset, but they should understand that it’s not about money and class.
2
My concern with the expression "white privilege" is that it doesn't resonate with most white persons (including myself) for the simple reason that they (we) live primarily in a white world. Many examples that are seen by others as "white privilege", I see as unfairness to persons of color. I don't think of myself as privileged by my color per se, but view others as living in a world that puts them at a disadvantage for their color. Admittedly, this is a minor concern. A more important problem is that many (perhaps a majority of) white persons, don't see either "white privilege" or "unfairness to persons of color." Even worse, many white persons mistakenly believe that white persons are the ones who are at a disadvantage.
4
I can just say I’m very grateful to have gotten so lucky to be born a white male. It’s at the top of my gratitude list, right next to my health and ability to control my life using my mind.
3
Very grateful for this moving article. Let's keep listening to each other no matter how exhausting.
2
What stood out most to me in this essay is her white friend, who is convinced he wasn't hired because someone needed to fill a race quota. He doesn't allow for the possibility that he wasn't hired because he was actually *less qualified* than the person who was hired -- who might even be (gasp!) a person of color.
4
@Meg
Yes ... just as the author seems to assume that if a white male gets hired instead of a black woman, it would have to be because of his privilege. Couldn't possibly be because of (gasp!) merit, right?
20
@Meg
You do not know the specifics of the situation. Her friend may have known for a fact that the position went to someone who was less qualified.
When I was in a masters program , a male student of color
entered the program in the middle of the year. He wrote in a scrawl. He was permitted to submit his papers handwritten, while the rest of us were required to hand in typed papers. He could not write complete sentences. He did not make it through the semester, let alone through the program. This student had not been admitted based on merit.
There are plenty of highly qualified individuals who happen to be persons of color , including our former President, a number of Senators, Congresspersons ,Supreme Court Justices, and any number of highly intelligent, well qualified individuals who happen to persons of color.
The student who was admitted to my master's program mid-semester was not one of them. My guess is that the same is true of the author's friend.
The author wrote :"I wanted to tell him that he needed to take a long view the history of the workplace, given the imbalances that generations of hiring practices before him had created. " , which suggests that she concurred with her friend's belief.
7
The best example of white privilege is when Trump questioned Obama’s academic merits and asked to see Obama’s grades while covering up his own academic records.
9
All societies are still racist in favor of the majority. Apparently the US is substantially less racist than European countries. That is good, but not good enough.
But the White privilege narrative is extremely unhelpful. Claudia Rankine is teaching African Americans that their failures are the result of their race.
Given that racism persists, this must sometimes be true. And given that they are human, this must sometimes be false.
What is certain, is that people who blame their failures on race or any other variable over which they have no control experience much less success in this world than people who own their failures.
Claudia Rankine is teaching African Americans to be less successful, and simultaneously increasing racial animosity in our country. It is an unfortunate legacy.
22
People's failures are not a result of their race. However, when you start out in life much poorer than your white peers because of complications resulting from centuries-old human bondage, and as such not having the same educational resources, more likely to be jailed for crimes you didn't commit because of your race, and less likely to be hired for a job because of your race, you might be more prone to failure and eventual poverty than your white peers -- it's just a fact. I wouldn't suggest African-Americans to "own" the failures that they had because of deeply ingrained problems within the American societal system, which basically forced them to try to win a metaphorical race when their white peers got a half an hour head start. It is, of course, possible for them to win the race, but unlikely. If someone in that situation loses the race, do you tell them to own their failure, or do you call unfair play and try to do your part in fixing the problems that led to the loss of the race? Your decision.
1
I was disappointed with this article as I was hoping to learn something meaningful about “privilege” and/or “white privileged”. Instead it was just about a professor acquiring information to use in and justify continuing her college course.
“Because if you can’t see race, you can’t see racism.” So then is the statement “If you can only see race, you can only see racism” also true? Based on this article, I would say yes.
437
“If you live your life as a struggle, it will be a struggle.” Not sure who said that but it’s darn true. Flip it.
26
@Matt Claudia Rankine, the author of this piece, is one of the world's greatest living poets and writers. Among many other accolades, she is a Macarthur Fellow. I recommend you read her celebrated book "Citizen" if you would like to learn something meaningful about white privilege.
67
@Matt I don't think the inverse "If you can only see race, you can only racism" is true; but it's also not quite relevant. The privilege to not see race is pervasive, and thus many people in our (white dominant) society are oblivious to the racial and racist foundations of our country, economy, and government.
Those who "only see race," and presumably you are referring here to people of color, carry the burden of living in this white dominant society. This does not mean they only see racism, but rather they are constantly forced to experience and survive racism.
113
This is some silly word salad, or to those of us who don't live in Ivory towers its basic confirmation bias.
16
Words are traps for any white middle class male (un)fortunate enough to stand in line or sit next to you. . .but you don't know me until you've walked in my shoes, been married to, had children with, not had children with, shared custody of children with a black woman. And until you've been a WASP and worked for a day, a week, a month, or three decades in a predominantly minority urban school and school district, you don't know me.
So I say if race is a construct as you've built it, you will never be black like me.
10
When and if the playing field becomes level, a few people of color will obtain a state of privilege, and the bulk will stay where they are. Why is that? Because the type of privilege granted to those or rank and status is a rarefied state available to only a few select individuals. This is unlike the white privilege granted to anyone with a white skin.
At some point, the person of color who does not ascend the ladder of success will no longer be able to attribute it to their skin color. It will be because someone else outperformed and outplayed them.
The fact that the author gets to fly first class is not a 'relative economic privilege', it is an enormous economic privilege. Most people white, black, yellow, red, or green do not get to do that now, and will not get to do it in the future.
Maybe, just maybe, some of those white males the author sees in airports treat her differently because they suspect that she might believe that they don't deserve to be there, and that they're only there because they're white. But it's a rarefied position that most white males will never get to, and some of them no doubt worked just as hard as the author to get there.
When all is said and done, if the playing field becomes level, first class will still be the domain of economic champions. Also-rans and second-tier players of any color or sex will only be able to look on and wonder why it isn't them.
8
The Walter Cronkite Republican suggests the notion of white male supremacy is just a residual form hereditary aristocracy. Our nation was founded upon the rejection of hereditary aristocracy. Its flaws are amply documented in the tabloid press. White male supremacy, along with the notions of rugged individualism and the "invisible hand" of The Market are idolatries that corrupt the American Dream. The high priests of these false gods routinely manipulate the "free" market for the enrichment of themselves at the expense of the rest of us. As a democratic republic, if this is allowed to continue, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Flying First Class, Wesleyan, and Yale? I heard of those things but I have no first hand experience with them. You must have mistaken me for someone else.
13
I do think the white male/men trying to cut ahead of you in line are doing so first and foremost because you are a woman, then a woman of color. Men usually use the intimidation factor of their gender first, I believe, then the provocative "justification" of race as a way to manipulate a situation to their preference.
Would the "line cutters" have tried that if you were, instead, a man of color of equal or greater physical stature and dressed in an upper-middle class manner? I bet not. I mention how a person is dressed because that is, also, used as a "justification" to assume, then treat someone as if they are inferior or undeserving.
2
@RD
I'm a white woman who has had white woman cut ahead of me in line.I attribute their cutting in line to a lack of manners .Men have not cut ahead of me.
Why have you assumed that an individual who teaches at Yale, who was flying first class was dressed in any other way that in a middle class "or upper class manner ?
9
Speaking as a white person in America, that's like asking a fish what it thinks about water. It first requires an awareness of what we are swimming in. Further contemplation is likely to instill existential angst for some and panic at the thought of what we would do without something that's always been there.
4
Professor Rankine,
Probably 99.99% of the world's population could not afford a first class airline seat. Privilege is a relative term.
16
I am white and male. I worked in a non-attorney role at an in-house legal department. The lawyers were overwhelmingly white and split evenly by sex. The other professional and administrative staff were largely black and Hispanic. At one point I was the only male non-attorney in an office of sixty people.
I was told upon hire that they were interested in fostering career development, continuing education, input from non-attorneys etc., which never materialized.
I brought this up with my white, female boss. Her response was "well we can see what we can do for you, but obviously we're not going to offer it to someone like [named my black female peer]." It would be "irrelevant and a waste of time and resources."
There would be social events organized for "the office", but non-attorneys were never included. I started to receive emails, privately, saying I would be welcome to join. Nobody but me was ever invited.
It was clear any time I asked about the absence of my peers that the welcome for me was conditional on my being grateful and unquestioning. I just found it depressing and uncomfortable.The difference between my experience and that of my competent and worthy peers was unmistakable.
I never saw a non-white attorney being treated poorly (I'm sure it happened), but I did see them distancing themselves from staff for fear of losing their own status - granted, as mine was, by the benevolence of the privilege distributors who are themselves, of course, white.
4
I hope someday, in her lifetime, the author doesn't have to do the tremendous self-talk, mental and emotional adjustments to make the world bearable. Certainly that's white male privilege in a nutshell: to live unthinkingly and without consequence for doing so. I was vicariously exhausted just reading this article and I'm sorry it has to be this way (for now).
3
"Over the years, I had come to realize that I often did not share historical knowledge with the persons to whom I was speaking. “What’s redlining?” someone would ask. “George Washington freed his slaves?” someone else would inquire."
This is why all this crucial knowledge should be incorporated into "mainstream" courses rather than marginalized in "black studies" and "women and gender studies" programs. Those who enroll in these programs are usually studying themselves--their own histories. Those who belong to majority/dominant groups (e.g., white males) don't enroll in these courses. And since the "mainstream" courses they take exclude the contributions of those who are not members of majority/dominant groups, they come away with a very skewed view of history.
5
I wonder if other folks have a sense that "male privilege" is a more powerful force than emphasizing race. I think how women of all races are so often restricted as to where they can safely travel due to male threats, the prevalence of domestic abuse in all races, the restrictions n reproductive freedom of women of all races. I'm reminded of Shirley Chisolm's comment ( a pioneering black female Congresswoman) that she faced far more difficulty being a woman than being black. I'll note black men got the vote before white women, and we elected a black President but never a woman. Finally, I'll note in informal groupings of all white men, my experience is there is far more disparagement of women than disparagement of other races.
9
I feel I need to qualify "who I am" before my comment: an older, white, woman. I've seen a few sides of this divide: as a white person, privilege; as a woman, discrimination; as an older person, feeling economically marginalized. The problem with all of these race & gender divisions is they don't always account for class. The white men who are angry fall into two classes: the successful, privileged ones who are enraged anyone would suggest taking away what they've (in their minds) earned, and the poor, working class white men who haven't lived up to the hype and promise of their privilege. This article won't convert either set, because most people (white or not) don't think too deeply unless they have a problem to solve.
It is human nature to fear having something taken away far more than worry you might never get it and that is universal, beyond race. I like that this author wants to start a dialogue by asking questions and listening. These white men aren't evil or necessarily narrow minded, but they, too, have been dealt a blow in the economy of billionaires. They are products of their unique, individual experience just as we all are, and they've never been asked (or had a need to) think deeply.
5
We get a face full of white male privilege everyday in the form of one Donald Trump and his Republican Party. His latest diatribe against four legislators who had the audacity to express their Constitutionally guaranteed right to hold and express any opinion, is the prima facie case of male white privilege (or dominance) in the nation. And has any white male not gone along with this criticisms? Perhaps a few . . . less than a handful from his own party. Mostly he is met with silence. Is this because so many Republican legislators recognize both the ignorance and the biliousness of the comment and agree or because they lack the courage to oppose it?
The increase in the percentage of people who agree with him amongst his own party rank and file shows the depth of Constitutional ignorance . . . literally these people are ignoring the right to free speech in favor of DT’s personal male privilege. And once again, it doesn’t say much about the masculinity of a man whose main targets are the weak, the vulnerable, minorities and women. It also says a lot about the unspoken simmering bias of these ordinary voters and their own unacknowledged “privilege.” (Only the views of male white legislators are acceptable?)
1
@B. Rothman
Many white males have spoken out against Donald Trump.
The Republicans who have not spoken up are not "ignoring their right to free speech in favor of DT's personal male privilege. "They haven't spoken up because they support his agenda, & /or because they are protecting their own
positions and privilege at the cost of failing to protecting the country and the world from the President who would be King.
2
Whites cannot accept their privileged (dominant) self-designation unless they accept their abhorrence to their own mortal despair, and the necessity of having oppressed point[s] of reference to fulfill them. That need can never be recanted, otherwise whiteness would fall as fast as an opioid death, which I do not glamorize or celebrate but would never weigh against the killing of an unarmed black body whom is used as a crutch against that same falling.
Couple of years ago I went to Guggenheim to see a popular exhibit. It was winter and there was a long line at the coat check. Everyone waited at the slow moving line and 2 young white men approached and decided to skip the line and headed to the front. I was shocked at their brazen plan and looked at everyone all looking anxious and clearly upset at the scene playing out in front of them. No one wanted to say anything- that. was weird. I darted to front and yelled at the young men to go to back of the line and they cannot cut in front of everyone. I said also is this you guys displaying white privilege?! They went to the back of the line where they belong but kept the smirking looks and as I went past them as existing i made more remakes about they horrible behavior. The coat checking person and people in line all showed appreciation for my stepping up and policing the situation. I am still puzzled why no one wanted to point out the clear bad behavior. What are we afraid of? You never know who they are letting into museums these day
3
@Janggeu
Your puzzlement is borne of not understanding that your female privilege allowed you to say whatever you wanted to those men without fear of getting into a physical altercation with them.
5
I am white. I am Polish-American. My grandparents came from a country that was also enslaved by external powers, reducing its people to serfs in their own country. My grandparents left and arrived LEGALLY. They went to work. They did not bellyache about "WASP privilege," about discrimination against Slavic Americans that American entrepreneurs wanted from brawn, never looking at their brains. Their kids got to college by working for good grades at times when colleges felt they should serve their local communities, not pursue some will-o-the-wisp totem of "diversity." (BTW, Europe has produced far more diversity on a small continent than anywhere else). Now I am supposed to step aside for women, minorities with points added, and the next set of confused people who think there is some infinite spectrum between men and women? No thanks. I do not acknowledge I was "white privileged" and will not engage in the ideological self-flagellation that this professor and the peddlers of reverse apartheid in America's universities have now fixated upon. TIme to stop this nonsense. That's why I'll vote to reelect the President, not the cast of incompetents trying to replace him.
9
@JOHN
"That's why I'll vote to reelect the President, not the cast of incompetents trying to replace him."
You view Donald Trump as competent ?!!!
A goldfish would be more competent to be President than is Trump. (My apologies to goldfish.)
1
@DJS The President may be crude in his approach but his end policies are sound. The Democrats may be smooth in their approaches. but their end policies are insane.
6
Some of this no doubt does have to do with race. But take the example of the business men at the second airport gate she mentions. I would proffer they would have done the same to anyone including other white people, which she acknowledged were also in the line she was standing in, aside from perhaps their boss. Some people do feel entitled and superior to others. Usually people like that tend to be born into wealth. I think the fact more white have generational money is why you see more white people act this way. But the same dynamic plays out the world over in other places where there are not very many white people but there is generational money.
I am not trying to argue that in a society which has more white people and has for centuries, being white doesn't give me any advantages. It obviously does and that definitely could be defined as privileged. But as someone who has lived overseas in a country which is not predominately white (I grew up speaking both languages, lived in both growing up, am citizen of both nations, and also lived there as an adult), I find wealth and generational time to acquire and increase that wealth is much bigger factor in people who act privileged. And the privilege of being of the majority skin shade and facial features is enjoyed by whoever is in the majority. Sure there exceptions such as places like S. Africa where there are more POC, where the benefit is uneven at best. But go to Japan as a blue eyed white guy.
6
What a captivating article. I often wonder what people mean when they say "I don't see race". It's impossible not to. America is a pot, but there's not much melting happening. Many of us still live in homogeneous communities. My community is 90% white. As "woke" as I try to be, I'm still shaped by growing up in this community. Everywhere I go, I'm surrounded by white people and anyone with a different skin color is first and foremost defined by that in my mind. Just as someone in a wheelchair or someone missing an arm would be defined by that. I do not doubt that that man would describe their conversation as being with a black woman, not just a woman.
And while I think this sense of the "other" occurs in minority communities as well, the reality is that the spaces where a person has any amount of power are dominated by white men. The government, corporate boards, well-off neighborhoods etc.
But I do have to disagree with calling white privilege "white dominance". Although it's more accurate, it ultimately will not help us reach equality. If white fragility and male fragility is on full display in reaction to the idea of experiencing privilege, imagine how much more resistance you would meet if they were met with the term "white dominance". While it would be justified to call it like it is, and write off anyone who doesn't get on board, it's not an efficient solution. Unfortunately if you want the opposition to come around, you have to baby them.
Really great article.
1
Thank you for this writing/thinking/teaching. I'll be printing and using the titles referenced for independent study.
Would the NYTimes run an article by a white man exploring black people playing the victim and race cards? Doubtful. But well-meaning people have had enough of that - hence Trump and his soon-to-be second term. Keep it up NYTimes - feed the fire - nice work.
24
I agree with some comments that the author doesn't seem to appreciate her own privileged stance, and the first class airplane dynamics are distracting. BUT! this is a beautiful essay and I loved the introspection she shares with us.
2
This authors is married to a white man. I wonder why does she dislike white privilege when she made a life commitment to one.
In addition, she went to Columbia University, I’m sure Affirmative Action helped there. Talking about privilege...
6
America fought a Civil War in which more Americans suffered and died than all the other wars in American history combined....to end slavery. Americans peacefully fought for civil rights for all Americans, and have nearly won that battle...we aren’t at the top of the hill yet.
No, I will stand with Dr. King and his vision of America...that we will march forward together and judge one another by the content of our character, not the color of our skin.
14
Perhaps the author should consider not everything in human experience is about race and examine some of her own cognitive biases and assumptions. Is it really healthy to judge every negative experience in life through the prism of race and identity? Won’t this just result in reinforcement of her existing narratives? Must life consist of others having to pass puritanical tests set by the author into “wokeness”? Isn’t there more joy to be found in the world than focusing on identarian politics?
22
I wonder why Ms. Rankine does not ask any white females to confront their "privilege?" Are not white females the beneficiaries of the same higher family wealth that -- in aggregate -- whites have over blacks? Does being female somehow erase the responsibility for slavery, Jim Crow laws and discrimination practiced by white Americans over history?
7
@Peter Blau Consider the timing of the 15th Amendment vs the 19th Amendment and you'll have your answer. The author of this essay is following suit in declaring a caste system.
1
@Peter Blau
Because straight white cis-men are at the bottom of the new social hierarchy that people like the author want to create -- we will never be able to apologize or atone for all our intersecting privileges! By merely existing, straight white cis-men oppress all the rest of humankind!
10
@Why? This answer is the best I've seen! Thanks for explaining the new hierarchy of collective guilt.
8
I am a white woman, and I would never approach a white man and ask him about his privilege, especially in the time of Trump. I tend to avoid speaking to men these days because I know it's
possible many of them are armed and can hurt me, and I am afraid of them. Even when they're wearing suits. As a black woman, the author took a huge chance in speaking to white men. Some blacks who have done this have ended up dead, so I salute her bravery.
6
@Ms. Pea: What part of the world do you live in, where men are seen as armed and wanting to hurt you? Have a few bad actors tainted your perception so badly that you don't realize that the bulk of men would risk their lives to protect you from those?
It might be true that some blacks have asked about white privilege and ended up dead, but I'm equally sure that none of them were well-dressed and well-spoken black women starting such conversations in the first class section of airports or airplanes.
13
@Ms. Pea. This is where identity politics has gotten us? People with other identities are dangerous because “many” are carrying guns and if we practice our right to free speech, we may get killed? I know Ms. Pea is talking about white males, but why can’t this be expanded to all identity groups? There seems to be a Cold Civil War going on in parts of the United States, about to turn into a hot one, if enough people think like Ms. Pea.
9
It's a shame that being treated as a human being of equal value and worth to other human beings is considered a privilege.
7
"I wanted to know what white men thought about their privilege. So I asked"
Except the author didn't ask. Out of minimal wordless interactions, she decided she knew others' motives with certainty. She assumed the worst about many people she never spoke to. She interpreted everyday inconveniences (a forgotten drink, someone cut in line) as if they can only be explained by racism.
And when she finally did get around to "asking" a few men, she wasn't really asking. She was telling them what their experiences were and waiting for them to deviate from her script so she could tell them they were wrong.
This article is abhorrent for many reasons, but none more so than the author's gross lack of self awareness and lack of respect towards she was purportedly trying to listen to.
42
A clarification: The phrase "consent not to be a single being" does not simply find its origins in the work of Édouard Glissant. The phrase is not an active agent. Glissant originated the phrase. Give proper credit where it is due.
5
“It’s hard to exist and also accept my lack of existence.”
Professor, you travel the world, you go on Safari, you teach at Yale. You are the 1%. First, ponder your own privilege. Then, with that frame, we can discuss whether you are the right person to ask about the privilege of another. Maybe you are, but it is ironic for one person of privilege to obsess about the privilege of others.
32
Perhaps we’re stuck with the term “‘white’ privilege”, but the tangible persistence of racial oppression (white supremacy) requires we also look at how it is problematic.
Is it really a “privilege” to be not assaulted, not be raped, not deprived of property, not legally “manslaughtered” on the street or in your own home or yard?
In this dimension of white supremacist oppression, shouldn’t we really be talking about “rights”? Shouldn’t we really be talking about “oppression”? Should we really be talking about “supremacy”?
But to move to another dimension, is it really a “privilege” not to be suspected, not to be ignored, not to be insulted? Certainly the term “privilege” does touch upon feelings of entitlement that may or may not be conscious? But isn’t any sense of “entitlement” also a claim (legitimate or not) to a certain type of “right”?
There is one dimension where the term “privilege” certainly does apply to our racial structures in the US. And that is the “privilege” of receiving unearned benefits of inherited wealth and property, which because of white supremacist racial laws and polices, have been denied in large measure to most black families - often in the most outrageous and violent ways possible.
But many “whites” also have received little or no unearned inheritance in terms of tangible property. What they have inherited is a toxically comforting sense of “entitlement” that actually blocks the way to more justice and security for everyone.
196
@Joseph F. Panzica I deny the existence of a "toxically comforting sense of entitlement." The only entitlement is economic which translates to social and political entitlement. Education is how we address that issue.
12
@Joseph F. Panzica
So are you saying there is a kind of level of white citizenship that automatically contains different rights than black or minority citizenship, which is then a kind of second class, or caste?
I think you might be onto something here!
6
It’s possible to overthink anything.
19
As a longtime academic myself, let me ask the author of this piece whether she has ever "interrogated" herself about the "privilege" she enjoys as a Yale professor to turn her identity issues into a course she gets paid to teach?
I can certainly assure her that the working class white guys I encounter who struggle every day to keep their heads above water (and whom she probably does not encounter in her "first class" line at the airport) would be enormously impressed with her acute sensitivity to their "privileged" situation compared to the terrible afflictions she has to deal with.
35
What about being White And Latino? I have no privilege from either, but I have been able to observe from both sides of the aisle (Mostly the Latino as my native language is Spanish).
I will tell you. I have experienced that in this country, no matter what your race is, everyone is equally racist.
The obsession America has with race, ethnicity, sex and religion is sickening. And no doubt, it comes from all sides.
14
One day, in a saner, fairer-minded world, "whiteness studies" will be seen as what it is: race-baiting of the highest order and of the lowest moral caliber.
25
I am so sick and tired of listening to people of any color trying to make anyone who is born white, feel guilty for being so. If you are uncomfortable with what you feel to be white privilege, move to a place where it does not exist.
14
To be fair, if you feel sick and tired, you might also consider leaving. But, this narrative of leaving, which Trump is also loudly tweeting, is really a silly thing to be bringing up. It’s at the level of a grade school insult. Life is more difficult than that solution warrants. People are more complicated. Let’s welcome all attempts to discuss. It’s relatively painless.
4
I’m only going to say that the writing in this piece is atrocious.
19
This is the most racist article to date hating on being white. Call everyone a racist and it begins to lose its power. I have had NO advantages getting to where I am in life today!! Here by the hard work, self paid education and brain in my head. Not one thing has been given to me because I’m white. None! If anything less deserved people are benefiting based only on their skin color. Disgusting and wrong. Wrong when whites did it and it’s wrong that poc do it.
15
So when do we get to the part where the author asks white men what we think about our privilege? I was intrigued by the title of the article. I would love to read thoughtful exchanges about privilege between its beneficiaries and those who are denied it.
I'm still waiting. At no point during this exploration does she make much of an effort to find out what they think and share it with us. Here is a woman of color who through her frequent first class travel has great access to white men of great privilege. And yet, every time she has the opportunity to ask these questions, she instead waxes poetic about what she imagines their answer to be.
One seat mate intercedes on her behalf to help her get a drink from an incompetent flight attendant. Rankine suggests the attendant likes him better than her, which he seems to blushingly interpret as an indication of attraction rather than racial or gender preference. Great opening, right? No. Especially on a lengthy flight with an affluent white man open to conversation. But privilege is not discussed, nor is apartheid in the nation they both just visited.
This is not my first encounter with Rankine's brand of self-obsessed inquiry. A couple of years back in these same pages she penned a piece about Sabrina Wiliams that ended up being about Rankine's feelings about Williams with nary a quote from the presumed subject of the piece.
A modest suggestion to author Rankine... if you want to know something, ask. We'd like to know too.
43
I'd like to think my two white boys understand their circumstances. I heard of another father who summarized that situation quite cogently. (Apologies for not remembering the source.) "Boys, you already won four lotteries. You are male, white, reasonably well off, and live in a more or less functional country." Not so sure about the latter these days, but even three lotteries would be remarkable.
6
"...one day in New Haven, staring into the semicircle of oak trees in my backyard, I wondered what it would mean to ask random white men how they understood their privilege."
I was confused at first as to whether this article was meant to be satire. A glimpse into the mind of a person who is in the 1% of the 1%, who is obsessed with making others understand how privileged they are.
I really think it is not helpful to see every single event in one's life through the lens of race -- everyone encounters rude people (of every race) at airports, cutting in line. This tortured effort to make it a vindication of the perception of innate meanness in a certain race is concerning, and the way all comments seem to agree is even more so.
29
I think we're missing the word "male" from this article. Here's a reality from working in a Fortune 50 company, a reality whispered by everyone in late-night-at-work conversations: African American men got promoted first. Whether they were ready or not. While men got promoted next. When they were ready. White women only got promoted after they had been doing the job for years. They were more than ready. African American women? They never got promoted. It was all one big food chain with a clearly defined pecking order that had nothing to do with results and all to do with race and gender.
11
The ultimate in privilege is to have the resources to pay tens of thousands of dollars to sit in a class (or is it an indoctrination program?) at Yale pondering the nature of "privilege." If my child wasted his college years reciting liberal incantations instead of acquiring useful knowledge, parental tuition assistance would end immediately.
23
There is something sad about Ms Rankine’s situation. Because she is an academic studying race she seems to see too much that goes on around her as being black or white.
Without negating her ideas about white privilege, the world, relationships and people are far more complex and gray than she allows herself to realize.
21
Amazing piece in every way. Thank-you so much for the most meaningful read of my week.
2
We tend to reside in our comfort zone of unquestioned prejudice - and feel discomfort when someone from outside our comfortable prejudice challenges our lifetime assumptions.
today I was chatting with a Brazilian woman who came to Australia speaking no English, and a year later is happy she can converse despite a strong Portuguese accent. She was very happy that I was 'patient' and listened and understood her, and said many strangers in the street would not give her the time of day if she asked directions, or would say they couldn't understand her.
I suggested that my studies in language, communication and music allowed me to listen and interpret - and others who appeared impatient might be lower education and not familiar with trying to understand strangers.
I once spent a day with a visiting black woman - mostly listening as she poured out her story of life difficulties - and she later described it as one of the most meaningful experiences in her life.
So I like to listen - I learn a lot more that way.
5
I work under mayor deblasio. Hiring is against whites and Asians. I’ve seen many situations where white or Asian people already working at the place apply for a promotion. If the circumstances were colorblind they would have gotten the job. However, because of deblasio’s mission, only a black or Latino minority may be hired. He calls this equity but it’s the farthest thing from. It’s open discrimination.
36
Then you for sharing. This will be 8 years of the biggest NYC quality of life setback.
We need to elect a mayor that will rollback policies that propelled the city from the horrors of the 70s and 80s.
10
So often, discussions about race and racism omit Asians. I have never felt more self-conscious as an Asian woman after living in the US for over 50 years as I do now in this world of Trump. We're definitely not white, but we're also definitely not black or brown. Thank you for your comment.
11
@DA. I can’t help but wonder how much this makes up for decades and decades of hiring people simply because they were white but not more qualified than other candidates of color.
5
Having white privilege does not mean that you didn't work for what you have. It means that a person of color in the same circumstances wouldn't likely fare as well as you did. As a white person, I am often given the benefit of the doubt.
14
@Erbium" It means that a person of color in the same circumstances wouldn't likely fare as well as you did." Which means it is not about one person's privilege, but about discrimination against a second person.
A privilege would be what is meant by the military expression RHIP. Officers of a certain rank have privileges others do not. A privilege is not raising your arm and having a taxi actually stop to take your money.
4
@Erbium
And a male, and taller, thinner, more socially adept, nice hair, bright ‘white’ straight teeth, athletic....and so on.. aren't these unexplored ‘privileges? And why not! I’m sorry, I am what I am, but too bad. I treat others as I would expect them to me. But your posit is that I do not. Who cares what you think!
4
Are there any people in the entire world who has not benefited from their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, etc., if only once? If not directly, say by someone they know, someone owing a favour, etc.? How about instances where a relative from many generations before you - someone who received some benefit that was significant enough to change one's course, unexpectedly and inordinately afford you some benefit later through the generations? We all have, in some way, been "lucky" and received undeserved benefits, if only once. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa!
Satisfied?
5
Professor, you are invited to come back to the cheap seats and talk to me, a white male who helped integrate his home town in the early 1960s. Back then we fought discrimination so all would have the same privileges regardless of color. I don't fly first class with the swells. It's a little cramped in coach class, but the people are nicer and more representative, if your research takes you beyond anecdotes. "After you" are words frequently spoken by many of us. I know you can afford first class; so can I, but I donate the difference, anonymously, to charities that fight inequality. I think you're hanging with the wrong crowd.
44
The problem is that these privileges aren't about what did happen to you, but about what didn't. You didn't get passed over for a job that you were next in line for (you did get jobs you qualified for). You didn't get weird looks and police attention just for walking down the street (you were just walking, after all). So, yes, you worked hard for everything you got. But, you didn't get a lot of barriers thrown in your way. That's really hard for people to to understand.
14
Reading these comments highlights the authors aside that "white priveledge" should have been termed "white dominance". I don't know if dominance is right either, but the word priviledge is certainly triggering a lot of defensive responses. It seems to distract people from considering the inherent systems that have built up over years that gave white people an advantage over POC.
11
This is an outstanding article. Thanks for bringing it to us.
Thoughtful and considered in it's presentation of a difficult subject.
Bravo!
17
Census Bureau shows that Asian Americans are America’s most affluent racial group. The median household income for Asian Americans is $81,331. Whites are a poor second at $68,145. Blacks are third at $40,258. However, African Americans are by far the world’s most affluent large black population.
The income gap between the racial groups shrinks when the factors such as the number of single-parents households vs two-parent households are factored in.
https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/2018/demo/p60-263/figure1.pdf
13
Obliviousness explains a huge piece of this complex sociological puzzle.
Obliviousness explains why suggestions that someone has benefited from white privilege can get you in trouble and accused of racism.
Obliviousness explains why the argument that Trump is racist and therefore his supporters are racists just strengthens their belief that we are wrong in opposing him (because they are oblivious to their racism).
Obliviousness explains why Black Lives Matter and #MeToo (and every other issue we're soon-to-become woke to) push so many people away from the just and moral side of the issue (and there is only one just and moral side to these issues - if one doesn't see that, then one is being Oblivious).
And in Trump we have a president who is the absolute embodiment of Obliviousness. He is the Dunning-Kruger poster boy of what it is to be Oblivious.
I truly hope Trump's absolute Obliviousness doesn't lead the country into an unrecoverable Oblivion.
7
@JFR, I agree with a lot of what you said, but I disagree that "Obliviousness explains why suggestions that someone has benefited from white privilege can get you in trouble and accused of racism. "
A suggestion that someone has benefited from white privilege can be a racist suggestion if the person making the allegation doesn't know the person they are talking about, and if all they know about that person is that they are white. Because at that point, the suggestion is solely based on the person's race. And that is edging pretty close to the definition of racism.
Sort of like if I saw a black person and said, "they must be a good athlete because they are black." That is a racist statement, because all I know about that person is that they are black. I am making a statement based solely on a person's race.
7
@Marty
Right you are. I was referring to the anecdote the author described in her piece (set in Plainfield, Ind).
2
@Marty
White privilege is a social construct that exists.
If you are active in the world around you and you are white, you experience white privilege, period.
That statement is not an allegation, nor is it racist. You don’t have to do anything bad or be a bad person to experience it. It is simply in the air we breathe.
Three comments.
1) I wonder if an airport or an airplane is the best forum to undertake a survey about race. Air travelers typically have a low level of tolerance - for anything.
2) I would never have imagined that a college offers a course in "whiteness studies" and that such a course becomes "Constructions of Whiteness". Aren't those titles just a tad inflammatory?
3) Why do so many commentators think that their opinions need to be prefaced with details of their age and race?
15
As a white male, I read the essay with interest. I don't deny a range of white male privilege exists based on one's background. But, the author wants to have a conversation with a white male about privilege, yet doesn't try or only makes small talk with a few men flying first class, then assigns all sorts of meaning to these few interactions. I don't think these few interactions represent valid data points to draw any broad conclusions about "white males" as a monolithic group or even those who fly first class. I expect more from academia, especially an ivy league professor who studies and teaches on the topic of race and "whiteness".
40
As a 70 year old white male who came of age in the mid to late 60's, when the fight for civil rights, the drive to the war in Viet Nam and 'sex and drugs and rock 'n roll' all collided with traditionaist America, I see this era somewhat differently. I see us as being in a sea change where, in particular, old white men are scared to death of the prospect of a non white America and, to a lesser extent, a less patriarchal America they need to share with people not like them. Where I see renewal and the beautiful melange of a multitude of colors mingling, they see a loss of power. Where I hope they fear. From hanging onto their power by their fingertips they have rallied massively to institutionalize white privilege, patriarchy and dominance. Where I see a scarily possible dystopian future under Trump, they see righteousness. If Trump is reelected, welcome to South Africa.
9
By the middle of the 21st century, demographers project that non-whites in America will outnumber the white population. And from that point forward, the whiteness in America will become more and more a historical construct. What then of presumed privilege? It will still exist but it will be less obvious; because skin color will not be the distinguishing factor that it is today. Ms. Rankine’s first class seat in an airplane in 2019 speaks volumes. I hope that a little girl who is today making her way to America from El Salvador will some day have the same privilege of a first class airplane seat as Ms. Rankine does today.
6
@Jake
Behavior, “content of ones character” will reign. It does today but we mask the issue as racism.
7
Interesting column and I'm glad I read it. But I am wondering, if racism can be defined as explaining people's behavior as being a result of their race, in other words, saying things like "he is that way because he's black..." then isn't the author edging awfully close to racism or sexism when she ascribes the behavior of the various white men she encounters as being because they are white and/or male? It seems like she is trying to ascribe all sorts of behaviors to white male privilege, when in fact she doesn't even know the people she's talking about. Maybe the guys that broke in line did it because they're obnoxious, for example. Or drunk.
I understand the history behind her inquiry, and I like the column she wrote, but I think the author needs to be careful that, by this constant examination of every situation in terms of white male privilege, she doesn't make racist or sexist assumptions herself.
12
I was having a conversation about white male privilege and mentioned it goes further back. All the way to having a white mother who got great health care while pregnant and during delivery. White male privilege starts a generation before.
2
@TKW. There are white women — especially rural poor white women — who do not get great prenatal care, or good health care of any kind. Such people are often dismissed as “poor white trash” or “hicks.” Hardly privilege there.
Also, what is the impact of educated middle to upper class white mothers on their children, including multiracial children? In my local school district, multiracial children (including those who are black and white) have better test scores than children identifying as only African American. The school district claims to be trying to overcome this achievement gap, without much success. Why are schools unable to overcome disadvantages such as income level and education level of parents, so that the levels children enter at, are usually the levels they leave at?
3
To me the root issue is that American blacks have a culture and identity that is as old and as inherent and as valid a US-specific culture and identity as that formed by colonial English and everyone who immigrated here. And yet as a whole the nation wishes black identity would go away. It’s like being in a family that denies one or two of its children even exists, except to criticize or demean them.
This is a fundamentally different experience than coming here as an immigrant, like the vast majority of Americans and their ancestors. Nearly all immigrants can still identify a place where their culture is known and acknowledged. They can choose to come to this nation, or not. They can often choose to go back home. That provides a foundation for making sense of one’s experience, and an escape valve against discrimination.
American blacks, descendants of slaves, were never immigrants. With very rare exceptions they lost all connection to a prior homeland. Their identity is from this soil and these streets and is rooted here—nowhere else. The US is their home, and they have a natural right to live in it as they see fit.
To the degree that as a nation and as a people we have denied that blacks are as inherently American as can be, even if blacks choose to be different in their own particular ways, we have been untrue to our own ideals. No other group in America faces this.
We have not yet fully accepted their right to simply exist here, as humans, in their native land.
10
@Wayne. Also, immigrants grew up with a broader idea of what they could achieve, and fewer stereotypes that (say) black people couldn't be doctors or scientists. They grew up seeing some successful people who look like them.
@Raindrop
Thanks. I’d agree that’s often the case, but not for all immigrants.
1
I firmly believe that part of the problem with attempting any discussion of this issue is the word “privilege.”
Because people who grew up poor don’t feel that they were raised with privilege, regardless of the color of their skin. And if there has to be an explanation of what “privilege” means in this context before the discussion can even start, it will bring progress to a dead stop.
Maybe another phrase is needed that’s less charged and also recognizes that whole white skin may provide societal benefits, being white in and of itself doesn’t mean someone is “privileged.”
5
Would the public policy aspect of the problem be better addressed by referring to it as ‘the white ascendency’? No white person, such as myself, could reasonably deny being part of the ascendency and it would make its point while undermining any purported justification for personal animosity on the part of people of whom the accusation was made.
1
Talk less; listen more. It's the essence of this authors thoughts and comments. We are all human beings; Black, Brown, Yellow, White and Red.
Yes there is color; and yes there is race, and to each we bring all the usual human foibles, tendencies, bigotries and emotions. It's endemic to our nature. Especially so when that other human being is a stranger.
But even so we can insure we see each other as part of the same species by doing as stated. Talk less. Listen more.
It's that simple. And yes, it is that hard.
John~
American Net'Zen
2
@John
Amen to THAT! Two ears and one mouth: YOU! do the math.
1
Thanks for this thought-provoking essay. I think Richard Pryor said it best when talking about his trip to Africa- Now I know how white people in the US feel, comfortable.
3
My father was a WASP, my mother Italian. When my grandfather graduated from law school at the turn of the 20th century, he broke the color line at his WASPy Newark, NJ law firm. Back in 1920, Italians were "not white." But by the time my father and mother married in the 1960s, they were. It never occurred to my mother that she wasn't white.
However, my brother had swarthy skin and curly frizzy hair. He looked like what, as a teens, we called a "greasy Italian"--a Guido. Meanwhile, I was the spitting image of my father's WASP mother, with pink-white, fair skin and unruly wavy hair. It never occurred to my brother and I that we weren't white. We grew up steeped in the 400 year history of my father's family which includes ties to four Presidents and Aaron Burr.
Yet, starting when he got his driver's license, my brother was treated differently by the police. He was pulled over more often, treated poorly, arrested. One time, in his late 30s, he was even involuntarily committed to a mental institution. The judge wouldn't believe that he was a highly paid computer programmer who worked for the Federal Reserve (who had also worked for NASA) with a girlfriend in Australia. They thought he must be delusional. They didn't even bother to verify his story. He nearly lost his job.
Unlike my peers, I was about 19 when I realized that I had white privilege and my brother--quite obviously--DID NOT. He thought he was white. Our whole family was white, but HE... was not "white enough."
13
I have also had the experience of people pushing into line ahead of me, but this isn't something only white people (or, more ominously apparently, white men) do. Standing in line at a McDonald's years ago three young black men (late teens/early 20's) inserted themselves into line ahead of me. I said something to the effect of, 'Sorry, we're in line here.' One of the men turned around, slowly moved very close to me, and asked, 'Do you know how black people speak?' I told him that I thought I did, at which point he paused and more slowly asked the same question. This time he raised his fist to within a few inches of my face, making clear what answer he expected.
There are other times in my life that I have been physically threatened, and even assaulted, by 'people of color' (given such experiences I find this author's idea about "space itself [being] a privilege of whiteness" ironic, even if such a privilege exists in some way). Yet it has never occurred to me to draw any conclusions about an entire racial group based on these (unpleasant) experiences. To do so would be racist, and I don't see that stereotyping lighter skinned people as a group is less so (even when racism exists within that group).
I will have to take this author's word about what life is like in the first class cabin, but maybe back in economy things are a little different. Either way, I'm not going to start drawing broad conclusions about any group of people based on the behavior the group's rudest members
40
Finally the behavior comments are coming. This is what informs so many, not just skin color. But how the person acts or statistically will act. Violence, theft, etc..
9
@Anton
To be clear, my point was not that what I related informs my conception of the world nor any group of people in it--I was advocating the opposite in some ways, and certainly the opposite of what this writer seems to have described for herself. She apparently has preconceived notions about people based purely on past experiences stereotypes, and she allows confirmation bias to determine her responses and ideas. IMO this is not a good (nor possibly even healthy way) to understand the world.
2
Ant this is the phrase that cuaght my attention.." By the 1940s, according to David Roediger, “given patterns of intermarriage across ethnicity and Cold War imperatives,” whites stopped dividing hierarchically within whiteness and begin identifying as socially constructed Caucasians."
I dated a black woman who is still my friend after we both married others. While we were together she said...
"Everytime you and I walk into the meeting at work( we worked at the same firm) I am aware of being black and different and you just sit down and start to talk. You can make mistakes I can't." To this day I remember it. I think it's also the way we white boys are raised. I was raised among lot's of different immigrants and brown people. I am hoping that our kids will be different although given what I see on all sides it is hard to judge.Maybe a little more love and compassion.
7
Thank you very much for your article. I wish I were in your class!
2
All the stories told can be accepted as true without confirmation. But when and where does this stop being a person’s obsession, that race becomes the only lens one looks through? That life itself is continually uncomfortable and anxious and angry? How and when to find peace, and happiness in life without the need to ask for every injustice to be fixed? Obviously first class flight status is not enough.
13
@Mel
"...where does this stop being a person’s obsession, that race becomes the only lens one looks through?"
Maybe when her comfort and status no longer depends on it.
1
"That I was among them in airport lounges and in first-class cabins spoke in part to my own relative economic privilege, but the price of my ticket, of course, does not translate into social capital. I was always aware that my value in our culture’s eyes is determined by my skin color first and foremost."
Truly? I do not agree. Your "value" in contemporary America is first and foremost determined by how much money you make, then gender, then race. There's plenty of evidence for this. R. Kelly got away for a long time, didn't he?
Here's what I see in this article: a wealthy person talking about issues of race. A person flying first class who just happens to be black. Perhaps sometime you could ask some black folks who cannot afford first class tickets if they agree with your perspective.
19
I think the thing is that the privilege comes with the whiteness. We can’t take it off anymore than we can change our race. We all struggle at times, some more than others, we may have additional advantages or disadvantages but that doesn’t change the fact that if you are white in America (and in most of the world) you have white privilege. If you can accept that, it’s a start. If you still reject it, I’d say look into it more. I plan to read some of the cited books to try to understand it better.
2
“Privilege” is simply the wrong word for something that should be called “advantage.” White people are at a great and unfair ADVANTAGE in our society. A “privilege” is something granted, something conferred by an authority, which is not the way this advantage arises. There is no outside authority responsible for it; there is only all of us and all of our conscious and unconscious biases. That includes the biases of people like the author as well as all the white men she observes. We all participate in the creation of our social reality; it is in the deepest sense “systemic.”
The framing of “privilege” and “entitlement” (another term that implies a nonexistent authority) and “white fragility” - it’s all counterproductive to the conversation about injustice, because these terms essentialize skepticism about the social and emotional substance of the advantage held by white people. They imply that white people have something IN EXCESS. But the substance of so-called “white privilege” is for the most part a basic underlying sense of security and confidence, which is in fact desirable and ought to be the baseline in a healthy society.
I think the skeptical framing arises from the intrinsic humiliation in having to constantly acknowledge that you are being MIStreated by society; there’s a certain reassurance in reframing as “well, maybe white people are actually being treated TOO well.” But this ultimately does nothing other than normalize deprivations that should be deplored.
1
A very interesting, valuable discussion. Would love to hear the Professor’s views on class and privilege. Perhaps a few discussions with white men waiting to board a bus or getting a meal at the local food bank would expand the analysis.
7
I found it telling that you were complaining about the privilege of others as you were riding in first class.
This is why these conversations make white people uncomfortable, and why they tune them out.
There are white people who are living on the street and eating in food banks. You are not.
"White privilege" is a misnomer -- a privilege is something that is granted. And you will get a very negative reaction to it from white people who have struggled.
If you want to address these issues, you can speak of bigotry, systemic racism, the social legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
But don't use this inaccurate and racist term, particularly when your own personal "privilege" far outweighs that of the vast majority of people in America and the world.
20
Why wait for airplane trips to ask your questions, couldn’t you ask about white privilege at Yale or would you be ran out of Yale immediately?
Why as a solitary black woman would you think that interactions are about you? I ,as a black male, have never had interactions with others while traveling that I wasn’t accompanying except for quick niceties, orders, or instructions. I assume that is the same with others.
I do recognize privilege accorded to whites but my concern is their concept of their white victimization.
A 12 percent Black population in the United States could not enable us to keep 50 percent of White people out of the schools that they desire to attend or the jobs that they think should hold. I know that there are also Hispanics, but I have never seen whites competing with Hispanics for opportunities. Asians are even less of the population than Blacks so could they really be holding Whites back.
But it seems many White people think that minorities hold them back or reduce their opportunities. Their attitude is the world would be fair if those few minorities who are successful would step aside because they know their success is undeserved.
How many thousands of White people is the author hindering with are position at Yale. That is the White man’s burden. Then to further the burden, minorities are an ungrateful lot because they won’t acknowledge the benefits that they have received from being in a White society.
3
I am a White man. Apart from that, my background, childhood circumstances and heredity should have nothing to do with how others "see" or judge me. Even the fact that I am White should, honestly, have absolutely zero bearing on what kind of a person I am inside or how I treat others---that is, I treat each and every person I meet with respect and cordiality.
Having said all that, I must also confess to being old-fashioned, particularly when it comes to dress. Since this article centers largely on the author's experiences in airports and on board airplanes, I thought it relevant to pass on an anecdote.
Being old-fashioned, whenever I fly I am, what is considered today, 'dressed up'---khaki or flannel trousers (with cuffs), white or blue button-down shirt, blue blazer, polished loafers. It is important to note that I dress this way because, one, this is the way every civilized person used to dress when flying---Black, White, young, old---and I want to keep this nearly extinct tradition alive because, two, I strongly feel that society needs such formalities back.
To make a long story only a bit longer still, I was so duly comported on a flight back from Paris to Chicago recently, flying Business Class. In the companion berth next to me, a White guy in what I'd guess to be his 40's, looking at me with disgust (he in jeans, collarless tee). "Why do you dress like that," he said, unsmiling, shaking his head.
Even my 'White Privilege' attire makes me a marked man today?
2
What an amazing essay and what a courageous woman. Thank you.
Very good article, thoughtful and thought-provoking.
The next step for the author would be to wander into a working-class bar in New Haven and start asking the same questions.
11
What academics and theoreticians seem to miss in this conversation are two realities. First, privilege is relative depending on one's perspective. The child whose parent is alcoholic and abusive might rightly consider the neighbor whose parent is sober, employed, and attentive as privileged. The person of color who didn't go to college and attain professor status might consider the author of this column privileged. The only place where privilege is not going to be conceivable is in the abstract world of academic thought. Second, most people, most of the time are simply trying to get through life the best way that they know how at the time. They make choices, they work, they love and engage with life in front of them. Few operate from a theoretical framework of academics. White privilege is a generalization similar to generalizations that would characterize all people of color as underprivileged. This is not to suggest that common courtesy, respect, justice and rectitude are not important. What counts is behavior. Call out the behavior. Labelling it White or Black or Islamic, or Jewish or whatever just opens the door to continued ad hominem criticisms, promotes defensiveness and does little to advance the reality of daily life.
27
The point of privilege is to not have an advantage, but to not be at a disadvantage. When she talks about white privileged, it is the fact that while all people try to get by, work, raise a family, black people do this under a cloud of mistrust from white people. This is what leads to police viewing blacks as a threat (and ipso facto, if I am scared for my life [because he is black], then I can kill him in self defense even though he doesn’t have a gun). This leads to white women calling the police because a black person is just living his/her life in a place that makes the white woman uncomfortable (as in, I thought this park/dorm/building was mine, why are you here)? There is other privilege, sure, but that doesn’t remove white privilege. The fact that poor uneducated whites are disenfranchised in this society does not remove their privilege, that when they get pulled over by the police, there is likely not one hard near the holster.
3
Many are more interested in the behavior of others as they try to get by in life on a daily basis.
There is no mention of this elephant: behavior.
4
I am an academic and was initially intrigued by this. The more I read, the more haunting the similarities between Dr. Rankine’s approach and the evangelical culture I was raised in. Asking strangers about their privilege is pretty close to asking someone about their original sin. It pretty much ensures some hostility, which satisfies a self fulfilling prophecy of persecution. I grew up hearing urban legends about converting a stranger on a plane, and it strikes me that Dr. Rankine seems to have a similar expectation: some stranger might hear her and repent of his callous indifference. So much of her language is the language of conviction of sin, the first part of the conversion sermon. But that kind of sermon ends with a call to grace, which I don’t find here. I distrust the evangelical impulse as a rule, but I find it especially sinister when it emphasizes judgement and moral superiority.
46
As an old white man I would be happy to have this conversation. I can’t initiate it because to do so is clearly racist. I want to have that conversation but you, my other-looking fellow traveler, are not a representative of all who superficially look like you. You are just another human with your experiences and stories, all colored by the way you appear. I am not all white men and you are not all black women. I only hope I am able to listen. In reality one of us will open the conversation as the plane starts to descend. Maybe we’ll get to hear each other and enjoy the company of a stranger for a moment before we debark and go our different ways.
34
I grew up white and Jewish and there has never been a single moment in my sixty-plus years when I've felt the slightest breeze of discrimination, the smallest roadblock to my social or career choices. I've been fortunate to have squandered my potential all on my own.
24
I have met VERY few white people, a few who were peaches and cream, and, as my three year old Armand and five year old Cymene proved to me by taking out two crayons from their 48 box: beige and white.
We have a beige problem of folks who somehow have created the myth that they are ‘white’. (Those who few I have met who are white were Irish and Scottish and Norwegian. And those even when I was young were not considered ‘honorary white’ in the 1940s and 50s. That was reserved for the Anglo Saxon English. French were not allowed in the white orphanages in Vancouver Canada in 1971!
“White is pure, without stain” was the refrain. Yet somehow it had to have lots of money and land and be Anglican and maybe Presbyterian or Methodist.
3
Interesting, isn't it? The only white men the author even considers to exist are those who share her class privilege. Come to think of it, her own privileged class status seems to be taken for granted--that's the elephant in the room.
60
@Stephanie Wood
By which you mean to say that the fact that she's privileged should be taken for granted? Therefore, that Privilege in itself [let's call it "Good Privilege"] is of the natural order of things, consistent with the reigning ideology's attempts to impose its view of the world as natural. You know, like: Yale?
5
What matters are empathy, understanding, kindness, graciousness, caring, listening and sharing.
The problem is some selfish pivileged White men on one side of power and some victimized, and also perpetually needy, Black people on the other side. Nothing moves forward. Perpetual anger on one side and cold dismissive distance on the other.
As a highly educated Brown woman, married to a highly educated White dude from a harsh working class family, we worked out our difference with talking, arguments, counseling, love and team work. We couldn't afford to be fighting each other. I had to learn and change, and Mark had to learn more and improve. Though Huntington's Disease stole him from me...we tried to spend the best years as a team. People forget that. We are all part of a team folks.
We are all part of one fragile world, one nation and one love. We can't afford to be fighting each other.
19
What matters are empathy, understanding, kindness, graciousness, caring, listening and sharing.
The problem is some selfish pivileged White men on one side of power and some victimized, and also perpetually needy, Black people on the other side. Nothing moves forward. Perpetual anger on one side and cold dismissive distance on the other.
As a highly educated Brown woman, married to a highly educated White dude from a harsh working class family, we worked out our difference with talking, arguments, counseling, love and team work. We couldn't afford to be fighting each other. I had to learn and change, and Mark had to learn more and improve. Though Huntington's Disease stole him from me...we tried to spend the best years as a team. People forget that. We are all part of a team folks.
We are all part of one fragile world, one nation and one love. We can't afford to be fighting each other.
4
I'm a white man, and I read this article mainly for a hate fix. I have zero sympathy for a Yale professor who flies first-class talking about how hard her life is.
37
@Larry Derfner That's not what she's talking about. With all the historical and current examples of harm done to black Americans, she is trying to understand how white people think about the clear advantage they have from never being subject to that grotesque unfairness.
Everyone white knows they would never want to deal with that kind of poor treatment or violence or limitation on their own equality and rights.
5
Baldwin was wrong. America doesn't think of itself as a white country; those mired in "whiteness theory" THINK America thinks of itself as a "white" country -- a legacy that goes back to slavery, long before the ancestors of most "white" people arrived here -- many of them destitute, facing bigotry against their own ethnicity
Remember Obama's "no Black America, no White America"? Obama was right.
This entire article is one long exercise in confirmation bias. Once the author begins to recognize that, she might begin to lose the chip on her shoulder. She might see me as something (or even someone!) other than "white."
She might start to get beyond "color" and "whiteness," and start, however slowly (like all those immigrants) to join one, multi-ethnic America that formed the core of Obama's vision. Now, that would be TRULY "woke"!
As it is now, she'd probably rather lecture me on my "privilege," big-shot Yale professor that she is. Fortunately, I have a bitterly ironic sense of humor -- but it's wearing thin.
28
@Mitchell The point she is making by describing the history, the writing, and the treatment she and others receive is that she cannot join. Black Americans aren't holding themselves apart--they are being forced into this position continually and are always treated as outsiders who deserve less.
3
@McQueen
This essay doesn't support your point at all. This top 1% Yale professor flits from 1st class lounge to 1st class lounge, goes on Safari, lectures students on "whiteness."
I'd say she "joined" regardless of whatever over-caffeinated egos she meets in 1st class.
4
@McQueen
Growing up, all of us confront ostracism and bullying of all sorts -- treated as outsiders who deserve less. We're forced(!) to develop the self-esteem and determination to find another role in life, another way to contextualize our existence. We learn to define ourselves.
"The point she's making by describing the history, the writing, and the treatment she and others receive is that she cannot join"?
Not really. As I've pointed out, her article is one long exercise in confirmation bias: "the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories."
Ironically, however, she HAS joined: her determination has led her to a niche her academic enablers have created: the most professional of professional victims. She does the job well.
Those are the terms she accepted in joining. In return, she gets to fly first class (along with a lavish spread in the NY Times to hawk her wares).
I'm a little jealous -- especially of the platform she has. Then again, at age 69, I guess it's time for me to get over it.
Bitter irony, all around!
1
Listening to this poet discuss the privilege of one "race" (a construct, we're told) in a particular country is like sitting with a fantasy baseball fanatic on a red-eye flight: she knows a heck of a lot, about a little thing, in one place, at a particular point in time. She will always be correct - who can doubt her zeal! - but does she understand larger truths?
26
Dear Ms. Rankine,
I read your article and enjoyed it. Thank you. I write to you as a person with White Male Privilege. I apologize from the start for my lack of education on Whiteness for it is a topic I have not studied. I also write to you as a former academic who studied math, the physical sciences and plenty of computer science.
While entertaining, I found your article somewhat naive. You are an academic. You are literally paid to think about a topic really deeply and bring your realizations to our society to expand our view. Now with this arsenal of thoughts you approach some random white men and ask them about whiteness. Then you seem somewhat surprised that they do not understand. Just by their behavior they will obviously not follow. They probably do not want to follow. There is no upside to them.
What you are bringing to them is a deep topic and one that ventures deep into human psychology. There are many facets of guilt affecting white men, be they aware of it or not. First arising from the fear of the lack of knowledge. The US has never conclusively even put a figure on the cost of slavery. What has slavery cost you? I mean you personally. A per capita figure is necessary to bring this conversation to the mainstream. White people, as most people, care about money. Money will get people's attention. Quantifying whiteness is important.
Instead you bring it forward in a language that is not easy to follow. I mean this as an academic critique. out of nyt words.
7
I am a white male. In my profession and personal life I have been able to achieve everything i have ever set out to do, with little resistance from anyone or anything. This is my reality.
I have no idea how my life would be different if I was not a white male. To suggest otherwise is an insult to anyone who is not a white male
14
@Mike
You also have no idea how your life would be different if you were any other white male but you. To suggest otherwise is an insult to any white male who isn't you.
Great artical. Also a white male here--privileged enough to not worry about typing my uninformed opinions anywhere.
But since I have that privilege, I will do so, without fear of my race being blamed for it. Or worse, me being the only acceptable member of my race because of it.
I never knew what white privilege was until a couple years ago--and I agree, maybe it should have been called something else, because I did not come from a privileged background. But I have never felt singled out, positively or negatively, because of my skin color, and that is truly a blessing.
Sure, I worked hard to get where I am--my family was broke. No money. Parents in and out of prison. Parental drug abuse. On welfare. No health or dental insurance ever. I laughed at the thought that I was privileged, but I realized later I was did not understand the privileges that I had.
Mobility: everywhere I turned, people gave me a chance. I believed that anyone, anywhere who tried to achieve could do so. I eventually went into the military to get money for university, got accepted to the university, got good grades, blah, blah...
Now I work a good job, have insurance, am not in jail, that kind of thing. I have a daughter and she'll never experience the kind of stuff I did. But her and I will always have that same privilege so long as we live in white majority countries. Of course, she will not have the white-male privilege which is obviously the top notch in white majority countries.
7
Dear Prof. Rankine-I am grateful for your op-ed and the risks you've taken and write about. Sitting with a work colleague at lunch -- I was surprised at how much alike our experiences seemed alike. We both had experienced discrimination; she chalked hers up to race, I chalked mine up to my lower-class background and upbringing. I think racism is one of the outgrowths of white male privilege rooted in classicism. And every one who's benefitting from it wants to think there's someone lower than them and less deserving.
"White male privilege" exists only in the minds of the people who reflexively grant that privilege upon a random white man irrespective of his intellect, achievements or character and not on any other member of a "marginalized group".
And in my opinion most of the people guilty of bestowing a random white man an unearned privilege (an undue / unearned respect, courtesy, servility ) are so called "people of color" and "fellow white women".
Check out on-line dating apps, walk into any "minority owned " business establishment or "life" in general and the most ardent practitioners/bestower of "white male privilege" are POC and white women.
Ironic indeed.
5
I experienced white man’s privilege in the ‘60’s as a not upper class white in a farm/industrial community outside of Pittsburgh. The Vietnam conflict was raging and the draft board was composed of WW II vets. They trolled for eligible 1A draft age kids but not from privileged families. My brother was “captured” and spent a year long vacation in Vietnam. I escaped with a 1H deferment (college). This mentality exists today in that community, still hate the community for it.
4
Most of the items on the checklist were simply white 'majority' not priviliege.
But this list is a good idea if the questions are in functional terms. Fpor example:
'I can thoughtlessly open a bag of snack food off the shelves while at the supermarket, confident I will not be charged with shoplifting before I can pay for it at checkout.'
5
My white male privilege ... started in public housing, then led me to join the Navy to escape low middle class expectations... then I worked two jobs while I went to college after the service.
So .. still waiting on my privileges ... because everything I have is due to my hard work and determination.
24
@alec It shouldn't be called privilege... because it is misleading what it means.
I had the same situation. Exactly. But I benefitted very much from being white and male. I think if you examine the situation, look beyond the lousy usage of 'privilege' you'll see what they author is trying to convey.
7
@James ... point taken and I agree with the misleading term of privilege as many white folk would agree they don’t have it
2
This topic is certainly socially relevant, but I also wonder if some of kids who take classes about “whiteness” at extremely expensive universities later complain about high student debt? Maybe they might focus on studying something more transferable to making a good living?
8
Professor Rankine:
I'm a 70 year old White male. I don't get around on planes much anymore. I've only travelled first class rarely, when an employer paid for me to do so.
I mostly get around these days on mass transit in Portland, Oregon.
Still, I hope I get to run into you some day. I hope I get to have such a conversation with you. I hope to have such a conversation some day, any day, with anyone like you.
6
Privilege? They need SAT scores a couple of hundred points higher than those of certain other people to get into Yale. Other people become "diversity" hires; they have no chance.
That's negative privilege. The author should ask if she wants it for herself.
The Chinese and Indians are treated even worse. But that's no excuse.
11