Understanding White Privelage from a white woman's perspective

Before we can understand White Privelage, we have to first understand what we mean by privelage. By privelage, in the context of racial justice, we mean the automatic benefits we receive based on the color of our skin. (Consequently, "racism" would be its opposite, both on a personal and institutional level). Therefore one causes the other. Privelage also inherently means that you don't have to think about it. And really, truth be told, do white people have to talk about racism or white privelage? No, only if we want to. That, in and of itself, is a privelage.

Let's also talk about what white privelage is NOT. I financially struggle. I am in the lower middle class. Did I have a privealged upbringing? In the economic sense, no, not at all. Did I benefit from white privelage? Yes. When we are talking racial justice and racism, we are going to talk about race. We are NOT going to get into discussions of classism. Do they intertwine? In some ways, of course. In the sense of there are a disproportionate number of people of color experiencing poverty and financial strain. That's how they intertwine.

All of us have mixed bags of privelage. One could not experience white privelage (because s/he is a person of color) but still experience the privelage of being male (ask Delma!). One could experience white privelage but not economic privelage (like me). If one can acknowledge the privelage a straight person has (this one should be really obvious) than why as a society can we not acknowlege white privelage?
And frankly, why not acknowledge it? Why is it that so many white people are resistant to this concept? I think for many, there is a sense of guilt or responsibility that comes along acknowledgment so some resist this.

However, it is not necessary to feel personally responsible for white privelage. The very fact that it is a privelage means that you didn't do anything in the first place to get it. That doesn't excuse us, though, from taking collective responsibility now that we know we have it.

So think about white privelage as...

do you ever walk into a restaurant and say "wow look at all the white people here!" (doesn't count if you have been to a racial justice training and are now aware of that fact!)

did you ever consider why Santa Claus isn't black?

Why we celebrate a holiday (Thanksgiving) with folklore that didn't even happen let alone in a happy "thankful" way? How come Native Americans don't celebrate thanksgiving if it was such a good thing that happened between everyone?

Did you ever walk down a toy aisle and look at the race of the majority (note i said the majority, not the token few)of the toy dolls?

How about why almost every Jesus statue has "American", western features (he's white, light brown hair, blue or brown eyes) even though we ALL KNOW AND AGREE FOR A FACT that Jesus lived in the Middle East and would not have looked like this.

My guess is that most white people, without study of racial justice, has not ever considered any of these questions and would answer no or start right now trying to find a way to say, "but..." There is no buts. White privelage means that the standard by which everyone and everything in our culture is measured is based on a white standard. That's considered the norm. Stop contesting that fact.

We cannot grow as a society, as humanity, until we recognize not only the wrongs that have happened but how we benefitted from those wrongs.

And then let's take collective responsibility to do something about it.