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pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
Wed Dec 2, 2015, 02:09 AM Dec 2015

The Five Stages of White Privilege Awareness

This is by a blogger I don't know. But I thought this was worth passing on.

http://www.therustylife.com/2014/03/the-complete-white-privilege-series/

The 5 Stages of White Privilege Awareness
Stage One:
I’m not a racist!
AKA DENIAL

When I was 19-years-old I went on a Spring Break trip to the Harambee Center in Pasadena. We spent the week working in different parts of the city, doing home visits with families in Watts, and discussing various issues relating to race and reconciliation. On our first night in Pasadena I remember listening to a white man talk about race and he opened with this line to a group of 50 college students, the vast majority of whom were white:

“You are all racists. Every last one of you.”

Obviously not one for easing into things, that guy. I was sitting near the back and I remember thinking, “WHAT??? Are you kidding me with this? I am not a racist. My boyfriend in high school was totally Korean. How could I be a racist if I dated someone who wasn’t white? I don’t think so. No way.”

I’d like to say that I listened with an open ear and thus began a lifelong quest of inner examination and contemplation surrounding race. But I didn’t. I completely tuned him out, full of my own righteous indignation.

SNIP

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JonLeibowitz

(6,282 posts)
2. No problem with most of the content (great piece!), but one part irked me
Wed Dec 2, 2015, 02:47 AM
Dec 2015

The part about tying in perceptions of whether one is racist. Most of the piece correctly identifies institutional racism, and is a great deconstruction of the concept of white privilege and internalization thereof. But: does living and working in a racist country make one a racist? Can one shed white privilege? No, so then one cannot be racist unless one individually meets the criterion of a racist.

Just my opinion.

Shankapotomus

(4,840 posts)
4. "You are all racist. Every last one of you."
Wed Dec 2, 2015, 09:05 AM
Dec 2015

There are a number of issues with this piece that need to be pointed out.

1) Even though the quote in the subject line is not the article writer's own words, she seems to offer them as a preface that suggests the piece will conclude such a statement to be true.

But after reading the entire piece, I see no evidence or proof showing that all white people are racist.

2) Privilege does not equal racism and the piece doesn't even show conclusively how ALL white people can be privileged.

Culture does not necessarily equate to race and the dominant culture does not only discriminate against color. There are a host of other traits the dominant culture discriminates and punishes people for, including people who are incidentally white.

Guess what? Persons with disabilities, whatever their color, can't be privileged because they are a target for the dominant culture, as well. And if you say "That's preposterous! All white people are privileged!", I will also reply: That's ableism and that is why YOU DON'T GET IT. And the more you resist, the more you will continue not to get it.

People are unfairly advancing this myopic meme that the only targets of the dominant culture are PoC and a select few others whose victim-hood ramps off to varying degrees based on their whiteness as if color was the only trait the dominant culture were penalizing. But color is only one example of the dominant culture's hate-obsession. There are many others that discriminate in ways that have nothing to do with color.

3) "I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group."

But you are told you must bear the guilt for all its abusers.

The real issue is not about whites vs. PoC or men vs. women or straight vs. gay.

The real issue, if anyone wants to see it, is abuser vs. the abused.

All this generalizing by race, gender and orientation does nothing but produce vast amounts of friendly-fire amongst the abused.

The fight is more accurately between abuser and abused and they can take any shape and form.

Culture is infinitely exchangeable. Any person of any color, gender or orientation can support and reinforce the exploitative and discriminatory culture because the dominant culture discriminates across a whole swath of demographics.

So let they amongst you who has not sinned, cast the first stone.






Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
8. And that statement was directed towards nonwhite people as well as white people.
Wed Dec 2, 2015, 10:52 AM
Dec 2015

The story says that a "majority" of people in the audience were white, not that it was exclusively white.

It's also interesting that the facilitator guy said "you are all racist", as opposed to "we are all racist". It seems that he thinks that he is the only person in the country who has figured out how not to be a racist.

L. Coyote

(51,129 posts)
6. Stage one, the second time a cop does not arrest you for weed
Wed Dec 2, 2015, 10:37 AM
Dec 2015
you begin to realize that if you were not a white guy in a white town ..... you'd be in jail.

LWolf

(46,179 posts)
9. This is a really interesting read.
Wed Dec 2, 2015, 11:51 AM
Dec 2015

If I accept the author's stages, I'd say I've been at stage 5 for a few decades.

A few decades and I'm still here:

Stage Five is about acceptance and a willingness to sit in a state of perpetual unease without trying to alleviate it. It’s about leaning into the discomfort of your awareness and then using that discomfort as a catalyst to change your life trajectory.


I've done many, but not all, of the things suggested. It's a process, to constantly review and ask: what else should I be doing?
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