Privilege? What is it?
When we have these conversations of what privilege is and who has it we run into a wall. Far too often those in privilege do not wish to see it. The oppression Olympics then becomes a real thing and no one wins.
I get it. People don't like to have any involvement with societies backwards way of treating those less fortunate. Far be it for me to silence them... oh wait silence the privilege. I have never heard such a thing. Further more I can't seem to get over this idea of white guilt. What exactly is white guilt? Go back to the start of this article and do some research on white privilege.
White guilt is the feeling of hearing about how the systems in our society benefit one and screw the others. In our world those who are privileged are men (generally, white men), white people (in general), cis people (those who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth), heterosexual, temporarily able bodied (have a mental capacity or physical capacity to get around in the world) and thin people (there are others not mentioned).
White guilt is something experienced by white people usually during conversations about race. Simple right? Ok. So why is it deemed necessary to bring up these conversations and how does it benefit them?
As I like to say "You feel guilty?" Ok. Your guilt is on you. The point of talking about the experiences of those in the margins isn't for you to feel guilty, but to do something about the oppressive nature of our society. Your guilt only adds to the problem.
Far too often in my experience when we have these conversations about race etc. the white guilt over shadows the point. "I'm sad.... (insert whatever the f**k else)" and it keeps going. We continuously ignore what was said about privilege or whiteness and silence those who are directly affected by x, y and z. White guilt in itself is oppressive.
Yes, having feelings is part of being human, but when do your feelings continue to take away from someone else's? In fact why are your feelings more important? Why can't you be actively listening rather than interrupting someone because you want to mention the oppression of white people which doesn't exist. Systemically white people are the most benefitted racial group. White, heterosexual, cisgender, temporarily abed bodied, financially well off men are at the top of the benefactor list. Is this making any sense?
Maybe next time you find yourself in a conversation about privilege you listen and learn from it. Next time a marginalized group talks about racism you let them. Give them space, but do not start to steer into a conversation about white guilt because then you are silencing those who are already silenced. I.e. Your white guilt becomes the you show and it does not benefit the conversation.
