First, Andrea, I would like to apologize for stating what I did in a way
that felt as if I was scolding. In no way did I mean to do that. 

 

You are right, that we are privileged just because we can sit at a computer
and type this. However, I have to wait until I get to work because I cannot
afford internet at home.

 

*Many people argue that people who do not have computers or the internet can
simply go to the library and use the computers there- I have heard this
suggestion in terms of online education as well as other things. What many
people do not realize is there is usually a time limit at the computers- how
much online education can someone get in a half hour?

 

*Bemoaning white privilege is, hopefully not and end, but a beginning to a
larger discussion about race/class/gender. Once we recognize it exists, we
can move forward to creating change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  _____  

From: povertyracewomen-bouncesnifl.gov
[mailto:povertyracewomen-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Andrea Wilder
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 4:00 AM
To: The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 1723] Re: PovertyRaceWomen Digest, Vol 16, Issue
54

 

OK, an additional comment because I think some of these comments are really
off track--for heavens sake, we are PRIVILEGED in being able to be at a
computer and have this discussion! You know, there is a lot we can do
besides bemoan our white privilege.--which I am not doing, because I think
there are other issues. 

There is Greg Mortenson doing what our state Department should be
doing--building schools. The guy is chubby and wrung out, he spoke 3 times
at three different places, yesterday. He could barely speak he was so tired.
BUT what he has done is leave behind him groups of village people who can
run the schools he has helped them build. 

"Whose side are you on?"

It's the old union song. I really challenge anyone on this discussion to say
what they have done, personally, to answer this question.

Andrea

On Feb 27, 2008, at 12:33 AM, Lisa Gimbel wrote:

Hello Katherine and all,
I have very much been enjoying reading the conversations that we have been
having, and Katherine's curiosity about how many of us feel privileged has
motivated me to respond.
 
I, a white US-born woman of upper middle class origins feel completely
privileged because in almost every aspect of my life, I am.  While my class
of origin also plays a role in multiple levels of my privileges, it is also
yet another result of my whiteness.
 
Economic privilege is a bi-product (or at least closely related, however you
see it) of racial privilege.  One set of grandparents came over Post WWII
and were able to 'work their way up' because they could leave their economic
identity behind because they were white.  Non-white immigrants almost always
have hyphenated identities - more often by external forces, than choice.
African-american, Chinese-American, Vietnamese-American, Arab-American,
Latino.  How often does one year the term, English-American, or
Irish-American beyond the first generation of immigrants?
 
Because we were able to 'melt' - to become culturally white in every aspect
- my family has been automatically granted the systemic economic privileges
that come along with it that many people of color do not and or historically
have not had access to: mortgages (esp. in the neighborhoods where other
people of a similar nationality/ethnicity are from), loans, resources and
connections with other white people that are in positions of status/power or
have access to resources, and the 'benefit of the doubt' which has allowed
everything from jobs to being able to walk in public and private places
without being mistrusted or abused/attacked.  The Peggy Macintosh article
mentioned earlier is great for starting to see and understand some of the
manifestations of white privilege that are often times 'invisible,'
especially to those of us who benefit from it. 

Obviously, there are serious losses to this process of becoming white as
well, but the gains are far greater in a society where the rules have been
made by the whites.  (For example, immigration of white people has never
been effectively restricted - hence the reason that the "my grandparents
came here legally and worked there way up - why can't the illegals" argument
doesn't hold).  I wouldn't have the class privileges I do now because the
intermarriage between my mother, from a poor French family, and my upper
class US born Jewish father simply wouldn't have happened were it a poor
Black French family. 

I didn't ask for or create the privileges that come with being white.  Nor
is it legit to say that my family or I don't work hard.  But it is by NO
means a level playing field, and I can see this in literally every corner
and element of my life when I give a long hard look.  It's not about being
spoiled, or deserving/not deserving, but being real with the reality of the
US systems of race and class so that I can be an active change agent.  
Learning how to see the field and how it was constructed has been
instrumental in learning how to deconstruct it - which, for me, is one of
the most effective, necessary, and honest roles for me to have in justice
work.

I honor each of you who is engaged in this conversation and in doing
anti-racist work.  
We have a lot to do, and it's not easy.  But having the willingness to try
to sort some of this complicated, ugly, and uncomfortable stuff out is an
important step - and it can not and does not happen in a vacuum. 

Best,
Lisa Gimbel
lgimbel at gmail.com



 
I wouldn't say it's a race to the bottom, Andrea. I'd say these are
statements of individuality.  No one wants to be lumped into some category,
especially one that isn't fitting.  It's just human nature.

I would like to take a vote on how many people in this group actually feel
privileged.  I suspect there are not as many as we would think, and it's not
because we are all a bunch of spoiled brats.  Teachers, as I have said
before, aren't usually high up on the socioeconomic ladder.

-- 
http://kiva.org/

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