Comments on: Thinking about my white privilege

By: EmilyBlakeslee

EmilyBlakeslee — Sun, 04 May 2014 22:48:10 +0000

Wow, Amanda, I had never thought about that before – and I totally have done that. Thank you for calling out that practice. I never realized how not describing White people as White buys into the idea that White is normative and therefore doesn’t need to be described. And Bri, I really liked your post. I think one way we can spend our privilege is by educating others and continuing to educate yourself. What that looks like depends on your context and your day to day experiences, but I think it can be as simple as sharing a fact we learned from this class with a friend or a family member, when an appropriate time presents itself. Or it can be more intimidating, like calling out a friend on their privilege when you see it. Or, it can be working in a field in which you can potentially change public policy (like law) and through that potentially educate others on their privilege.

By: Tatianap

Tatianap — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 04:09:33 +0000

I think the way you described using your privilege is pretty cool. To use your privilege to fight that same privilege is extremely bold because though it’s for a good cause it would take away the exact same privilege you mentioned before. I would imagine it to be a whole new world filled with much more insecurities and you might feel a lot more unsure of things you once took for granted. I think because of that, many people won’t want to do exactly what you’re doing. People won’t want to go from a place of comfortably to a place full of insecurities, especially since we all have insecurities we’re dealing with already. It is absolutely commendable for you to recognize your privilege and use it that way. I’m not sure if taking A class about racism will make white people recognize their privilege and use it in the same way you are/ plan to use it but classes is definitely one place to start.

By: AmandaRG

AmandaRG — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 19:55:47 +0000

I think one of the most effective ways to get people to realize how much privilege they have is to point out things they think are “normal” or do not regularly notice. I remember when I first learned about White privilege, someone pointed out to me that many White people describe other White people by what they’re wearing or their hair color while they describe non-White people by their race first. White is a race, too, but because it’s considered “standard” it’s not something I thought to point out previously. Noticing things like that really had an impact on me, maybe it would have the same effect on others.

By: Chris Chaky

Chris Chaky — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:17:47 +0000

Nice post! I think you’re right to say that the greatest privilege may be the ability to forget about race. It allows people to understand how racism oppresses people of color but to still go on with their daily lives and refuse trying to fight it.