The frequent refrain of those offended by the concept of white privilege includes, but is not limited to:
- I worked hard for everything I have. No one gave me a damn thing.
- There are rich, privileged (insert white demographic here) people in this world!
- White privilege doesn’t exist, because if it did, I would:
- Live in a mansion.
- Own a fancy car.
- Have a trophy wife/husband.
Never mind the numerous examples of situations where being white clearly comes with benefits, people will stubbornly refuse to accept that white privilege exists. Maybe if they have a different way of comprehending the concept, they might open their minds?
Efforts have been made to develop concepts that can explain white privilege, but I think they frequently miss the target. For example, one that I am familiar with demonstrates the concept by suggesting life is a race. While this is a pretty good metaphor for life, the wrinkle they offer is that certain people begin the race ahead of others. This immediately conjures the idea that where people begin their lives indicates how well they will finish. While this is very true in many cases – our president is a prime example – it leads people who are white and poor or otherwise have a less than spectacular experience in the world to complain that they had it hard and can’t be considered “privileged.”
The other issue, as I see it, has to do with the term itself. It focuses on the white experience, rather than the struggles that people of color face in a society dominated by whites, particularly one where whites possess most of the power. It implies things about white people, causing a natural recoiling at the issue. Maybe there is another way to think about the issue.
Many moons ago, I was a competitive swimmer. As I started in the sport, where I swam didn’t matter, because I sucked. I worked hard, got stronger and sleeker, and eventually my times began to drop. When it takes you a minute and a half to swim 50 meters, your inefficient stroke, lack of stamina, and inability to dive, flipturn, and finish properly are the self-inflicted impediments to success. When you are able to actually compete with the best, you learn that there are outside influences that can impact the times of every swimmer.
If you have ever seen an Olympic swimming event, you will notice that swimmers with the best times earn a position in the center lanes, whereas those with slower times are relegated to the outer lanes. Even with specially designed lane ropes and gutters along the edges of the pool meant to minimize the waves that reverberate from the sides during the race, there is a single, inevitable truth…the outer lanes are slower than the center lanes, due to this minute drag. If you are a middle-of -the-pool elite swimmer swimming against Michael Phelps, no center lane of any pool is going to help you beat him. If, however, your times are within a few hundredths of a second of others swimmers, the outer lanes can mean the difference between a medal and swimming home undecorated.
So, now that I have meandered into the minutiae of competitive swimming, you are probably asking if you have wasted your time with this nonsense. I don’t blame you, because the only thing more boring than reading about swimming is swimming. Let me get to the point – rather than thinking of life as starting out at different points on the privilege scale, consider it as starting at the same point as everyone else, but the people of color compete in the outer lanes while whites enjoy the center lanes. Assuming everyone has the same talent, they will all start at the same time. The differences will be imperceptible at first, but as the race progresses, the impediments that people of color face will become evident. They will struggle to keep up, and likely will fall behind. The other parallel of this metaphor is that the whites, just like the most elite swimmers, are oblivious to the struggles of those they are competing against, because they don’t feel the drag, and everyone fighting the drag is likely behind them.
Some of you may think that the impediments to progress for people of color amount to things that we believe have disappeared. Cross-burnings, lynchings, segregation, blatant demonstrations of hate, and other iconic acts of violence still occur, but most would agree that they are much less common than in the past. What hasn’t changed are the infuriating little things that drag on people of color. The fear that a loan will be denied, the challenge of buying a home, the likelihood that a new car will be a bit harder to get, and possibly more expensive, the extra effort to get hired for a job, the side-eye at the jewelry counter, people crossing the street to avoid any contact, the taxi flipping on their out of service light, the inconvenient seating at a popular restaurant, the dread when a cop approaches, the sudden implementation of a dress code at a bar…all of these are only a small part of the daily experiences people of color face. None of these, taken individually, would warrant a second thought, but collectively, over an extended period of time, they impede the progress even the strongest person can make.
Of course, people can excel, even in the outer lanes. That isn’t the point though. Their ascension to fame, fortune, adulation, or success is inevitably hindered compared to those who don’t suffer that drag. They may lead a company, write a best-seller, develop a cure, invent a product, sing a grammy hit, and achieve fame, fortune, and wealth many of us cannot imagine. All of that was done in spite of the drag they faced since they started their journey in a society where, on balance, white people enjoy the fresh air free of bias.
Why does this matter? Aside from the reinvigoration of hate fueled by the current president and his millions of supporters, it matters because it exists. It matters because people think they have checked some sort of existential box indicating they are not biased simply because they have a black friend, loved Crazy Rich Asians, or voted for the first black president. They think they have met the bar for being an ally. I certainly cannot speak for anyone else, but, in my view, that is all meaningless when it comes to confronting what people of color face on a daily basis. To be a true ally, you have to be willing to be shaken from your comfort zone, to step in and support someone, and to scrutinize your beliefs and actions. Maybe a good first step is to consider the issue without being defensive about it.