I woke up from a nap to countless Facebook posts informing me about an article posted in The Daily Cardinal. The Topic? White Privilege.
As I read along, I laughed, I rolled my eyes, I shut my laptop from frustration and opened it again to finish reading the article. I wanted to respond with anger in the comment section, but then I thought, where would my anger get me? What am I trying to accomplish? Why even bother responding to something that seems to be an annual event and topic at this university? Have we made any progress?
I am currently a senior at UW-Madison and it seems like every year, there has been something, some kind of protest article or opinion piece, against affirmative action. This semester white privilege has received the spotlight. And quite frankly, I'm getting tired of being surrounded by individuals with privilege, who just don't seem to get it. I am tired of students of color constantly having to be the ones responsible for responding to these posts.
I am white. This is a fact. I have privilege because I am white. This is also a fact. However, this wasn't always a fact that I accepted. I was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a small country with a history of genocide etc. Coming to America and attending a very diverse Chicago public high school, I never identified as white; I always identified as Bosnian. Then I came to Madison.
As a person whose skin color resembled that of almost everyone around me, I experienced culture shock myself. I noticed a lack of diversity. This was something I was not used to. I did not realize how diverse my high school was until I left and came to UW-Madison.
My passion for human rights and social justice led me to take a course called SEED:Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity during my freshman year. If you have never heard of this course, you should look it up and consider taking it. I remember when we first started talking about race in SEED. I remember the idea of white privilege being introduced to me. I am a part of an ethnicity that experienced genocide, how could I possibly have privilege? I felt anger, I felt shame, I felt confusion. I did not want this privilege. I see white privilege as an unearned advantage I have in this society because of the color of my skin. I see it making my life easier both socially and institutionally.
But the more we talked about it, the more I understood how the American system is set up. It is historically constructed for me to succeed. When the Western European colonial powers came, they assumed superiority over the Native Americans. They constructed a society and government which benefited white people, or more specifically, white landowning males. This racial superiority continued on into the late 1960s. Mass disparities were created that are still present today for people of color. Although it might not be as blatantly expressed today as it was in the history of this country, racism, oppression and inequality are still very present in our system.
It's a lot easier to achieve the "American Dream" when you can easily integrate into a society because of how you look. I might be Bosnian, but no one knows that unless I choose to share it with them, like I am doing now. Students of color do not have that choice.
When I walk into a classroom at this university, everyone looks like me. I do not get stared at, there are no assumptions made about whether I am solely here based on my race, a scholarship or if I am an athlete. I have seen bus drivers treat students of color differently (and more unfairly) than they have treated me; I have had other white students complain to me about students of color and the scholarships they are handed, assuming I would agree. I have read and heard about plenty of incidents on this campus where students of color were ostracized. I don't have people dress up like my race or my culture during Halloween. I have never received an email asking me to show up to a university photo-shoot as the token student of color. I don't have articles written every year about how I do not deserve to be at this institution. I am never asked to speak on behalf of my whole race in classrooms or in social circles. People do not see my skin color and cross the street when they see me walking late at night. When I address social justice issues or race issues I am not seen as the "the angry minority" or "too sensitive."
The images of beauty set by mainstream media reflect my race. I can easily find greeting cards, dolls and children's magazines featuring people of my race. I can drive into unknown neighborhoods and not worry about getting pulled over for "looking suspicious." My race might not automatically be associated with comments like Mitt Romney's "47 percent" remarks. My race was never seen as inferior in this country. The prison systems are not packed with people who look like me. Most politicians look like me. Most people in charge look like me. When I picture the image of success, I have been socialized to see a white person. I hope at this point you are beginning to understand where I am coming from.
I want to leave you all with a final thought. White privilege is not about making you feel guilty; it is not reverse racism and talking about it is not what is preventing us from reaching this "color blind" society that has come up in recent discussions. Not talking about it, choosing to ignore your privilege, is what is keeping us behind, and as stated in previous articles, that is a reflection of the privileges white people have. How can we truly be a more equal society if the majority of white people will continue to refuse to acknowledge their white privilege? We should not ignore it.
Privilege is power. A voice of privilege is a voice of power and you can use this voice to create solidarity (not pity), to build coalitions, to work towards ending institutional racism.
So my fellow white people, take this from someone who has been there before; please stop challenging this notion of white privilege just because you are feeling guilty or uncomfortable. Start reflecting on how YOU might contribute to personal, societal and institutional oppression at this university or as you enter your career fields. If our generation finally acknowledges the mass disparities between races which have been present since the colonization of this continent, maybe then we will finally be able to move toward this equal society we all dream of. Until then, this society is not equal and this society is not "color blind."
