I Have No White Privilege, And I Am Not Responsible For Racism Because….
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The meanderings of White denial and the White fragility of responsibility…
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Yes, I agree with your between the lines premise. Taking responsibility is a tough thing. I know why you don’t want to take responsibility for White privilege, and see no systemic racism. It makes sense that way. All of us have a weakness. You may have many more, it seems. However, I am hopeful you will come around, before taking this sin of omission to the grave.
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If you were soberly driving a car that hit and injured, or killed someone, but you did not “see” anything, and the only sound was a light thump like you hit a bird, you also would be innocent, right? You had no idea it was a person, and you never turned around to see what you hit because… Who would have? No one would expect us to take responsibility for it, either. We are like two peas in a pod… of white privilege denial bullshit.
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I am not rich! Therefore White privilege could never be associated with me in the 99.7% White state, county, city, or neighborhood I live in. Yes, the school I went to was all White students, but if it would have become mostly Black students, I would have stayed, and we Whites would have funded it to the hilt like we would agree to do for every school in the nation. I will also show I am not racist by transferring my kids to a school of mostly Black students tomorrow, after I buy a house in a mostly Black neighborhood. I can’t even understand why schools where predominantly Black families live have less funding than mostly White school districts. Since I am ignorant about why that is the case, how can I be racist?
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Furthermore, how could I be racist if I wasn’t around for slavery (1619–1865)? Not here for the beginning of the KKK and through Jim Crow (1866–1968). Surely not for FHA loan denials, and school and housing segregation, racist property covenants, or almost no GI Bill funding for Black service people (1945–1968). I was MIA as to refusing to allow busing and integration of schools, enabling the racist drug war, worst of mass incarceration, and abuses of prisoners at Attica and other facilities (1969– until the day after…). Nor here for stop and frisk, racial profiling, arresting of Black Americans at 5 to 10 times the rate of Whites depending on my state, shooting of over 3 times as many unarmed Blacks versus Whites, (1981 until the day after who–knows–when if we Whites keep denying our responsibility for it). Voter suppression (Today). Lack of diversity: (forever)?
While that sparsely populated list — that is one ten millionth its full length — may make it seem like I could have done, or could be doing, something, since systemic racism will last until sometime beyond tomorrow, I would defer to my lawyer, who says I should say no comment. So I say, no comment as to my obvious complicity to racist policies as a White American.
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White people are not responsible for things that happened yesterday, or what may happen tomorrow, if we don’t know about the bad things happening all around us. If there was something like a worldwide webbed internet, or social media that could get into all of our homes, and let us know about all these racist things, then maybe we would consider our sins of omission as something to be ashamed about. I would even avoid lashing out at Black Americans, or any person of color, if such a platform was available. I would listen more than lash. I would. I know I would. That is what White people always do. Right?
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White Americans have hit and run our whole lives from our racist responsibilities, as our ancestors have, why should we change now? Change is hard. We are a weak, and tired race, especially after killing so many for this land, and enslaving millions. Taking responsibility for racism and White privilege is complicated and difficult. We cannot figure things out that we have caused, and keep causing. That takes a lot of brain work. Abusing, and ignoring the plight of others, not like our white selves, is so much easier. And being blissfully White is such the addiction that I would red pill reality if I wasn’t so full of my White self.
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