The Scourge of White Privilege
A'Jamal Byndon
NFP Board Member
I recently participated in an antiracism book-reading group on Facebook. Based upon the physical descriptions I could see on the screen, there were no African American or people of color participants. How is that possible when the group’s focus is primarily on Black/White relations? Can there be meaningful outcome from such one-sided, non-representative discussions?
When we were developing the “Omaha Table Talk” program about 15 years ago, we actively debated whether Whites can have effective race or antiracism discussions (and gain anything tangible) without people of color in the room. I remember too that while I was at Catholic Charities, we had an interracial book-reading group centered around Paul Kivel’s Uprooting Racism. We asked the Whites to discuss some racial topics in their racial group, and then we brought both groups together. The total size of this group might have been about ten individuals, with the Whites slightly outnumbering the African Americans six to four. I don’t recall anything significant from that book discussion, except for one White guy from Creighton University who cited classic examples of racism that he’d personally observed. In none of these incidents, though, did he push back or challenge what was happening. When I questioned him about his inaction, he became very defensive and felt I was attacking him. He was suffering from “White Fragility” before Robin DiAngelo invented the term and started making big bucks off selling antiracism to White corporations that still practice overt racism.
As a first-time visitor to this Facebook group, I was a bit surprised that one of the participants asked me to comment on his long-winded story on what amounted to ‘guilt sharing’. I was authentically impressed with how the group allowed me to just ‘pop in’ without being mean. However, I found myself instinctively trying to act as a facilitator when watching how they were conducting this event. There was some creative energy from the participants that I wanted more Whites to be able to glean from their efforts. These types of group discussions on race are not a finished product. But, that said, they’re a good start.
At the risk of speaking out of school, one of my colleagues, a Chicano, who has an intense dislike for White Liberals, told me a couple of months ago that when Whites do ‘race work’ or talk about racial situations, they invariably do so from a sense of guilt… Or by trying to make themselves look good. He went on to say that he could only think of a handful of Whites who have seriously challenged racism during his lifetime, and those few were coming from a religious framework or mindset. We are both in our 60s and have years of antiracism and race equity work under our belts, and I admit to having been somewhat surprised by his stark, take-no-prisoners assessment. His comments were still on my mind when, the following week, I asked a university official to write a national race-focused proposal for an extended grant on race relations. She though wanted to focus instead on housing integration in another country. It was painful to listen to her strained justification of how that country’s efforts could reduce racism in our immediate state and nation. What I was witnessing—just as my Chicano colleague described—was yet another example of the ‘bait and switch’ that White liberals do to avoid confronting their own racism in their own spaces.
Some years ago, I made a conscious decision not to participate during my free time in groups or coalitions where I would be the only person of color. It’s one thing to have to deal with being the only African American in the room when earning a living for yourself and your loved ones. Why though would any sane, normal person voluntarily subject themselves to being a so-called ‘minority’ around many race-insensitive Whites who are not fighting the good fight? Most White people who enjoy the benefits of White Privilege have no clue how challenging it is to be the ‘only one’ in their midst. To be exposed to micro-aggressive comments and Whites caucusing and talking in private and then snaking into the room as if they had not had their pre-conversations is traumatizing for a solitary person of color. It’s absolutely guaranteed to make you feel the ‘outsider’, alienated.
Malcolm X once noted that Black people wonder why our White god does not hear our prayers… Maybe, he suggested, it’s because we’re praying to the wrong god. We’re seeking admission where we’re not welcome. We only need to apply that same reverse engineering to figure out that the unjust conditions African Americans and other oppressed folks face did not materialize overnight, but were the result of generations of systematic denigration reflected in our brainwashing education, our wildly disproportionate conviction and incarceration rates, and our premature deaths from an environment that adamantly refuses to acknowledge that “Black Lives Matter”. To then have racist police officers and their surrogates hijack our narrative and alternatively assert that ‘All Lives Matter’ is the height of effrontery. Can you imagine the reactions of African Americans hearing ‘All Lives Matter’ after centuries of targeted oppression based strictly on skin color? Tell that to the thousands of lynched Black victims whose grotesque and grisly murders went unsolved and unatoned by a legal system that protected the perpetrators.
Some Whites have temporarily experienced being a ‘minority’ when they’ve become lost in certain parts of town or neighborhoods. However, because of the historical and cultural legacy of slavery, “Jim Crow” laws, and institutional White Privilege, most Whites in America have never really experienced what it’s like to continually be a ‘minority’ in this country. If White people are serious about antiracism, they must first hear one-on-one what people of color have to share from their experience. Reading books is helpful. But there’s no substitute for personal connection. To curtail racism, Whites must get to know their non-White neighbors. Only then can they develop guidelines with matrices to measure their efforts.
This all puts me in mind of all the so-called ‘social advocacy’ organizations in Nebraska. Well-meaning as they are, they are predominantly staffed and led by Whites waging their struggles from inside their White segregated offices. They have no regular contact with people of color in Nebraska or African Americans suffering for decades in this apartheid state, and accordingly they have no explicit or empirical benchmarks for working with these communities of color. This goes for ACLU Nebraska, Voices for Children, Nebraska Appleseed Center, Legal Aid of Nebraska and even Nebraskans for Peace where the Whites outnumber the one or two (or even no people of color) working on their staffs.
Some months ago, I asked my four white friends (down from seven) to name three things that they’re most proud of dealing with antiracism. It was surprising that one of them came up with six items off the top of her head. Another could only name one where she co-wrote an article with me about three years ago or more. That became my moment of being woke about racists and White folks. I only ask three simple questions:
1. Can you name three examples where you have challenged racism in the past year?
2. Do you have networks in local or state government where the workers or committees are paid with public dollars and you have questioned the apartheid nature of that environment?
3. What examples can you provide from your diversity efforts that have produced evidence-based, demonstrable outcomes?
I learned years ago when doing race dialogues and conversations to be as clear and frank as possible. As the old saying goes, “Frank talk does not break the friendship.” Yet, what I have repeatedly found to be a primary stumbling block for many otherwise good-hearted Whites is an unwillingness to acknowledge the reality of White Privilege: the unearned wealth, advantages and favoritism accruing from a legacy of slavery and segregation, exploitation and land grabs that have kept Blacks in their place and Whites in a higher space.
If we are truly serious about transforming the wretched conditions for African Americans and others locked out of the American Dream, money is going to have to change hands. Simply having a bunch of White folks read a book or watch a video about race is not going to realign a rigged social structure. Getting to know your non-White neighbor won’t rectify an economic system that for centuries relied upon outright slavery and then the ruthless exploitation of cheap labor to build billion-dollar institutions and personal fortunes. Unless we are talking about providing reparations or making whole people who have been historically traumatized by American Democracy, all of our well-intended conversations will not lead anywhere. Until as a nation we openly acknowledge the economic benefits of White Privilege—and begin paying damages for the harm it’s caused—America will continue to have a ‘race problem’ and no amount of talk will fix it.
NFP Board Member
I recently participated in an antiracism book-reading group on Facebook. Based upon the physical descriptions I could see on the screen, there were no African American or people of color participants. How is that possible when the group’s focus is primarily on Black/White relations? Can there be meaningful outcome from such one-sided, non-representative discussions?
When we were developing the “Omaha Table Talk” program about 15 years ago, we actively debated whether Whites can have effective race or antiracism discussions (and gain anything tangible) without people of color in the room. I remember too that while I was at Catholic Charities, we had an interracial book-reading group centered around Paul Kivel’s Uprooting Racism. We asked the Whites to discuss some racial topics in their racial group, and then we brought both groups together. The total size of this group might have been about ten individuals, with the Whites slightly outnumbering the African Americans six to four. I don’t recall anything significant from that book discussion, except for one White guy from Creighton University who cited classic examples of racism that he’d personally observed. In none of these incidents, though, did he push back or challenge what was happening. When I questioned him about his inaction, he became very defensive and felt I was attacking him. He was suffering from “White Fragility” before Robin DiAngelo invented the term and started making big bucks off selling antiracism to White corporations that still practice overt racism.
As a first-time visitor to this Facebook group, I was a bit surprised that one of the participants asked me to comment on his long-winded story on what amounted to ‘guilt sharing’. I was authentically impressed with how the group allowed me to just ‘pop in’ without being mean. However, I found myself instinctively trying to act as a facilitator when watching how they were conducting this event. There was some creative energy from the participants that I wanted more Whites to be able to glean from their efforts. These types of group discussions on race are not a finished product. But, that said, they’re a good start.
At the risk of speaking out of school, one of my colleagues, a Chicano, who has an intense dislike for White Liberals, told me a couple of months ago that when Whites do ‘race work’ or talk about racial situations, they invariably do so from a sense of guilt… Or by trying to make themselves look good. He went on to say that he could only think of a handful of Whites who have seriously challenged racism during his lifetime, and those few were coming from a religious framework or mindset. We are both in our 60s and have years of antiracism and race equity work under our belts, and I admit to having been somewhat surprised by his stark, take-no-prisoners assessment. His comments were still on my mind when, the following week, I asked a university official to write a national race-focused proposal for an extended grant on race relations. She though wanted to focus instead on housing integration in another country. It was painful to listen to her strained justification of how that country’s efforts could reduce racism in our immediate state and nation. What I was witnessing—just as my Chicano colleague described—was yet another example of the ‘bait and switch’ that White liberals do to avoid confronting their own racism in their own spaces.
Some years ago, I made a conscious decision not to participate during my free time in groups or coalitions where I would be the only person of color. It’s one thing to have to deal with being the only African American in the room when earning a living for yourself and your loved ones. Why though would any sane, normal person voluntarily subject themselves to being a so-called ‘minority’ around many race-insensitive Whites who are not fighting the good fight? Most White people who enjoy the benefits of White Privilege have no clue how challenging it is to be the ‘only one’ in their midst. To be exposed to micro-aggressive comments and Whites caucusing and talking in private and then snaking into the room as if they had not had their pre-conversations is traumatizing for a solitary person of color. It’s absolutely guaranteed to make you feel the ‘outsider’, alienated.
Malcolm X once noted that Black people wonder why our White god does not hear our prayers… Maybe, he suggested, it’s because we’re praying to the wrong god. We’re seeking admission where we’re not welcome. We only need to apply that same reverse engineering to figure out that the unjust conditions African Americans and other oppressed folks face did not materialize overnight, but were the result of generations of systematic denigration reflected in our brainwashing education, our wildly disproportionate conviction and incarceration rates, and our premature deaths from an environment that adamantly refuses to acknowledge that “Black Lives Matter”. To then have racist police officers and their surrogates hijack our narrative and alternatively assert that ‘All Lives Matter’ is the height of effrontery. Can you imagine the reactions of African Americans hearing ‘All Lives Matter’ after centuries of targeted oppression based strictly on skin color? Tell that to the thousands of lynched Black victims whose grotesque and grisly murders went unsolved and unatoned by a legal system that protected the perpetrators.
Some Whites have temporarily experienced being a ‘minority’ when they’ve become lost in certain parts of town or neighborhoods. However, because of the historical and cultural legacy of slavery, “Jim Crow” laws, and institutional White Privilege, most Whites in America have never really experienced what it’s like to continually be a ‘minority’ in this country. If White people are serious about antiracism, they must first hear one-on-one what people of color have to share from their experience. Reading books is helpful. But there’s no substitute for personal connection. To curtail racism, Whites must get to know their non-White neighbors. Only then can they develop guidelines with matrices to measure their efforts.
This all puts me in mind of all the so-called ‘social advocacy’ organizations in Nebraska. Well-meaning as they are, they are predominantly staffed and led by Whites waging their struggles from inside their White segregated offices. They have no regular contact with people of color in Nebraska or African Americans suffering for decades in this apartheid state, and accordingly they have no explicit or empirical benchmarks for working with these communities of color. This goes for ACLU Nebraska, Voices for Children, Nebraska Appleseed Center, Legal Aid of Nebraska and even Nebraskans for Peace where the Whites outnumber the one or two (or even no people of color) working on their staffs.
Some months ago, I asked my four white friends (down from seven) to name three things that they’re most proud of dealing with antiracism. It was surprising that one of them came up with six items off the top of her head. Another could only name one where she co-wrote an article with me about three years ago or more. That became my moment of being woke about racists and White folks. I only ask three simple questions:
1. Can you name three examples where you have challenged racism in the past year?
2. Do you have networks in local or state government where the workers or committees are paid with public dollars and you have questioned the apartheid nature of that environment?
3. What examples can you provide from your diversity efforts that have produced evidence-based, demonstrable outcomes?
I learned years ago when doing race dialogues and conversations to be as clear and frank as possible. As the old saying goes, “Frank talk does not break the friendship.” Yet, what I have repeatedly found to be a primary stumbling block for many otherwise good-hearted Whites is an unwillingness to acknowledge the reality of White Privilege: the unearned wealth, advantages and favoritism accruing from a legacy of slavery and segregation, exploitation and land grabs that have kept Blacks in their place and Whites in a higher space.
If we are truly serious about transforming the wretched conditions for African Americans and others locked out of the American Dream, money is going to have to change hands. Simply having a bunch of White folks read a book or watch a video about race is not going to realign a rigged social structure. Getting to know your non-White neighbor won’t rectify an economic system that for centuries relied upon outright slavery and then the ruthless exploitation of cheap labor to build billion-dollar institutions and personal fortunes. Unless we are talking about providing reparations or making whole people who have been historically traumatized by American Democracy, all of our well-intended conversations will not lead anywhere. Until as a nation we openly acknowledge the economic benefits of White Privilege—and begin paying damages for the harm it’s caused—America will continue to have a ‘race problem’ and no amount of talk will fix it.
