News Breaking apart white skin advantage (why is it so hard to talk about white skin advantage?)

[scout86]

So does that make sense

Yes, it makes a great deal of sense. As it happens, when I was in school I was really interested in the histories of the indigenous people in the US. Did a bunch of history papers related to that. What's sad is, that's the only reason I learned the little bit that I learned. I wish more was taught and it would be interesting if at least some of it could be taught by the people who belong to the history.

My own experience is, maybe, kind of warped. I grew up in a very small town (1400 people) in an area where most people were descended from either Scandinavian, German, or Polish immigrants. Some only one or two generations removed. There were still church services in those languages. We had one family in town that was Mexican American. I was confused, in college, when I first heard people talking about "Mexicans" as being a minority. I kind of thought being "Mexican-American" was the same as being "Norwegian-American". As far as I was concerned, Mexico was/is a country. We had some Native American kids in school, but I thought of them as "people", not "minorities". But, I was pretty much a loner. Maybe they got picked on and treated badly and I just didn't know it?

When it comes to things like "abuse", my T likes for people to avoid blaming. He says it's a natural reaction, but it doesn't fix anything. I think the same applies here. People who are alive today aren't responsible, directly, for things that happened 100 years ago. At the same time, we benefit from it, sometimes in ways that are a little subtle. And, maybe, it's not as much a matter of some of us benefiting as it is that others have been deprived of benefits. Things like intact families, for a start.I DO tend to think of this topic a lot the same as I think of things like child abuse. You can choose to stay stuck as a victim, or you can choose to work on doing better. The world around you, people, places, and things, can help or hurt that cause. It would be good if more people did a better job of helping.

I think this is a great topic and this is a good place to discuss it. There are differing viewpoints around here, but, generally, a lot of good will.

 

[Sideways]

Very definitely I'm at an advantage because I'm white. No question. One of the difficulties is that the nature of that advantage changes depending on what part of the country I'm in.

When I've lived in major cities on the east coast, a big big part of that advantage comes down to very blatant racism. It's more complex, sure. But my experience is that pure racism is at the heart of it. If my skin wasn't white, I'd be at a disadvantage.

When I've been elsewhere? Off the beaten track, in the desert, in remote (like, seriously remote) communities? I'm still at an advantage because I'm white. But it's where my family are rooted, physically, that is at the core of it. You get far enough from the coastline and it's not that people are no longer racist, it seems more that the nature of the disadvantage becomes...mega. If you're born into that region of the country, as well as not being white? You may not have a local doctor, or access to education, fruit and veges, untreated addiction, disconnection from cultural heritage...name your 3rd world disadvantage.

What I think I'm trying to say (rather poorly) is: me being white? Gives me an advantage. Everywhere.

But if I wasn't white? The nature of my disadvantage would depend on different factors. The most significant being where I live. So while the white advantage is one big consistent entity, the non-white disadvantage is not - it's complex and multi-faceted.

And I think that may (may not!) be relevant. Because if you want to explore the white advantage, I think that's potentially not so complicated. But if what you're exploring is the other side of the coin, the nature of the non-white disadvantage, I think it becomes very complicated very quickly. The disadvantage a non-white person experiences in Sydney is vastly different from the non-White disadvantage being experienced in central Aus.

And, apologies to anyone who may be offended by any of my language choices. Offence isn't intended.

 

[scout86]

I heard something on the radio this morning that demonstrates this pretty well. The caller is a student. One of her professors, to demonstrate "white privilege" have all the students a crumpled piece of paper A's had them take their seats. Then he had them each toss the crumpled paper into a waste basket that was sitting the front the room. If you were in the front row, it was pretty easy. As you got further back in the room,, it for harder. It was, technically, possible to get it into the basket from the back of the room but you had have some extra talent and a certain amount of luck. "White privilege" is a seat towards the front of the room. (But not all white people are necessarily going to have a front row seat. There are more factors than just skin color.)

 

[Fadeaway]

My husband and I were talking earlier today about his experiences teaching in primarily black inner city schools. Hands down they do bot get the same education as a primarily white schools of similar eco-social areas. He told me about a story where the white principle told the teachers that if they have any black male students getting less than a B, that the were racist. The went on to say well, you can't really tech them anything and the could get beat up for getting caught studying a home so you have to give them a B or higher. I guess a black teacher lost her temper over it and called the principal a bigot and that racial stereotypes were denying the kids a real education. Give them good grades a push them through graduation so the school numbers look good, but don't teach them anything fueling even more stereotypes.

He says the numbers are so fudged and most of the teachers couldn't identify the U.S. on a map. He has told me about a AP science teacher that only showed Magic School bus videos. He said the History teacher didn't know the first thing about U.S. history and had never heard of WWII. However because the numbers and grades are all fudged the schools look really good. If these were primarily white schools, they would never get away with it.