I've decided to create an account for when I have nothing better to do. If you wanna know something just ask, I'm not here to write an autobiography.
Hello and welcome to EDF, the friendliest forum this side of the World Wide Web. Remember, we dont use racial slurs nor show aggressiveness and all posts that contain triggering imagery/words must be tagged with a #TRIGGER WARNING remember that posting here is a privilege, not a right. also gib shekels plz http://www.patreon.com/encyclopediadramatica
Stéphane Villeneuve, No credit Card, 7" And by real you mean what name I identify with right? Since it's a contiuum it's not exactly Stéphane either but it should give you a good idea of where I stand.
I hate that I can do things that are racist without me even realizing that they are. And, more importantly and devastatingly, I hate that I can unknowingly act in a racist way toward someone and in turn dehumanize them. I’m an example that racism is much than acknowledging that racism exists. It permeates our (white people’s) entire worldview. We constantly have to deconstruct the racist narrative that we’ve been given and be open to correction by PoC, in whatever form it comes So today my friends and I were riding the train and one of them was excited about some lyrics he had wrote, so he starts reciting them to us. No one seemed to mind, but when I turned to my left I noticed a very disgruntled white man muttering “hey asshole, shut up. You’re annoying me.” Due to how loud the train was my friend didn’t hear him and he was in his zone spitting his shit anyway. The man then started to get progressively louder and was now yelling at him to shut up. He then stated how it was “train policy” not to annoy people. (Which is bullshit) He continued his rant, when a black man got on the train he noticed this guy being rude and told him that freedom of speech laws exist and that he couldn’t tell anyone to shut up simply because he didn’t like what was being said. (Mind you, my friend writes very conscious, positive raps) Do you know what this guy responds to that very respectable young man…..? “Shut the fuck up, you’re nothing but a n*****” I was at a loss for words.. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not naïve to the world; I know racism exists, but it was just so uncalled for. As those words came out of his mouth, the young man sprung towards him, letting his anger cloud his judgment, he threatened the man, but quickly realized he would be the one blamed, when he clearly did nothing wrong . At this point the white man is threatening to call the police on us! We had done nothing wrong to this man and when I tried to diffuse and intervene in the situation he turned around and told me how I was nothing but a “bitch and a ho.” At this point it was clear this 50-60 year old man just wanted to pick a fight with us, and come out as the victim in the situation. The sad thing about this is there were 25-30 other people on the train who just stood there, watched and even defended this man even though he was verbally attacking us and calling us racist ass names.. I wish I could ask those people why? My friends and I weren’t being rude or disrespectful instead he was calling us names and being a racist prick.. Is it because we’re young? Is it the way we were dressed? Or is it that people don’t care to defended POC? Whatever it is, this incident made me lose and gain a little hope for humanity. The last thing I saw as he left the train(which he got kicked out of) was a George W Bush book and the only thing I could think to myself was “ahh it all makes sense now.” There are definitely times when things like white/male privilege are legitimate, but in recent years I’ve come to realize just how much bullshit it is to tell some to “check your privilege”. This idea basically says that your opinion can’t be considered credible because of the situation you are in. Ugh. Such anger. I am white. I am female. I am straight. The only thing that those pieces of information should mean is that I get sunburn, I have a , and I like assholes. So why must I be condescended because of this? I am only allowed to have a reliable opinion if I am from some type of minority group? Or if I am metrosexual? Why can’t every single person’s opinion be respected the exact same as everyone else’s? "It’s an addicting idea to be told that regardless of your situation, you were born with the gift of white greatness." “Consider the American political system; republicans best represent a white upper class, the trick is that by telling poor white Americans that they’re better than their black and hispanic counterparts they somehow convince them to vote for a party that rarely has their interests in mind.” "that idea of a “good old fashioned America” circa the 1950’s has been reimagined as a utopian mashup of “Leave it to Beaver”, “ Bonanza” and “ The Ed Sullivan Show” where family values and low taxes were abundant and before the everyday white man had to worry about equal rights for blacks, women or gays." "the media has created a bubble where social security is only used by the black and hispanic scum of the earth- the coked out, black mother of six who hasn’t held down a steady job in ten years. Obviously this seems to be a ridiculous stereotype but that’s the reality that Fox news would like us to believe." "The sweet innocent white families tapping into social security had simply fallen on hard times and deserved sympathy from the American people- this social concept of sympathy and understanding was only present when the laws surrounding social security prevented most black workers from tapping into those resources." "So, we whites can stop uselessly wallowing in our white guilt and remember to aline ourselves with the white ancestors that long ago knew that simply feeling guilty for the actions of their peers wasn’t going to eliminate racism and oppression." White people wanna get upset when we call them out on their shit, when someone calls them a cracker, etcetera etcetera, yet they CONTINUE to prove how horrifically stereotypical they are every single day. Who created the stereotypes about white people? THEY DID. I’m so sick of my beautiful family and friends getting treated like SHIT ON A SHOE by people who don’t know ANYTHING about us… It is starting to get a little too difficult to stay strong and keep going…… If I made a post in which i asked people to reblog and state one time they were oppressed because of their color, orientation, gender, economic status or abilities but also one time they were at an advantage because of one of the things listed, then every single person would have at least one of each to report. How is that inequality? It is illegal to oppress someone because of these things, and just because at one point you WERE does not mean there is some huge social disadvantage, it just means there are assholes in the world. And no amount of social justice is going to change the fact that some people are assholes. Everyone has been confronted by assholes in their life, whether you are white, male and poor or black and homosexual or female and white or male and black. “Some people would call me an asshole for calling anyone out on anything. Those people are probably right. But the way we’re going to make this universe better for anyone is for each of us to call everyone on their shit. We’re gonna learn, people. We’re gonna grow. We’re going to become better bastards of human beings if it kills us. (Spoiler alert: we’re gonna die anyway.) People do same thing for me, too. While I am aware of the white-privilege bubble that I currently bounce along in, being aware and having diarrhea spurt from my mouth aren’t mutually exclusive. (And please don’t give me the free speech talk. You have the right to say what you want. Everyone else has the right to call you out for being an asshole.) I’ve been called out for an shitty joke. Sometimes they’re right. And it smarts. And then I get smarter. That’s not why they call it smarting, though. Or maybe it is? Language is weird.” when you generalize white people, the worst you do is hurt some feelings. white people are not subject to the negative effects of systemic racism. they won’t get pulled over, shot in the streets, brutally injured, or called racial epithets because they’re perceived as supporting the Rebel Man when you generalize black people, you’re feeding into a system that degrades minorities, you’re dividing the community, you’re holding us back as a society. i tweeted about how i didn’t want a racist symbol to represent me and all i got was “not all white people”. well white people have the privilege of looking at a confederate soldier and seeing that its harmless. i see i guy who thinks that more that one-third of the school is LESS than him. i see a barrier to understanding. “I get that you’re entitled to your opinion but don’t generalize me please and thank you” i’m white too? i get generalized every day for being mixed race? it’s a tweet i’m sorry but “those who possess the privilege to ignore the racial connotations of our mascot due to their elevated position in society relating directly to their socioeconomic class” doesn’t lend itself to 140 characters. you’re not doing anything to change a racist symbol, and honestly that makes you part of the problem. staying silent and just keeping things the way they were is taking the side, whether you realize that or not. you’re on the side of those who won’t change it cause its “not a problem”. its a problem for every non white student at this school. they had to get used to it or they’d spend all day angry, so they’re not speaking up now. if you want to keep the Rebel Man, you’re part of the problem. and nobody gets that, apparently. and if you agree that i’m entitled to my opinion then why are you combating it? you don’t even follow me? you just saw my midnight tweet that i made while angry and decided to jump all over it because i said “rich white people”. you know what, you’re not entitled to your opinion. its an opinion that puts people down, continues the struggle of race in america, and makes every non-white student cringe when they first see that symbol. it’s the opinion of those who benefit from the way things are to avoid changing things. those who benefit are the rich, white, old families. have you ever seen a black kid dress up like a confederate soldier. no minority benefits from being represented by that. the school doesn’t benefit from it. the name will stay “Rebel”, that’s already been decided, all that’s changing is the funny guy who dances around the football field. that’s it. if you can’t get rid of him, then you’re part of the problem we were given a chance to change this. we bought a lion mascot uniform. we were going to change this. and then the people who didn’t like change just dug in their heels and clung to the racially charged, inappropriate, outdated, harmful Confederate soldier. Through the work to bring materials from Women’s Studies into the rest of the curriculum, I have often noticed men’s unwillingness to grant that they are over- privileged, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged. They may say they will work to improve women’s status, in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they can’t or won’t support the idea of lessening men’s. Denials which amount to taboos sur round the subject of advantages which men gain from women’s disadvantages. These denials protect male privilege from being fully acknowledged, lessened or ended. Thinking through unacknowledged male privilege as a phenomenon, I realized that since hierarchies in our society are interlocking, there was most likely a phenomenon of white privilege which was similarly denied and protected. As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage. I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have come to se white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’toremainoblivious. Whiteprivilegeislikeaninvisibleweightlessbackpackof special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks. Describing white privilege makes one newly accountable. As we in Women’s Studies work to reveal male privilege and ask men to give up some of their power, so one who writes about having white privilege must ask, “Having described it, what will I do to lessen or end it?” After I realized the extent to which men work from a base of unacknowledged privilege, I understood that much of their oppressiveness was unconscious. Then I remembered the frequent charges from women of color that white women whom they encounter are oppressive. I began to understand why we are justly seen as oppressive, even when wedon’tseeourselvesthatway. IbegantocountthewaysinwhichIenjoyunearned skin privilege and have been conditioned into oblivion about its existence. My schooling gave me no training in seeing myself as an oppressor, as an unfairly advantaged person, or as a participant in a damaged culture. I was taught to see myself as an individual whose moral state depended on her individual moral will. My schooling followed the pattern my colleague Elizabeth Minnich has pointed out: whites are taught to think of their lives as a morally neutral, normative, and average, also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work which will allow “them” to be more like “us.” I decided to try to work on myself at least by identifying some of the daily effects of white privilege in my life. I have chosen those conditions which I think in my case attack some what more to skin-color privilege that to class, religion, ethnic status, or geographical location, though of course all these other factors are intricately intertwined. As far as I can see, my African American co-worker, friends and acquaintances with whom I come into daily or frequent contact in this particular time, place, and line of work cannot count on most of these conditions. 1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time. 2. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live. 3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me. 4. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed. 5. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented. 6. When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is. 7. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race. 8. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege. 9. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair. 10. Whether I checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability. 11. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them. 12. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race. 13. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in charge,” I will be facing a person of my race. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race. I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazine featuring people of my race. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of race. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me. If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” color and have them more or less match my skin. I repeatedly forgot each of the realization on this list until I wrote it down. For mewhiteprivilegehasturnedouttobeanelusiveandfugitivesubject. Thepressureto avoiditisgreat,forinfacingitImustgiveupthemythofmeritocracy. Ifthesethings are true, this is not such a free country; one’s life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own. In unpacking this invisible backpack of white privilege, I have listed conditions of daily experience which I once took for granted. Nor did I think of any of these perquisites as bad for the holder. I now think that we need a more finely differentiated taxonomy of privilege, for some of these varieties are only what one would want for everyone in a just society, and others give license to be ignorant, oblivious, arrogant and destructive. I see a pattern running through the matrix of white privilege, a pattern of assumptions which were passed on to me as a white person. There was one main piece of cultural turf; it was my own turf, and I was among those who could control the turf. My skin color was an asset for any move I was educated to want to make. I could think of myself as belonging in major ways, and of making social systems work for me. I could freely disparage, fear, neglect, or be oblivious to anything outside of the dominant cultural forms. Being of the main culture, I could also criticize it fairly free. In proportion as my racial group was being make confident, comfortable, and oblivious, other groups were likely being made confident, uncomfortable, and alienated. Whiteness protected me from many kinds of hostility, distress, and violence, which I was being subtly trained to visit in turn upon people of color. For this reason, the word “privilege” now seems to me misleading. We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth or luck. Yet some of the conditions I have described here work to systematically overempower certain groups. Such privilege simply confers dominance because of one’s race or sex. I want, then, to distinguish between earned strength and unearned power conferredsystematically. Powerfromunearnedprivilegecanlooklikestrengthwhenit is in fact permission to escape or to dominate. But not all of the privileges on my list are inevitably damaging. Some, like the expectation that neighbors will be decent to you, or that your race will not count against you in court, should be the norm in a just society. Others, like the privilege to ignore less powerful people, distort the humanity of the holders as well as the ignored groups. We might at least start by distinguishing between positive advantages which we can work to spread, and negative types of advantages which unless rejected will always reinforce our present hierarchies. For example, the feeling that one belongs within the human circle, as Native Americans say, should not be seen as privilege of a few. Ideally it is an unearned advantage and conferred dominance. I have met very few men who are truly distressed about systemic, unearned male advantage and conferred dominance. And so one question for me and others like is whether we will get truly distressed, even outraged, about unearned race advantage andconferreddominanceanditso,whatwewilldotolessenthem. Inanycase,we needtodomoreworkinidentifyinghowtheyactuallyaffectourdailylives. Many, perhaps most, of our white students in the US think that racism doesn’t affect them becausetheyarenotpeopleofcolor;theydonotsee“whiteness”asaracialidentity. In addition, since race and sex are not the only advantaging systems at work, we need similarly to examine the daily experience of having age advantage, or ethnic advantage, or physical ability, or advantage related to nationality, religion or sexual orientation. Difficulties and dangers surrounding the task of finding parallels are many. Since racism, sexism, and heterosexism are not the same, the advantaging associated with them should not be seen as the same. In addition, it is hard to disentangle aspects of unearned advantage which rest more on social class, economic class, race, religion, sexandethnicidentitythanonotherfactors. Still,alloftheoppressionsare interlocking, as the Combahee River Collective Statement of 1977 continues to remind us eloquently. One factor seems clear about all of the interlocking oppressions. They take both active forms which we can see and embedded forms which as a member of the dominant group one is taught not to see. In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth. Disapproving of the systems won’t be enough to change them. I was taught to think that racism could end if white individuals changed their attitudes. [But] a “white” skin in the United States opens many doors for whites whether or not we approve of the way dominance has been conferred on us. Individual acts can palliate, but cannot end, these problems. To redesign social systems we need first to acknowledge their colossal unseen dimensions. The silences and denials surrounding privilege are the key political tool here. They keep the thinking about equality or equity incomplete, protecting unearned advantage and conferred dominance by making these taboo subjects. Most talk by whites about equal opportunity seems to me now to be about equal opportunity to try to get into a position of dominance while denying that systems of dominance exist. It seems to me that obliviousness about white advantage, like obliviousness about male advantage, is kept strongly inculturated in the United States so as to maintain the myth of meritocracy the myth that democratic choice is equally available to all. Keeping most people unaware that freedom of confident action is there for just a small number of people props up those in power, and serves to keep power in the hands of the same groups that have most of it already. Though systematic change takes many decades, there are pressing questions for me and I imagine for some others like me if we raise our daily consciousness on the perquisites of being light-skinned. What well we do with such knowledge? As we know from watching me, it is an open question whether we will choose to use unearned advantage to weaken hidden systems of advantage, and whether we will use any of our arbitrarily-awarded power to try to reconstruct power systems on a broader base. Check your privilege!
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