by Hannah Tan
“Stop whining about your food! Kids in Africa would give anything to have even a bite of this,” I believe myriads of us have, at some point growing up, bore with stern lectures akin to this dished out by our parents, older siblings, or even caregivers to urge us to finish our meal, but how many of us then – or even now – have dove into the implications beneath the context and thought of them as something more than a monotonous chide, a meaningless remark from the elders? Has it ever occurred to us that being able to have a choice in what food we consume is already a privilege in itself, compared to the 11% of the world population that is starving?
I can reckon that quite a number of us are not aware of this, but yes, we are indeed privileged, in terms of food, education, health, and wealth. Many may argue that these aspects are rights, that everyone should be granted access to all these, that each individual should be treated as an equal, but this is not the perfect world that exists in wonderland story books or Hollywood films; this is the real, merciless world where there are extreme riches and extreme poverty, where certain groups of people have had to fight for decades, for centuries just to gain these “rights”, and you ask why? Because this is a world where countries are governed based on systems of privileges, where certain groups of people are given social advantages, benefits, and respect not as a result of their effort or capabilities but solely because of their identity or the social groups that they belong to. Within America and other Western nations, these social groups include whites, males, heterosexuals, and Christians.
Among these is one of the most infamous systems of privileges in the world — white privilege, which can be depicted as the crux of racism throughout American society. Tracing back to the origin of the two-word phrase, it was used at grassroots level during the Civil Rights era where activists described the superiority that whites felt over other non-whites as ‘white-skin privilege’ and was formally introduced in its form today in the late eighties when Peggy McIntosh wrote a paper with the title “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies.”
However, the most fundamental principle that white privilege stands on and which causes it to perpetuate is the mind-boggling obliviousness — or in some cases, denial — to the privileges white people are conferred on upon birth. Many of us may wonder: why do the whites never realize this indisputable truth that has been laid bare to every other eye in the world? The answer is pretty simple. Who would ever imagine that not having to fear for your life every day you step out from your abode is a privilege? Who would think that not having to worry that your mere skin tone could effectuate in active death threats is a privilege? Who in their wildest dreams would conceive that not being harassed by the police constantly is a privilege?
Yes, white privilege is easier understood by what it is not rather than what it is, because countless whites living in mediocre conditions may use “we have been through a lot of hardships” as a defensive argument to try to prove that they don’t belong to the privileged group. Of course, it is only human nature to want to be recognized by our marvelous attainments in life that have cost us a hefty amount time and energy to achieve, not by the entitlements bestowed upon us, which is why white privilege is an extremely sensitive topic when it comes to discussion among the whites.
Nevertheless, we have to understand that having white privilege does not mean you haven’t struggled in your life, or that all of your accomplishments are not results of your own effort, but rather it is more to a way of how you are perceived, like a built-in advantage that has no direct relationship with success or income. One of the most common examples to describe this is the ideology ‘whites are innocent until they are proven guilty; blacks are guilty until they are proven innocent’.
Since most crimes and gangs back in the days involved non-whites, white officers often anticipated that people of other races are hostile and violent, and justified their violent actions against them as “self-defense”, when it was their own preconception that drove them to their attacks. Here, you have white privilege if you could maintain a positive relationship with the police, because to scores of black people, their experiences have taught them that every time they see a police officer, they should be fearful of their lives because they could mean anything from help to threat, to unwanted arrest or even murder, and what’s worse is that they would most probably get away with minimum retribution, if not totally unscathed.
Another example that is hiding in plain sight is Band-Aids that only match white skin. This may be deftly dismissed by white people that these are just cosmetic inconvenience and that it has nothing to do with white privilege or bias against non-white people but yes, it has. Although this might be deemed as something unharmful to the black community, that it does not hurt them like police brutality or commonly-held prejudice against them does, this is yet another concept that has connotations not as pure as its facade. Cory Collins in his article ‘What is White Privilege, Really?’ precisely explains that the reason even these simple white privileges need to be recognized is that the damage goes beyond the inconvenience of shopping for goods and services; these privileges are symbolic of what might be called “the power of normal.” If public spaces and goods seem catered to one race and segregate the needs of people of other races into special sections, this indicates something is terribly wrong beneath the surface.
It is things like these – quotidian yet detrimental – that sprout conscious or unconscious beliefs in white people that the world revolves around them, that they are a part of the human race, an individual, while people whose skin are not white are just members of a race, that they are not individuals that also have feelings, have dreams, have people that they care for, that they should be regarded as a group where one’s wrongdoings depict the rest’s behaviors.
Nevertheless, just like how wisdom is bestowed on you upon birth, you cannot choose to not accept privilege or return it, because it is something that the society gives you, not something that you take, so the only pivotal option here is whether you go along with it, just like many others who are afraid of getting themselves into trouble do, or use it to help the underprivileged, to stand with the minorities, to contradict the system and strive for equality for the groups that are not as fortunate for the privileges to be extended to them.
Whether intentional or not, if you choose to stay silent and stand idly by as the disadvantaged fight for their rights, you are participating in the purposeful perpetuation of a system that has and will continue to suppress one’s culture while boosting the values of another. However, if you choose the latter, which is using your privilege to expose injustice and aspire to work towards the greater good, you are on the right track. We must remember that not being racist, or sexist, or homophobic is not enough; we must be anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, and do something about it.
If you think that not being racist is helping the underprivileged community, try to picture this scenario: you see a kid being bullied, and you claim that you do not harass others. You are not helping the kid, but rather, you are just trying to prove your innocence which is completely irrelevant and unasked for. What we want are people who recognize their power and not be ashamed of it, but use it to speak up for those who are less powerful and be their allies.
The first step to do this is to listen and not cast doubt. One of the most typical difficulties that people of color face is that when they share their stories and issues they have faced in their lives with white people, they would be brushed off because of how absurd some of them may sound. We have to remember that we cannot compare our one-time experience of discrimination to the everyday microaggressions they are subjected to. The sole act of them confiding in you is already a huge leap for them to take, a sign that indicates their trust in you, so appreciate it and trust their experiences instead of providing unsolicited advice.
Besides that, you can also use your privilege to speak and act for the trampled-ons. According to the Harvard Business Review, research has repeatedly confirmed that those with privilege have the power to speak up on behalf of those without it, and have a particular effective influence when they do. Thus when you come across people whose voice is drowned out because of stereotypical reasons, use your privilege to amplify them, give credit to their work, invite them into conversations, spread word about their capabilities, and point out biases if they take place. Remember that although these deeds may look insignificant, it actually helps the marginalized a long way as you not only will help them blossom in visible aspects, but also give their frayed confidence a boost by letting them realize that people are standing by them and are ready to defend them when any trials or tribulations come their way.
Acknowledging your privilege is not a disgrace, being silent is. The world needs you to act now; it doesn’t matter how inconsequential your act is, because every little effort counts. Don’t wait till tomorrow, because you never know when another life will be forsaken because of your silence.