One of the most overlooked aspects of privilege is not noticing it: color blindness. 1. “pervasive, structural, and generally invisible” (Law, 1999, p. 604). Many white individuals, without even realizing it, benefit from a world built to make them comfortable. They can walk through life without constantly thinking about their skin color, without second-guessing how they’ll be perceived or treated because of it. Whites seeing race is merely noticing their whiteness; they need to learn about its accompanying privilege. (Case, Iuzzini, & Hopkins,2012) That alone is a privilege—being able to just be. To exist freely without the weight of race on your shoulders. Being aware of privileges, color insight is a step towards white individuals recognizing that they have privileges that people of color do not.
2. “The white person has an everyday option not to think of herself in racial terms at all” (‘Flagg,1993, p. 969). As a person of color, I don’t get that luxury. Race is something I’m aware of daily, whether I want to be or not. It's not that I wake up and think, “Today I’m going to experience racism.” It's more subconscious. It's in how I prepare myself for meetings, making sure I am presentable and pleasing to the public. How I used to drive home from work and get stopped by the cops for no reason, or how my tone is interpreted as aggressive when I'm just being direct. How I interact in stores, being pleasant to the cashiers and customers alike. How I carry myself in public spaces, period. I often feel like I have to work twice as hard just to be seen as equal. Even in my current position, I see my supervisors' biases, especially in how they overlook certain behaviors from leadership, like tardiness or questionable decisions, without holding them accountable. As I prepare for a supervisory role, if I do the job to the best of my potential and fall in some areas, I hope to be treated with the same grace.
3. After President Obama, commentators described the US society as “post-racial” as if the election of a black man to President meant no more conversations about race were needed. (Colorblindness is the New Racism, Armstrong, and Wildman). Police brutality seemed to intensify after President Obama was elected. While many of us celebrated a major milestone for Black Americans, others saw it as a threat. I can’t help but feel that the rise in police violence against young Black people like Trayvon Martin (13 years ago) wasn’t just random—it felt like a backlash, as if success for Black people meant failure for white people, which was never the case. We just meant that Black Lives Matter, TOO, in addition to white lives and all other lives.
That’s part of what makes this experience so exhausting.
We’re always on alert. Meanwhile, many white individuals only seem to think about
race when we’re around. But I sometimes wonder if they really care?
Privilege is simple: the ability to exist without your race
being questioned. That’s something everyone should get to experience at some
point in their lives.
Hi Tracy, interesting to hear how racism subconsciously affects you in your day to day. Although, its not always something big its not fair and needs to be changed.
ReplyDelete“The white person has an everyday option not to think of herself in racial terms at all”, this statement is true and so very saddening. I'm sorry for the oppression that some individuals are forced to feel throughout their lives.
ReplyDeleteTracy I feel you 100% on my inability to turn off my thoughts on race and privilege as this is something that is a constant in my life. As black women, we do not have the opportunity to always just tune out our race or color as it is something that is embedded within and around us. We do not have the privilege to ignore or dismiss these concepts and truths. The hope is that we can be seen, heard, and understood by all people and cultures, living in harmony and equality as one!
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy, I resonate with everything you said in this post! Unlike the privilege that white people are afforded in not having to think about race, I cannot remember a time in which I was not conscious of my race and how that impacts others perception of me. To your point about Obama's presidency and the increase in violence against Black people, I too agree that much of the violence and recent societal regression feels like backlash.
ReplyDeleteThese personal connections are so important, Tracy! Thank you.
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