Students were required to address ‘whiteness’ and describe what the term ‘white’ means, as well as explain how they ‘navigate race’ in their daily lives.

Students were required to address ‘whiteness’ and describe what the term ‘white’ means, as well as explain how they ‘navigate race’ in their daily lives.

  • jarfil@beehaw.org
    5·
    7 months ago

    I navigate my “whiteness” by covering it in clothes… then getting treated dismissively by doctors because I “have plenty of resources”, “have your family help you”, “just change your whole life or you’ll be dead in 5 years”, and “have you already stopped with those silly ideas?”.

    Thanks for the privilege, by the way.

      • jarfil@beehaw.org
        1·
        7 months ago

        It’s not just being oppressed in different ways (I’ve got my dose of xenophobia, fatphobia and ableism), but getting oppressed because of being “too privileged”. It’s no longer a privilege when you get it thrown at you at every step, when no matter who, they use this or that of your “privileges” to put you down.

        And ironically, racism is also a problem for white people, but because some people seem to assume that being white means you must be racist, so they discriminate you for that.

        As for doctors, I forgot about the neurologist who kept repeating “It’s all in your head” and dismissed me by saying I should get some therapy. When I complained to my GP, she pulled up my history, and it turned out he wrote that he examined me and found nothing wrong. If by “examined” he meant that he saw me sit in front of him while he kept insulting me, then sure.

        I’ve also been told several times that I “have many resources”, which seems to be code for “you’re so privileged already, you don’t need anything”.

          • jarfil@beehaw.org
            1·
            7 months ago

            I see where you’re coming from, and I thank you for your words, but after reflecting on this whole thread, I’ve come to realize that, with very few exceptions, the people I’ve met in life have been one or more of:

            • Entitled privileged assholes
            • Jealous of my entitled privileges
            • Thinking I was a fool or crazy for not exploiting my entitled privileges
            • Seeing everything I did or said as an attempt at exploiting my entitled privileges

            It suddenly explains all the interactions that left me baffled at the time, and it makes me sick. Maybe I’ve been just unlucky, or bad at seeking out people who don’t fit any of those, but at this point it makes me want, more than ever, to leave and not look back.

    • FZDC@beehaw.org
      12·
      7 months ago

      I’m healthy, fit, educated, and kinda rich. I’m also a man.

      Do you believe those circumstances grant me with privilege?

      The answer is obviously yes, so I’ll acknowledge it, rather than try to change the subject to ways in which I’m not privileged. Bringing up ways that white people may not be so privileged doesn’t actually address whiteness as privilege.

      And privilege isn’t even something to feel guilty about. It’s just worth acknowledging in a “know thyself” kind of way.

      • jarfil@beehaw.org
        1·
        7 months ago

        Bringing up ways that white people may not be so privileged doesn’t actually address whiteness as privilege.

        What about ways in which “being privileged”, turns out to actually be a hindrance?

        I used to be a healthy, fit, educated, not poor, not homeless, white, tall, man, blonde, with blue eyes… oh, and high IQ.

        Wait, did I just describe the Aryan ideal? Ultra-privileged, right?

        What pisses me off, is that after being aware of those privileges from relatively early, and being really careful to never abuse any of them, when it turns out that I need help, instead I get my privileges thrown in my face.

        It’s not a privilege to get mocked and laughed off by doctors, to get failed by teachers, to get your work destroyed, to not get believed about family problems, all because “you’re privileged”.

        Heck, I once almost got run over by a car, because I nodded at a black girl to let her pass first, and she went off her way to hit me with the stroller with her baby inside, pushing me off the curb into traffic. Like, seriously?

        So what, did I live my life wrong? Should have joined some neo-Nazi group? Should have used my privileges to abuse and scam everyone left and right? Should have kicked the baby…? The fuck.