Privilege and Media

White privilege is never something I thought about as a white man. Why would I? Unless you have problems with the items discussed in McIntosh's white privilege list, how would you know those issues existed? It requires education and being taken outside of one's comfort zone to face these inevitable truths. Sadly, people of color have more trouble doing many things than I do. I do not perpetrate this, and I hope there are more and more people daily who provide equal opportunity for all races, but there are deeply entrenched institutional and cultural practices that work against minorities. The Constitution clearly states that all are equal and should get a fair shake, but take a look at the Founding Fathers. They owned slaves. There are so many double standards regarding equality it would take a long time to go over them all. But let's take a look at the opposite side of this situation. White privilege leads to white guilt, which leads to the forced deed of giving to those who are classified as "disadvantaged". This leads to entitlement, and can, in certain situations, develop into a general malaise in the "disadvantaged" communities.  It can have the opposite affect of the intended. By giving these people handouts, are we really helping them? In the most immediate sense, yes, but does this action tell them something? Does it imply, "You're not good enough to support yourself, so we feel sorry for you"? Is there another way to help that isn't charity? 

Conservative scholar Shelby Steele believes that the effects of white privilege are exaggerated. He states that there are certain black privilege's brought on by the advent of white guilt. If you are a black student, he states, you are coveted by schools who almost all have diversity committees. He denotes the hunger in our country today to not be racist as the motivation. This may stem from the want to not get in trouble with the PC police. But whatever the cause, isn't the outcome sufficient? I portend that the acceptance of anyone for anything based on something other than their merit is wrong. If everyone thought this way, we wouldn't have this issue. 

Unfortunately, not enough white people accept, let alone think about, how advantaged they are because they are surrounded by images of whiteness. The media is pervasively white. Disregarding stereotypes and simply looking at the glut of media imagery, there are multitudes of programs if not aimed at white people, speaking to their interests or needs. Many people say, "Why don't we have 'WET' if they have 'BET'?". It's simple. Most all of TV is produced by, for, and with white people in it. Question: have you ever had trouble finding white people on TV? I haven't. I see lots of black people too, but not quite in the same ballpark. We are so insulated by whiteness, it becomes hard to see the other side. This is why so many people don't even acknowledge the existence, or simply the concept, of white privilege. We live in Candy Land and can't see the outside because of the Gumdrop Forrest. The media certainly aids and abets this insulation. I believe it boils down to getting more people of color involved in the media, as well as taking those whites who are and forcing them out of their comfort zone. Have them cover something that is totally alien. 

It is a very difficult topic to slice and dice with many positions. It's not two sided, black and white (is this a bad pun? you decide). There are numerous stances to be taken. Personally, I think that white privilege is alive and well. But white guilt driving the need to throw money at disadvantaged people of color is not the solution. It's degrading. The image of Barbara Bush saying that the Katrina victims should be happy they are in the Astrodome instead of their homes comes to mind. Though they be poor, to assume that they would prefer a crowded stadium over their own, though they be meager, domiciles and lives is preposterous. It's white ignorance. People are proud, and their lives are still important to them, regardless of the quality of material items involved. This handout culture has led numerous communities to expect their well being to come from someone else. To take the responsibility of support from the individual to the surrounding community. The solution doesn't lie in currency or anything material: it resides in the changing of attitudes and perspectives on the concept of race. Most notably its eradication as we know it and seeing others based on their qualities, not their skin color. 

I see examples of white privilege all the time, no doubt, but until I was told to look for them, I never noticed. I noticed that the night shift at CVS is predominately African American, while the day shift is mostly white. Do whites get preferential treatment when choosing shifts? What's the managers race? I noticed that, when talking with a black friend, I asked a question requiring him to respond with an answer that would represent his whole race. I've never had to do that (How do white people generally feel about...?). I noticed that I'm not assumed to be something just because of my race. I was in a group of people when a white guy asked a black friend what he did at OU (insinuating, after I thought about it a bit, that he couldn't just be a student, he must be an athlete). I noticed that it's hard for me to stereotype whites, but I can think of hundreds for other races. I noticed that I rarely ever feel uncomfortable going anywhere, except a bit when I am surrounded by people of other races. Then I thought, "that must be what they feel like all the time". And I felt bad assuming so. I noticed that most all packaging on things I bought, which were products people of all colors would purchase, provided images dominated by white people. Then I thought of the Pine-Sol woman and laughed (I like her). I noticed that, at a convenience store, I was allowed to open my drink and walk around and not be reprimanded, but on my way out, the clerk asked a black girl to pay for her candy bar before opening it at the front of the store. I have no idea if the clerk didn't see me or this was racially charged. But I thought about it. I noticed that, even though I get nervous around cops (who doesn't), my black friends are way more concerned. I can tell by their mannerisms. It's crazy what is there if you take a look. 

The one drop rule is somewhat arbitrary to me, personally. I don't classify anyone as anything they don't want to be classified as. I may look at someone who is of a darker skin tone and process in my brain, "that person is black/latino/asian", but I don't make decisions based on race. Therefore, what would it matter if they have one drop or a million? They are a person. It's up to their parents to classify them as something on the paperwork, and for them to tell me if they want (which would be a fairly awkward conversation, by the way). I think this stance stems from the way I was raised, but also from my continued development and education. I'm different than I was when I was living with my parents. I've known and seen things that involve race that I've made my own decisions on. I think our behavior change can be either positive or negative when continuing our development. Tatum suggests we have a responsibility to grow from new information, but this statement insinuates that we are going to move in a positive direction. What if the stimulus is negative? What needs to be understood is that everyone is not the same, within and without racial parameters. If we respect everyone's God given right to be alive, then we won't have any issues. It's a lifestyle choice that doesn't require development once you have attained it.