Is the era of white privilege coming to an end??
"But before we go any further, I realize that many of you reading this letter may not be comfortable being addressed in the collective sense - as white America. While we are quite used to referring to black folks and other people of color in terms of their group identity, we insist on referring to ourselves individually, almost as if to suggest that we lacked a racial identity, or that if we possess one, it contains no relevance to our lives. “I’m not white,” some of you may say, “I’m just an American.” Those are easy words to mouth when you’ve always been able to take your Americanness, your citizenship and your belonging for granted. Or better still, some say, “I’m not white, I’m just Bill,” or “Suzie” or “Tom” or “Mary” or whatever one’s name might be.
And yet, though we may prefer to deny it, I know that there is such a thing as white America. I know it because I am white myself, and have lived a life that has been intensely racialized. It’s an experience that I doubt seriously is mine alone. From where I grew up, to the schools I attended, to the jobs I had, to the way I have been treated by authority figures - be they teachers, employers or cops - most everything about my experience has been at least partially (often significantly) related to my racial identity. So even though everyone is different, being white in America has meant some- thing, just as being black, Latino, Asian or an indigenous person has meant something. History happened, and it matters..." An excerpt from Tim Wise's new book "Dear White America".
"But before we go any further, I realize that many of you reading this letter may not be comfortable being addressed in the collective sense - as white America. While we are quite used to referring to black folks and other people of color in terms of their group identity, we insist on referring to ourselves individually, almost as if to suggest that we lacked a racial identity, or that if we possess one, it contains no relevance to our lives. “I’m not white,” some of you may say, “I’m just an American.” Those are easy words to mouth when you’ve always been able to take your Americanness, your citizenship and your belonging for granted. Or better still, some say, “I’m not white, I’m just Bill,” or “Suzie” or “Tom” or “Mary” or whatever one’s name might be.
And yet, though we may prefer to deny it, I know that there is such a thing as white America. I know it because I am white myself, and have lived a life that has been intensely racialized. It’s an experience that I doubt seriously is mine alone. From where I grew up, to the schools I attended, to the jobs I had, to the way I have been treated by authority figures - be they teachers, employers or cops - most everything about my experience has been at least partially (often significantly) related to my racial identity. So even though everyone is different, being white in America has meant some- thing, just as being black, Latino, Asian or an indigenous person has meant something. History happened, and it matters..." An excerpt from Tim Wise's new book "Dear White America".