Not Exactly A Class Topic, But I've Gotta Bring It Up (Yes, The Article [Again])

[Alicia Foster]

So I'm pretty sure by this point everyone's heard all about this article and especially the comments it received.

I bring this up here only because one poster claimed that the concept of white privilege is a Marxist conspiracy theory.

Even from a half-white/half-black (and that right there is exactly how I identify) person, I find that completely ridiculous and more than a little insulting.

I'm just curious about what y'all think, coming from the perspective of things we've talked about in class all semester.

Especially from the perspective of the different races we have in our class, and then just from the perspective of human beings.

[thomassonm]

Alicia, 

Thank you for posting this! I think what is going on in The Campus + comment thread is incredibly relevant to living ethically in a community and treating people ethically as community members. 

Could you please post the comment you are referring to?

I experience white privilege almost every place that I go, I would even go as far as to say I experience a very specific kind of white privilege as I am a thin, healthy, some say pretty white woman. I deviate from a lot of social norms in a way that, it seems to me, is acceptable because of my whiteness, and my ability to pass as coming from a higher class than I do. 

It's dangerous to imply that these privileges don't exist, in the same way that we can see from Asha's experience that it is dangerous to not be aware of privilege, not only with whiteness but also class, gender, and sexuality, and ability to pass into other groups. I'm pretty appalled to hear that somebody denied the existence of white privilege, a little frightened, but not surprised. Perhaps for that individual, they feel they don't experience privilege or are disadvantaged in this world. I don't know, there isn't really a way I can reason this one out.

Again, Thank you for posting Alicia! I think you make a wonderful connection to the campus community and our work in this class!

-Molly