At one recent Indianapolis meeting, more than 30 brave individuals gathered to discuss an often-taboo topic: race and white privilege in America.
Organizer Delana Ivey preps the group. Should anyone feel uncomfortable at any time, or feel as if they may violate one of the 10 rules posted on the door, they are welcome to leave, no questions asked. For most in the room, this isn’t their first time. They’ve spoken outside of their social limits before on race issues, a topic some describe as “uncomfortable.”
About 10 percent of the group’s members are African-Americans and Latinos from the Indianapolis community, the rest are white.
Ivey represents Power Parent Indianapolis, a group of parents and community residents organized to review curriculum, understand and access resources, and work toward holding teachers, school administration, parents and elected officials accountable to the educational needs of all children.
The white privilege discussion series began a few weeks ago and has covered social justice and education.
“The crowd just seems to get bigger and bigger and it’s very diverse,” said Ivey, adding that she hopes to see more African-Americans participate. “The whole idea is Blacks haven’t heard whites talk about this and vice versa. How are we supposed to move forward as a community if we aren’t truly hearing each other?”
Peggy McIntosh, author of the essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” defines the concept of “white privilege” thusly: “Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do. Access to privilege doesn’t determine one’s outcomes, but it is definitely an asset that makes it more likely that whatever talent, ability, and aspirations a person with privilege has will result in something positive for them.”
Although this concept can be confused with white supremacy or separatism, they are not the same.
Dictionary.com defines white supremacy as “the belief, theory, or doctrine that white people are inherently superior to people from all other racial groups, especially Black people, and are therefore rightfully the dominant group in any society.”
The state of race relations is a crucial topic for the United States. For the last several years, violent clashes between white police officers and Black males have led many in the community to believe patrol officers should receive mandatory cultural and sensitivity training.
Since the late 90s, Gallup polls indicate that 12 percent fewer Black Americans believe a solution to America’s racial problems will be found than white Americans. In June 2013, Gallup found 58 percent of whites versus 48 percent of Blacks believed a solution to Black-white relations would eventually be found.
The discussion on white privilege held in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood, displayed a range of opinions on the state of today’s racial matters. Many Black participants explained how self relieving it felt to explain their reality to someone who may live a different lifestyle, while white participants stated white privilege is something they don’t realize they were enjoying because it seems “normal” for them.
Alex Gaines*, a white participant said he sees the difficulty people of color often face.
“It’s not fair,” he said. “But it’s also interesting to hear a Black person share their side of the story. When someone points out a privilege I may have because I’m white, it feels weird because I can realize my whiteness and how I may have the upper hand, but until someone does that, everything seems ‘normal.’”
McIntosh lists in her essay the many privileges she enjoys simply because of her skin tone, things she didn’t realize until writing them down.
Some of these include: being in the company of people in her own race often, being able to go shopping without being harassed or followed; being able to use checks, credit cards or cash; knowing her skin color does not to work against the appearance of financial reliability; and asking to speak to the “person in charge,” knowing she will likely be introduced to a person of her same race.
Other privileges are more subtle: she can easily find posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children’s magazines featuring people of her race; she can chose makeup or bandages in “flesh” color and have them more or less match her skin; she can be late to a meeting without feeling that her tardy arrival may poorly reflect on her race; among other things.
She compares white privilege to an invisible package of unearned assets that can be cashed in each day.
“White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks,” she notes.
Tim Wise, one of the nation’s most prominent antiracist essayists, and creator of the educational film “White Like Me: Race, Racism, and White Privilege in America,” believes white Americans have the luxury of being uninformed about Black or brown truth.
“We don’t know because we don’t have to know, we are not tested on it,” he mentioned. “If I don’t know what people of color experience then what happens to me in the country is virtually nothing, but if people of color don’t know white reality better than white folks have to know it, then all hell breaks loose. People of color are going to have to know white history, white theater, white poetry, white drama. I know we don’t call it that but that’s the point.”
He added that white Americans don’t realize the true extent of white cultural dominance. “That’s why for those that are confused as to why we don’t have a white history month, we have several,” he noted. “They are May, June, July and September, pretty much any month we haven’t designated as someone else’s.”
Ivey said when one recent discussion ended at 7:30 p.m., many lingered to exchange views and perspectives.
“I was so sick of people being isolated when it came to talking about white privilege. I hear both sides from different parties but no one is talking. Parent Power is all about transformation although we engage with schools often.”
For more information on White Privilege Community Talks, visit Facebook.com/pages/White-Privilege-Community-Talks. The next discussion will be held May 12 at 2605 E. 25th St. from 6 – 8 p.m.
*Original names have been changed at the request of the interviewee.
