White Privilege in a Post-Apartheid Era

White Privilege in a Post-Apartheid Era

The issue of Whiteness, specifically White privilege has begun to really agitate this house. Maybe I am making this issue bigger in my own head, but it continues to affect me. In a peevish way, it irritates me….because  I just want to scream out! I want to shout during every instance in which white privilege is manifested. But I am having a hard time articulating myself, and expressing my feelings.  Sure, I can contribute to group discussions about non-sensitive issues. But to talk about race, is so difficult for me. I don’t understand why. I have the theoretical knowledge and practical understanding to argue my way into victory. Usually, people will eventually begin to scream, call me a racist, and just refuse to engage in dialogue with me. It has happened before. I don’t understand why I feel so powerless here.  

Today, we had what would normally be considered a talking circle. Finally, we begun to address sensitive issues such as race. First, the South African facilitator challenged us, “Americans,” to not be afraid to voice our feelings. He noted that for Americans, talking about race is something we don’t like to do. Its something that we try and hide under the rug with the fear of angering others. To which, I agreed. Talking about race excites me. It makes me happy. It allows me to engage in deep and meaningful conversations. 

Later, one of the students in our program asked him if we could stop generalizing all Americans. He noted that not all Americans are the same, and it would be an injustice to clump us all together. The man responded that while it is true not all Americans are the same, Americans have contributed to a colonial legacy that has affected millions of people across the globe. Most of us “Americans,” got offended. I didn’t. He called every single one of us out. We cannot pretend to be the saviors of the world, and that we are doing good deeds, and that we are not responsbile for the United States’s neoliberal imperialistic policies. Because, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE. Sure, we might protest, write to Congress, but our compliance with these policies that are affecting millions of people is our responsibility.

We might not be the designers of these policies, but we are benefiting from them every single day. Me, being in this trip, is a benefit of what I have being a citizen of the United States. I may not be responsible, but I reap the benefits every day.

Similarly, the White students in our trip do not feel responsible for the racist legacy that their ancestors created and have left for them. Sure, they are not responsible. But they benefit from White privilege on a daily basis.

The fact that both of the professors are always looking at one of the White Students for support and advice, and are always asking him to represent all of us. The fact that the student can mock the South African culture in the name of fun and games, the fact that the White student can sugar coat his answers about race and his feelings about Obama is White Privilege. Is the fact that whatever he says, he will be correct.

When he was dancing (read: ridiculing) to South African music, everyone began to cheer and take pictures of him. I must have been the only one with an ugly face on, because I did not cheer, clap or take pictures of him. I made sure that when I was taking pictures I was cropping him out of the image. And that, is my contribution to this antir-racist/anti-White Supremacy ideal. I am not removing him of his humanity, I am removing his representation as a White straight man and centering the students of color that are often overlooked.