Hello Katherine and all,
I have very much been enjoying reading the conversations that we have been
having, and Katherine's curiosity about how many of us feel privileged has
motivated me to respond.

I, a white US-born woman of upper middle class origins feel completely
privileged because in almost every aspect of my life, I am.  While my class
of origin also plays a role in multiple levels of my privileges, it is also
yet another result of my whiteness.

Economic privilege is a bi-product (or at least closely related, however you
see it) of racial privilege.  One set of grandparents came over Post WWII
and were able to 'work their way up' because they could leave their economic
identity behind *because *they were white.  Non-white immigrants almost
always have hyphenated identities - more often by external forces, than
choice.  African-american, Chinese-American, Vietnamese-American,
Arab-American, Latino.  How often does one year the term, English-American,
or Irish-American beyond the first generation of immigrants?

Because we were able to 'melt' - to become culturally white in every aspect
- my family has been automatically granted the systemic economic privileges
that come along with it that many people of color do not and or historically
have not had access to: mortgages (esp. in the neighborhoods where other
people of a similar nationality/ethnicity are from), loans, resources and
connections with other white people that are in positions of status/power or
have access to resources, and the 'benefit of the doubt' which has allowed
everything from jobs to being able to walk in public and private places
without being mistrusted or abused/attacked.  The Peggy Macintosh article
mentioned earlier is great for starting to see and understand some of the
manifestations of white privilege that are often times 'invisible,'
especially to those of us who benefit from it.

Obviously, there are serious losses to this process of becoming white as
well, but the gains are far greater in a society where the rules have been
made by the whites.  (For example, immigration of white people has *never
been effectively restricted* - hence the reason that the "my grandparents
came here legally and worked there way up - why can't the illegals" argument
doesn't hold).  I wouldn't have the class privileges I do now because the
intermarriage between my mother, from a poor French family, and my upper
class US born Jewish father simply wouldn't have happened were it a poor
Black French family.

I didn't ask for or create the privileges that come with being white.  Nor
is it legit to say that my family or I don't work hard.  But it is by NO
means a level playing field, and I can see this in literally every corner
and element of my life when I give a long hard look.  It's not about being
spoiled, or deserving/not deserving, but being real with the reality of the
US systems of race and class so that I can be an active change agent.
Learning how to see the field and how it was constructed has been
instrumental in learning how to deconstruct it - which, for me, is one of
the most effective, necessary, and honest roles for me to have in justice
work.

I honor each of you who is engaged in this conversation and in doing
anti-racist work.
We have a lot to do, and it's not easy.  But having the willingness to try
to sort some of this complicated, ugly, and uncomfortable stuff out is an
important step - and it can not and does not happen in a vacuum.

Best,
Lisa Gimbel
lgimbel at gmail.com




I wouldn't say it's a race to the bottom, Andrea. I'd say these are
statements of individuality.  No one wants to be lumped into some category,
especially one that isn't fitting.  It's just human nature.

I would like to take a vote on how many people in this group actually feel
privileged.  I suspect there are not as many as we would think, and it's not
because we are all a bunch of spoiled brats.  Teachers, as I have said
before, aren't usually high up on the socioeconomic ladder.

-- 
http://kiva.org/

http://library.minlib.net/search/
Don't forget your local library!  You really can get most books, movies and
CD's you fancy delivered to your neighborhood library for free.
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