Wright On The Edge Discusses White Supremacy And Privilege With Jeb Middlebrook

“ White people are uniquely situated in this system to make choices that can either contribute to or undermine the white supremacist system. During the slavery and civil rights eras, there came a tipping point when mainstream white society was forced to take a position— were they for slavery, or abolition? Were they for segregation, or integration? It is time once again for white people to take an active and visible stand against the white supremacist system by utilizing anti-racist community organizing strategies to create systemic change.” – AWARE-LA

White privilege is a term that has historically been used to identify the privileges, opportunities, and gratuities offered by the American society to anyone who is Caucasian and not a member of an ethnic group. This has manifested itself in a number of ways, such as, better housing, education, economic opportunities, and higher wages, etc. for Caucasians.

It is a Eurocentric attitude of superiority that is perpetuated in America by the so-called “Good Ole Boy” system of covert racism that prevents non-whites from recieving equal, fair and just treatment.

The biggest problem with white privilege is the invisibility it maintains to those who benefit from it most. The inability to recognize that many of the advantages whites hold are a direct result of the disadvantages of other people, contributes to the unwillingness of white people, even those who are not overtly racist, to recognize their part in maintaining and benefiting from white supremacy.

 White privilege is about not having to worry about being followed in a department store while shopping. It’s about thinking that your clothes, manner of speech, and behavior in general, are racially neutral, when, in fact, they are white. It’s seeing your image on television daily and knowing that you’re being represented. It’s people assuming that you lead a constructive life free from crime and off welfare. It’s about not having to assume your daily interactions with people have racial overtones.

White privilege is having the freedom and luxury to fight racism one day and ignore it the next. White privilege exists on an individual, cultural, and institutional level.

How do we better understand, make visible, deconstruct, and dismantle white privilege? Join Wendy Wright and Jeb Middlebrook today at 1pm ET to find out. Talk just got interesting!

Wright On The Edge, Saturday from 1-3pm on WOL and streaming live at woldcnews.com