on white privilege

i'm taking a women's studies class again this quarter, my last as an undergrad. i, for some reason, mentioned white privilege in a bit of free writing we did on the first day of class. i said that i think white privilege is more complicated than it is usually discussed. i see that class issues affect the ways in which white privilege is wielded, knowingly or subconsciously or unconsciously.

i'm rethinking that idea after an exchange with the professor who critiqued my critique. she suggested that perhaps that view conflates race and class. i'm in agreement after ruminating for a few days on this.

for me, i have a difficult time separating race and class, but my hangups with the concept of white privilege also have to be unpacked from white guilt. i think the daily experience of being Othered, of being a race's spokesperson, of being minimized, obscured, ignored, or, alternately, singled out, is something i don't know much about and something i need to be cognizant of when i critique white privilege. class is a component, but at the end of the day, even poor whites come out on top.

i dunno. i know it's always a process of undoing what a racist society teaches you. i have a long way to go. i think this is a good start.

i want to post this as a reminder to myself... to draw down the defenses i've built up and to consider how incredibly embedded racism is in our collective psyche.

i'm glad she called me on it.