What to Do About Whiteness

There's been some talk about racism this week on social media. Look up “plantation” and “Ani DiFranco” to read about one issue, and “Native American Mascotry” for the other.

I live in one of the whitest counties in California. When there are black, Asian, or Native people on our streets, we either know them by name or we know they're from out of town. We don't discuss race often. One privilege of being the dominant color is that you don't have to recognize race is even an issue.

Like many whites, I squirm when the topic comes up. Although I've commented on-line about both Ani DiFranco and the Washington Redskins, it's taken me forever to frame what to say: lots of rewriting, erasing, stumbling... Will I sound racist? Will I sound racist and stupid both? Is this defensive? I feel uneducated. I don't know what to say about race except “This is awful,” and “I'm sorry!”

Most people I know are trying to be fair and just. They raise their kids not to bully, they return the extra change to the grocery cashier, they give their old clothes to the homeless and truly want to help alleviate suffering. So when there's a big situation with a pretty clear right side and wrong side to it, like racism, they naturally want to be on the right side. Me, too.

Our skin color denies us this. Even though the damage is centuries old and your great-grandparents were Quakers so it's not your fault, whites — all whites, even Howard Zinn — are on the wrong side.

Fine, great. Is that the end of the story? I don't like racism and I also don't want to be wrong. Is there anything whites can do about it?

Here's a start: We get real and acknowledge our privileges. Nothing makes me crazier than a guy who thinks men and women have equal privilege, so I imagine a white person saying “What privilege?!!” could drive someone of color insane. If you're white, imagine something simple in your life, like going to the hardware store. No one's ever refused to sell me a hinge. But that's actually a white privilege. We expect to be treated, if not well, then at least neutrally, wherever we go, and we almost always are. This isn't true for other groups. They have to wonder whether they'll be able to buy a hinge or not, and how the cashier will behave. This is a burden! Even if we can't change it, we can at least acknowledge it, and the 50 other privileges we have just like it.

And we start talking about race to people who aren't white, if they're open to a conversation. Someone who studies power dynamics tells me there's only one thing for the person with more power (white, male, smart, wealthy, able-bodied, etc.) to say to the person with less, and that is “What's it like for you?”

Then, of course, even if it takes another century, we have to be willing to listen to the answer.