Yes, white privilege and the white power structure is a reality and not just in America. Change is also a reality but it happens slowly. It will take many more generations for this to change. There are things that can be done to speed up the process of change but even then, for those of us that want to see significant differences in our lifetimes, we’ll likely be disappointed. Sharon’s grandmother was born in 1909– the grandaughter of slaves. She is still living in Southern California. During her life she has seen lynchings, Jim Crow, state mandated segregation, and many victories — Brown v. Board of Education, the March on Washington, the Civil Rights Movement. But, inspite of all of that, she has had three of her grandsons serve significant amounts of time in California’s prison system. Her granddaughters continue to fight discrimination in employment.
Yes, the make-up of the structure today is the same as it was when Granny was born.
This is why I hate white people who deny that white privilege exists.
Yvette,
There are white people (and others) who deny that white privilege exists because they believe it doesn’t exist. Most don’t give it much thought. I am a black woman. I have often wondered if I weren’t black, would I be as interested in understanding racism as I am. We tend to search for meaning in our lives when things aren’t going well either for ourselves or people we care about.
Whites that haven’t given this much thought haven’t done so because that haven’t needed to.
I guess what I’m saying is hating them won’t do you or anyone else any good. White people don’t control everything. My grandmother has lived a good long life. In fact, she outlived all of the white people who treated her poorly when she was growing up. She’s been happy and healthy for almost 99 years. I believe there is a god.
Sharon
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of New Demographic, a diversity education firm. Her perspectives on race and diversity have been featured on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, USA Today, and The New York Times.
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