File spoon-archives/marxism-feminism.archive/marxism-feminism_1997/marxism-feminism.9707, message 9


Date: Thu, 03 Jul 1997 21:14:49 -0700
From: Rachel Carey-Harper <rch-AT-capecod.net>
Subject: M-FEM: femimarxism and racism


Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> >Action Alert: Pressure Needed in Support of Poultry Industry
> >Investigation

Thank-you for sharing this important information and action.


I think most folks would agree that racism is a limiting factor in the
workers movement in white dominated societies.  It is a contributing
factor in work place difficulties.  It also keeps us divided and perhaps
interfers with success. It has the same effect on feminism. With the
hope to start a discussion on this topic and possible solutions I would
like to share the following:

Examples of White Privilege
by  Peggy McIntosh   1988
1. I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race
most of the time.
2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust
and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or
purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would
want to live.
4.  I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be
neutral or pleasant to me.
5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I
will not be followed or harassed.
 6.I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper
and see people of my race widely represented.
7.  When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization,"
I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
8.   I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials
that testify to the existence of their race.
9.   I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my
race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit
with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone
who can cut my hair.
10. Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin
color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
11. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people
who might not like them.
12. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism
for their own daily physical protection.
13. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will
tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms.
14. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a
racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either
position than a person of color will have.
15. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority
activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in my
case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative
consequences of any of these choices.
16. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and
powers of people of other races.
17. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will
be taken as a reflection on my race. 
18.I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or
self seeking.
19. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having
my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
20. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each
negative    episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.  
21. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk
with  me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.
22. I can think over many options - social, political, imaginative, or
professional - without asking whether a person of my race would be
accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.
23. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my
race.
24. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my
race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
25. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not
work against me.
26. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience
feelings of rejection owing to my race.
27. If I have low credibility as a leader, I can be sure that my race is
not the  problem.

More Examples of White Privilege
written by students at
Somerville High School
* I can go anywhere, whenever I want. I also can say anything I want.
* I can walk through certain neighborhoods without being stopped or
asked questions.
* I can walk through a neighborhood without another culture giving me
trouble.
* The first thing people see in me is not the color of my skin.
* When people describe me, they don't refer to the color of my skin.
* If I am traveling around the country and I need to spend the night in
a hotel, I am sure that I will to be discriminated against because of my
color.
* I can go to the theater or to the movies and be reasonably sure the
romantic leads will be white.
* I can tell a story to people of my own race and be reasonably sure the
listeners will assume characters are white unless otherwise noted.
* I can go into a store without constantly being watched.
* I can be sure that when I meet people, they won't judge me by my
appearance and the way I dress.
* I can go anywhere I want and not feel like someone is talking about
me. (Such as worrying if I'm going to kill them, or steal from them. I
don't have to worry that they will call me names.)
* I can be prejudiced against others,  but they won't be prejudiced
against me.
* All the presidents whom I have watched giving speeches just so
happened to all have been white men.
* If I commit a crime, I am assured that I will not be considered a
disgrace to my race.
* I can try to get a job without worrying about being turned down on the
basis of my color.

And Still More Examples of White Privilege
 by RCH
* If I choose,  I can go a day, a week, a year or a lifetime without
ever seriously thinking about race issues.
* I can speak out against rape,  domestic violence  or sexual child
abuse without playing into racial stereotypes or having it reflect on my
race.
* I can be pro-choice and for population control without analyzing
racial implications.
* If I am mistaken for someone else it will be someone with whom I share
some characteristic rather than simply similar (or not so similar) skin
color.
* I can walk down a street without attracting negative or positive 
attention because of my race.
* I can easily find books and toys for my children that reflect
positively on my cultural background displayed prominately throughout
any book or toy store.
* I can buy skin and hair care items and make-up in any store that sells
such products.
* Art and literature of my culture or that I produce is not considered
"ethnic" curios.
 * I can be in any environment and regardless of how I am dressed
(unless I am in a designated uniform) it will not be assumed that I am a
maintenance or menial worker.
* I can go to a restaurant or other establishment and if I get poor
service I don't have to wonder if it is because of my race.
* I don't have to worry about people, especially males, in my life being
harrassed by the police simply because of their race unless I am in a
multi-racial relationship.
* I can go to almost any meeting or gathering and see most or all faces
of my color.
* I am never asked,  directly or indirectly,  how a person of my race
feels about a particular situation or issue.
* I never have to deal with people who believe my race was eliminated or
question my authenticity.
* I don't have to fight the co-option of my spiritual practice.
* I can share aspects of my spiritual practice with anyone without
worrying about betraying my cultural heritage.
* I am assured that tests to determine safety and effectiveness of
medical treatment are relevant to my race.
* If in the acting profession,  almost all the parts are for my race, 
and even when they're not I can sometimes get away with playing them
anyway.
* I can but any item without thinking about the exploitation of someone
of my race.
* I am never asked if I know someone simply because they're the same
race as me.
* No one is worried about what will happen when my race is in the
majority in the U.S.

Perhaps you can come up with some more?

Good thinking,
Rachel

visit " A Spiral Path to Knowhere" http://www.capecod.net/~spiral/
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