ANTI-RACISM 303

Learning for Justice - What is White Privilege, Really? (An informative essay on white privilege, its' history, and what it means today.)

• "White privilege exists because of historic, enduring racism and biases... White privilege is not the suggestion that white people have never struggled. Many white people do not enjoy the privileges that come with relative affluence, such as food security." 

• "Frances E. Kendall, author of Diversity in the Classroom and Understanding White Privilege: Creating Pathways to Authentic Relationships Across Race, comes close to giving us an encompassing definition: “having greater access to power and resources than people of color [in the same situation] do.”"​

  • White privilege is further understood as "a subconscious prejudice perpetuated by white people’s lack of awareness that they held this power."​ It allows white people to ignore these issues while people of color cannot because they are actively experiencing them.

Resources:

• TEDx Talks - Understanding My Privilege

• The Root - How White Privilege Works

• Sociology Live - White Privilege

• Equity: "fairness or justice in the way people are treated

  • [O]ften, specifically : freedom from disparities in the way people of different races, genders, etc. are treated" (Merriam-Webster)

  • Equity specifically refers to ensuring that all people have access and the ability to access resources in the ways they specifically may need it

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• Equality: "refers to providing equal opportunities to everyone and protecting people from being discriminated against" (University of Sutherland)

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* A note that these definitions were picked because they are specific to anti-racism and anti-bigotry in general.

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Definition:

"Unconscious favoritism toward or prejudice against people of a particular ethnicity, gender, or social group that influences one's actions or perceptions." (Oxford Languages). It "refers to a prejudice or stereotype an individual may hold about a particular group of people that they aren’t fully aware of" (Built In).

To be clear, unconscious bias is not thought of consciously- often, it impacts us in our day to day lives without us even noticing. "Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from the universal human tendency to organize the outside world (identify threats, assess safety) using category shortcuts" (CACP). It often takes place in snap judgement decisions. "Unconscious biases are malleable; the impact of unconscious bias can be reduced through training" (CACP), meaning that ones' own unconscious bias is changeable by putting work into rewiring the parts of your brain that unconsciously guide you with it.

This matters in our day to day lives in terms of how we percieve and interact with others. It also matters in more systemic ways, like healthcare and the criminal justice system. "A growing body of evidence supports the role of unconscious bias on disparities in access to, and outcomes, of health care... A substantial amount of research demonstrates the adverse impact of unconscious bias in the criminal justice system, education, as well as health/health care" (CACP). This means that individuals are being treated differently by others unconsciously, in addition to any conscious bias/racism/etc. they may face in their lives. In terms of healthcare and criminal justice, it means that people are not treated equally.

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Resources:

Harvard University - Understanding Unconscious Bias

Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt - How to check your unconscious bias

Defining reparations:

• "Reparations are the act or process of making amends for a wrong. Adequate, effective and prompt reparation is intended to promote justice by redressing gross violations of international human rights law or serious violations of international humanitarian law. Reparation should be proportional to the gravity of the violations and the harm suffered. In accordance with its domestic laws and international legal obligations, a State shall provide reparation to victims for acts or omissions which can be attributed to the State and constitute gross violations of international human rights law or serious violations of international humanitarian law. In cases where a person, a legal person, or other entity is found liable for reparation to a victim, such party should provide reparation to the victim or compensate the State if the State has already provided reparation to the victim." (M4BL)

• For many, reparations mean "full reparations to all
  descendants of enslaved Africans in the United States for the devastating and genocidal harms of colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, and the institution of chattel slavery in the United States. Reparations must include full compensation for stolen lives, labor, children, health, well-being, sexual, gender, and reproductive autonomy, culture, language, and spirituality, and for torture, rape, and other forms of physical and sexual violence flowing from the institution of chattel slavery. Reparations must also address the impacts of intergenerational trauma." (M4BL)

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Why we need reparations:​​

• As stated above and by the Movement for Black Lives, reparations are necessary to break the cycle of racial inequity. Due to America's history of enslavement, genocide, and systemic racism, African Americans and Native Americans are at a disadvantage when it comes to gaining wealth and power. The goal of reparations is to make amends for this imbalance of power and to ensure that all people are able to access resources equitably.

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Resources:

• Learning for Justice - What is White Privilege, Really?

  • Specifically read the sections defining white privilege as the "power of" something​

• The Root - How White Privilege Works

• ​NBC News - Should the U.S. pay reparations to Black citizens for slavery?

• CNBC - Can the U.S. Afford Reparations?​

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Examples/Evidence:

• "In 2014, the Pew Research Center released a report that revealed the median net worth of a white household was $141,900; for Black and Hispanic households, that dropped to $11,000 and $13,700, respectively."

• "When white families are able to accumulate wealth because of their earning power or home value, they are more likely to support their children into early adulthood, helping with expenses such as college education, first cars and first homes. The cycle continues."

• "One-fourth of Black Americans living in poverty live in high-poverty neighborhoods; only 1 in 13 impoverished white Americans lives in a high-poverty neighborhood."

• DesignMom - Hey MAGA, He's Going to Kill Your Kids Too

• Peggy McIntosh - Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

  • Robert Jensen's essay at the bottom of this unpacks fear that white folks have around racism.​

• M4BL - Defining Reparations