What are your thoughts about the concept of white culture, identity, and entitlement as they were discussed?
I don't disagree. There have been many thoughts that have floated through my brain while working on my internal biases and conditioned prejudices. Culture and appropriation are two of the many topics my brain settles on. I've definitely had the thought that white people, as a homogeneous group, are lacking in identity and culture. There's nothing to be proud of when it comes to whiteness. An individual of color can be a proud person of color - that pride comes in spite of the "default race" (aside: Africans are the "default race" because that's the continent the human race expanded from but calling Black and Brown people our forefathers and mothers doesn't jive with the white supremacist narrative) making them feel less than for looking or existing in any way that is not "the white way". When I think of whiteness, I think of the KKK, I think of oppression, I think of redlining, MLK Jr's assassination, I think of Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Era, I think of police brutality and the school to prison pipeline, I think of fragility and also serial killers - because they are also all white. These are not things to be proud of, these are things to be ashamed of. And no, this is not where I unload my guilt because, as we all know, white guilt is useless at its core, but this is where I acknowledge that I am living in a time where I can no longer live an identity unattached to or unaffected by my skin color. I am in no way trying to compare this "enlightenment" (which was a time that solidified racist thought) to the experiences of BIPOC, however, I have a feeling I'm starting to understand the slightest modicum (like the size of a spec of dust in a sandstorm) of what it means to struggle with a racial identity.
What are your thoughts about the concept of white privilege?
White privilege is insidious and very real. My privilege manifests in that I have never had to think of my racial identity. It manifests in other ways as well - no one has ever questioned my intelligence based on my skin color or country of origin, I've never been pulled over for anything other than legitimately breaking the law (speeding mostly), I'm usually given the benefit of the doubt etc etc. I know it is difficult for people to accept they have been afforded opportunities they didn't necessarily deserve, but the sooner white people get over their bruised egos, the better.
