White Privilege?

[Bengalzona]

I have a belief that all (or practically all) people have some amount of racism and prejudice inside them. It is part of human nature to be attracted to things that appear similar in some ways and to distrust things that appear dissimilar in some ways. While these trends may be deep-rooted (genetic shadows from the distant past), they are usually small preferences that most of us overcome to successfully interact in a plural society.

Having a preference is one thing. Using the preference to fuel a bias against another group is generally the starting point of what we refer to as racist or prejudicial behavior today. It is the difference between saying "I like to hang around that group" and "I like to hang around that group and that other group is really stupid." If you feel comfortable with one group, that isn't necessarily a problem. If you feel comfortable with one group and also belittle one or more other groups, that is a problem.

Taking it a step further, if you feel comfortable with one group and extol that group's virtues, you tread a thin path. You may be tacitly judging that group to be superior to other groups in the virtues you extol. Instead of saying, "I feel comfortable with this group because I found this (virtue) there." (meaning that virtue may be found among other groups, you just happened to find it there), you may be saying, "This group is great because it has this virtue." (tacitly implying that other groups do not have that virtue). It works similarly with vices. This may be one of the most common forms of prejudice today because it is so subtle.

Privilege is similar. With privilege, a person is so focused upon their own issues and virtues and the issues of virtues of the group they identify with, that they have trouble accepting that members of other groups may have some different circumstances and issues. A poor white person may have trouble recognizing and accepting the terms of why a rich black person committed embezzlement ("He already had all the money in the world!!!"). Likewise, a rich white person may have trouble recognizing and accepting the terms of why a poor black person would rob a convenient store ("Why didn't he just obey the laws of society and get a job at the store if he was so desperate!").

Outside of law offices and courtrooms, we don't discuss mitigating circumstances too much. This is also our nature: we like to make quick judgments on things. Considering more information slows things down proportionally. I don't necessarily consider this to be a crime or racist. I do it sometimes. But I do think it is something we should all be made aware of.

We aren't the best judges.