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Is "Privilege" a useful concept for social struggles, or a counter-productive one ?
One video, three articles and a thread about it.
One video, three articles and a thread about it.
1) This video by @JohnAmaechi is a very good defense of the concept. Concise, smart, heartfelt. Maybe the best short defense to champion this concept's use. https://twitter.com/bbcbitesize/status/1290969898517254145
2) @kenanmalik writes a powerful answer to John's video.
"The issue is not whether racism is a problem and should be combatted. It is and it should be. The issue is whether reframing racism as ‘white privilege’ is helpful in combating racism. In my view it is not."
"The issue is not whether racism is a problem and should be combatted. It is and it should be. The issue is whether reframing racism as ‘white privilege’ is helpful in combating racism. In my view it is not."
Long & Enlightening thread : https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1292071391244754944.html
3) @BenBurgis, leftist philosopher, explains how "framing these disparities in terms of privilege rather than oppression lends itself to a way of thinking about them that emphasizes the psychodrama of the “privileged” realizing how good they have it
(and then feeling bad about that) rather than anything actually useful like organizing the oppressed for better treatment." https://arcdigital.media/the-problem-with-privilege-talk-740eea1dd06d
@MirahCurzer, feminist activist, adds that "Calling these things privileges instead of rights does not take seriously enough what is being denied to people who lack them." https://medium.com/human-development-project/let-s-stop-talking-so-much-about-privilege-8f9fe543c57e
And finally, our Queen Barbara Fields, anti-racist historian :
"Attacking “white privilege” will never build such a coalition. In the first place, those who hope for democracy should never accept the term “privilege” to mean “not subject to a racist double standard.” That is not
"Attacking “white privilege” will never build such a coalition. In the first place, those who hope for democracy should never accept the term “privilege” to mean “not subject to a racist double standard.” That is not
a privilege. It is a right that belongs to every human being. (...) The rhetoric of white privilege mocks the problem, while alienating people who might be persuaded. " https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/the-death-of-hannah-fizer
+ Bonus Piece : Erin Cooley is a social psychologist exploring race, class, gender and their intersections. She studied the impact of teaching White Privilege to people.
" When liberals read about white privilege . . . it didn’t significantly change how they empathized with a
" When liberals read about white privilege . . . it didn’t significantly change how they empathized with a
poor black person—but it did significantly bump down their sympathy for a poor white person,” https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_happens_when_you_educate_liberals_about_white_privilege
