Whiteness

I recently watched a Tik Tok video where a young black woman made an asinine argument against perceived white privilege. She argued that many a minority group received special privileges; racial quotas for colleges or employment. The highlighting of a particular ethnicities business. Diversity categories in entertainment.

She contended that such things did not exist for white people. In actuality, she only denoted a black bias regarding white privilege. I suppose other minorities do not suffer from any perceived white privilege. I am being facetious. They do. The comments section on her video lauded her apparent bravery in pointing out these ‘facts’.

The upshot of her argument was that one cannot criticize certain groups, so who is privileged? Youthful defiance can be a beautiful thing. The certainty of one's viewpoint, supported by nothing more than gumption and ignorance.

White privilege, a headline-grabbing sound bite if ever there was one, does exist. At least here in the United Kingdom. Of course, it does. Ninety per cent of the populace identify as white. Life always leans towards the majority. In the United States, a country that recently had a black president and has several high profile black billionaires, it is a harder argument to make. That said, it is still a white-dominant society.

To debunk an argument, one must first define what the point of contention is. This one is about privilege. So what is privilege? Privilege is a special right, advantage or immunity granted or available only to a select person or group. In this case, the supposed privileged are white people.

In a place, no matter where it is, where you look like and intrinsically understand the majority of the people, it is difficult to see your status as privileged. In that regard, for many white people, their situation is normal. White men, in particular, before this generation, never had to think of themselves as a demographic. they just were.

Admittedly, this is a western issue. Other parts of the world do not allow their minorities the verbal latitude afforded in the west. In some parts of the globe, even the indigenous population cannot live with the same freedoms expected in the west. Those that rule will always have better options. Different rules. Privilege.

Privilege is a thing. It always was and always will be. Does white privilege exist? Yes. The prefix 'white' makes it sound more insidious than it is. People gravitate towards those who they feel are like themselves. It is a fact that most of those at the top of large multinational companies are white. As wealth tends to hang around wealth, many of their friends are like them.

That is the same in all walks of life. We go with what we know and aspire to that we do not have. We are a tribal species and take comfort in life's patterns; knowing how things are. In the traditional, heterogeneous, household, a woman tends to be the primary cook. In the culinary world, men dominate as chefs. White chefs. We accept and expect it.

It is not a race thing. It is a nepotistic thing, working both ways. The chef sees a young chef that reminds him a little of himself and so takes him under his wing. The young chef sees an older version of himself, is inspired and, more importantly, believes he can achieve the same level. It is a privilege by virtue of genetics and career choice.

In this regard, there is some privilege in whiteness. They have role models in abundance, both living and historically and across all facets of life. As I have indicated earlier, this is a western-centric problem.

In other countries, with their own race biased histories, white privilege is not a thing. It does exist. English though no longer the most spoken language globally, still vies for the most widely spoken. That is a privilege; to be able to speak English.

Whiteness is not something one chooses. one either is or is not. Genetics coming together. Like other accidental privileges that can benefit a life; good looks, a predisposition to a pleasing physique or a quick mind, being white, in the west, can benefit those who know how to use it.

It does also benefit many who have no idea that their lack of melanin works in their favour. Difficult to see if you're on the receiving end of the positives. For those of us who are not white, living in a white world, it is wholly apparent.

Even one of the biggest franchises in the world, Star Wars, suffered negative press when black actor, John Boyega, was cast as a stormtrooper. Stormtroopers are fictional and, until Boyega's star turn, faceless. Still, there was a backlash against his casting. I can confidently say, the same has never happened to a white actor.

The biggest show of the past few years, Game Of Thrones, is white. The same is true for two of the biggest comedy shows of the past couple of decades, Friends and How I Met Your Mother. Religion in the west is white. Monarchy is white. Governance is white. White privilege is real, even if it is not deliberate.