Wednesday, November 5, 2008

What Is White Privelege?


This lecture is by Tim Wise, who is among the most prominent anti-racism writers and activists in the U.S., having given lectures from 1995 to the present in 48 different states, and on over 500 college campuses. He has trained a multitude of teachers, corporate employees, non-profit organizations and law enforcement officers in methods for dismantling racism in their institutions.


I didn't post this to be negative. I'm from Chicago, as well as a black man, so I'm VERY proud of what was accomplished, but I'm also a realist. I got off the plane in Munich, Germany on Nov. 5th, and while we were cheering and celebrating the victory in the airport terminal, I noticed a lot of the German men; once we entered the 1st class lounge, were really "tight" about the fact that Barack won the election. I saw with my own eyes that no matter what progress we make as black people, we will always be looked@ in a certain way, and want to be kept in a certain position, by a certain group of people... And that is the reason I posted these clips.

21 comments:

no$leepgetmoney said...

Thank yOu for the insight...Fresh Dudes unite




2wenty4our7even

Anonymous said...

Why you gotta be the negative nancy and bring down everything that happened last night? No duh things aren't going to change overnight and we're well aware that there is still racism, but you don't need to bring it all down with that negativity.

Be positive.

FERRARi MURAKAMi said...

Oh, c'mon homie... Negative Nancy? I, in no way have the power to bring down what was accomplished yesterday. I just always try to maintain a balanced point of view. I am very happy and proud of this great victory!

You even said yourself that things won't change overnight... It's just reality. But we can try to change it, and that's what Tim Wise is saying in the second clip...

Anonymous said...

Well, maybe you have to stop looking at things with your eyes, they are very deceiving sometimes.
My own eyes have led me to negative assumptions about people in certain situations. The German men might have seemed really "tight" but by you noticing that tightness in the air makes you know different than those German men. Don't be like those German men,I know your "flyness" is better than.

P.S."With great power comes great responsibility"

Anonymous said...

Your "flyness" is better than that.

Trill Cosby said...

i mean...F.M.s just being real...he's keeping level headed.and he's right...there's still gonna be a white man calling a black man a nigger.people are too comfortable with it because that's the way it's been in the past.those people are so backwards.

Anonymous said...

gotta commend you for posting those videos up. I have lived in Germany for a while and I know first hand how black folks get treated in places that would usually be reserved for an elite class of individuals. I think Its time that we start talking about race issue openly and frankly. Kudos for the post. I read the blog regularly btw

Julius said...

@ Diddy: negative Nancy!? u sound like such a square "dude"(**draws a square with both index fingers**) this is a blog if you don't like what is said move on to the next blog.... one comments from F.M. is not gonna be the end of such historic moment.. // @ F.M.: i see your point of view, as a Latino/ Minority, no matter how far we move up on the totem pole, we're always looked down upon like the "Wetback's" or "Nigger's" that they see through their eyes...tr3s

Anonymous said...

@ F.M. I thank you for posting the videos becuase many don't want to openly talk about racism and we need to badly. I feel before we move forward we must understand the history so that history will not repeat it self. how can we come together if we all aren't willing to understand why we need to come together.

p.s. F.M. keep posting more info like this because knowledge is power.

Anonymous said...

I am white, and I am from Germany. I'm not a f***** racist and neither is the greatest percentage of all Germans. There will always be weird and uneducated people everywhere, in each and every country of this planet.
In my opinion those "white men" looked at you cause you were screaming loud as f***. Im sure they would have looked at me the same way if I had done this. cause thats how old peeps are, no matter if they are african-americans, caucausian, asians or what ever.

best wishes from Germany

a German philanthropist :)

WDTH DGTL said...

I suppose we can cease to acknowledge this reality when people with Melanin are not referred to as minorities. (less than, smaller)

Now thats thinking negative!!!!

FERRARi MURAKAMi said...

We were cheering in the terminal, NOT the first class lounge. We know how to conduct ourselves. They were mad @ what they were seeing on the television, not our behavior. We were quietly on our laptops...

You G. Luger, as a German, should know the history of racism of your own people, not to say that all germans are racist, just some...

Anonymous said...

Yea, I feel you, But let's savor this for right now.

I also wasn't feeling Lupe talkin' about he wasn't moved by Barack's speech...Like C'mon.

From supporting Hillary, To trying to downplay Obama, I can't fuck with dude outside his music anymore.

G.Luger said...

[They were mad @ what they were seeing on the television, not our behavior. We were quietly on our laptops...]

ok, i didn't get that before. if it was like this, i'm sorry. i thought they were lookin at you because of your loud behavior.

[You G. Luger, as a German, should know the history of racism of your own people...]

Of course i do know the history of my country,(every kid learns that here from 5th grade on to probably 10th grade) there is absolutely no doubt about the fact that it was wrong, cruel and inhumane, but in my opinion i have nothing to do with shit that stupid people did about 70 years ago, as well as you americans (you as a small citizen) have nothing to do with the bad things your country did to to others.
like i could also say, hey, your president killed thousands of innocent people in irak and a lot of other countries. all americans are like bush and support him and are in some kind "racist". but i know that this isn't like this. i know that you people don't have influence on the things politicians, and especially the president, are doing.

[...not to say that all germans are racist, just some...]

according to wikipedia there are 10.400 radical right-wing people in germany. do you know how many inhabitants we have? about 82 Million!
so those nazi idiots, according to my calculator ;), make up 0.0126829 percent! i mean whats that? believe me partner, there are many many more weird and dangerous people running around in the states.
they make us look stupid in the whole wide world, everytime i write something on the net, and people realize that i am german, i get a stupid answer containing an accusation considering the nazi-time. i mean, isn't that in some kind racist as well?

by the way, if germans were had been able to give up their votes for the obama/mccain election, 70%, including me, would have voted for obama.
we are very delighted about the fact he won, believe me.

we now have to look forward, not backward (when it comes to your american and also our german history)

best wishes

G.Luger

p.s. i don't wanna be a crawler, but you have a nice little blog going on :) i really enjoy your posts; look for new posts every day ;)

Trill Cosby said...

^that's a pretty legit argument.he has some good points.

Trill Cosby said...

@Ibn: when you say mad...what do you mean? were they shaking their heads...like what did you actually see them do that made you realize they were mad?

FERRARi MURAKAMi said...

G-Luger, you are saying the same exact thing that I am. That there is always going to be SOME racism in any society. Germany was once RULED by a racist regime. I wasn't trying to imply that all Germans are racist, I was talking specifically about SOME of the older men in the first class lounge that were scoffing @ the TV and getting out of their seats because they actually couldn't look @ what was going on. That's how I knew that they were mad, because they blatantly displayed that emotion.

An you DO have the right to say a lot of Americans are racist, look @ OUR history. Let's not forget about the 2 white supremesists that were indicted last week for plotting to kill our new president. Americans are oftentimes the most ignorant people on the face of the earth. We expect everyone to learn our language and culture, but we don't learn and respect other cultures. We just want their artifacts for souvenirs. That is why I'm so glad that I have the blessing of traveling the world for a living, so that I can experience different cultures first hand; the good and the bad aspects. Most people that live outside of the states can speak 3 or more languages. Most Americans only speak English.

Again, I say that I posted these clips to have a view of both sides of this great accomplishment that was made. And I'm glad that it has sparked this exchange of ideas, because racism is the Elephant in the room that everyone tries to ignor. I'm just addressing it, that's all...

And Lupe just said that he was more moved by Jesse Jackson's emotional reaction, than the speech. Because it was a release of emotion from all of the steps that Jesse has taken and seen firsthand throughout the years. He wasn't trying to downplay Obama's speech.

Please listen to EVERYTHING that is said in The Tim Wise clips and the Lupe clip so that you won't jump to conclusions...

Julius said...

wow this topic got serious since i last checked it....very good points from both sides of the computer screen....tr3s

Trill Cosby said...

this is a cool discussion.I don't know how you managed to control yourself when you seen those guys in the airport acting the way they did.even though I'm not black,i swear i would have been on the verge of smacking one of them or even shouting something at them.then again,the police would probably fail to see a legit reason to why i just floored a guy triple my age.

oh yea,Lupe making that statement.i think a lot of people only listened to what they wanted to hear,and not what was actually said.i seen some hate being thrown at Lupe for that.I mean people put it on blogs and stuff and title it "Lupe not impressed by Obama speech" that's hardly fair,they're already planting the seeds of hate by titling it that.

p.s. it's cool that you got back at us on this,you dunno how much we respect your time...i know that makes me sound like im a dickrider but whatever

Julius said...

@ schoolin4thegoodlife: p.s. lol

Anonymous said...

@ schoolin4thegoodlife: No your not a dickrider because most people would have not responded maybe would have read the comments but that's it. Hopefully, we can have more discussions like this it brings more light to the issue that DESPERATELY needs attention.