4:28 p.m. - 2004-02-25
Tim Wise
So, today, I went to SCC and heard a lecture by social commentator/anti racist Tim Wise. What a guy. Check out his stuff here:
http://www.zmag.org/bios/homepage.cfm?authorID=96
I liked hearing what he had to say very much. He's a thinker and an articulate speaker. He talked about white privilege and institutional racism. I know that most of the people who read this diary of mine probably know all about this, and that this is not news, or even necessary to discuss because it's so obvious...but I'll share a quick story that I thought well-illustrated the idea of white privilege. Mr. Wise, or Tim as I suspect he would prefer to be referred to as, was driving through a rural area near Spokane a few years ago on his way to a speaking engagement. It was dark, foggy and he was totally lost. His cell phone didn't have a signal and he didn't know who to call to get directions anyway. He decided to stop at one of the farm houses he was passing to ask where he was and how to get to town. Being a lecturer on white privilege and racism, he shared that he tends to try to think of those issues as often as possible, and what he realized was that he didn't hesitate in the slightest to walk up to a farm house and ask for directions.
Now, the thought crossed his mind for a second that the people in the house could be psycho killers, but what did NOT occur to him was that when he walked up and knocked on the door at 9pm was that the people inside might be afraid of him, suspect him of being up to no good or that they would harm him because they were afraid of HIM. WHat he realized, of course was that if he had been a black male in his 30's dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, that he would have considered the situation much differently. What would a young black man be doing driving around the rural areas of Spokane at night (for those of you who don't know, Spokane has a reputation of being very white and pretty racist.) How would that black man be received, walking up to a farm house late in the evening in Northeastern Washington? Tim shared that it never crossed his mind that he wouldn't be received well, respected, trusted and helped.
It is so with most situations with white people, though white women are limited in some circumstances, regarding safety for example. But dark alleys excluded, anywhere we want to go, for the most part, we can go and feel reasonably comfortable. I thought about that a lot today. What are the situations that I venture into, every day, withdrawing from the deep pockets of the bank of white privilege (privilege that I did not earn) without even noticing?
