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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, White Socialists, White Privilege - Article﻿</title>﻿

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﻿<b﻿>﻿White Socialists, White Privilege

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by Mary Fox﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, May - June 1996﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

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﻿<font﻿ ﻿size="1"﻿>﻿A critical look at some attitudes in today's predominantly white socialist movement, attitudes that can hinder our abilities to effectively fight racism and to broaden the much-needed participation of people of colour in the socialist left.﻿</font>﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿


Why do so many socialists visibly wince at the very mention of the term "white privilege?" As socialists, we are committed to fighting all forms of oppression, including racism. We recognize the brutal, dehumanizing and often deadly consequences of racist ideas actions. We understand that all oppressions reinforce one another and that none of us can ever be truly liberated unless we are all free from all oppressions. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Race as a category has historically been a fluid one. However, we are all racialized in relation to each other and, under capitalism, access to jobs, education, food, citizenship, bodily autonomy and shelter can depend heavily on where within that racialized continuum we fit (or are fitted) -- along, of course with other factors such as gender, class, sexuality, etc. If some then are oppressed because of race why wouldn't it follow that others (ie. white folks) benefit from theirs? 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Firstly, I think most white people, even those opposed to racism, have a hard time seeing their lives as "privileged" or powerful. I worked in a bar which, for 35 years, had never hired a non-white waiter. If I had been black I wouldn't have gotten the job. Period. I didn't, of course, experience my work there as a privilege --I experienced it as yet another shitty job in which I was underpaid, overworked and dealt a pretty steady stream of sexism. This is not a "shut-up and be grateful other people have it worse than you" argument but a recognition that what socialists fight for as basic rights -- food, housing, jobs, etc. -- are, under capitalism, often limited and unequally accessed. This inequality is often mediated along lines of race. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

"Of course as a white person, in the short run I have real advantages over non-whites in a racist culture, but in the long run I don't benefit from racism. It divides the working class, drives down wages and makes everyone poorer. White people have no objective class interest in maintaining racism" 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Why does this formulation drive me nuts? Because talking of "advantages" in the "short" term is insane. We're not taking about a few months here. We're talking about centuries, with no foreseeable end in sight. It's too often used as a short-cut and diminishes our own understanding of oppression. It suggests we oppose racism largely because of its negative effect on the white working class. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

I think we need to re-emphasize the obvious -- we oppose racism because it is unjust, dehumanising, brutal, murderous. 

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"Acknowledging white privilege reduces racism to personal psychology and results in nothing but white liberal guilt." 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Of course liberal guilt must be opposed, for one thing it keeps power where it usually is -- in the hands of white people. Racism becomes about how it makes white people "feel" rather than about those who have experienced and fought against it. It does nothing to challenge power and who has it. But, as socialists, do we not have the skills to argue with liberals in a politicizing manner, with analysis and actions which mobilize? And frankly, if a sustained look at privilege in our own (socialist) lives sends us running to the therapist's couch rather than deepening our understanding of and commitment to fighting racism, what kind of socialists are we? 

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Acknowledging privilege in a meaningful way does not rob us of our socialist politics and could, in fact, inform them by: 

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﻿<ul﻿>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿making it harder to separate ourselves from other white people we meet who do not have a firmly anti-racist perspective. Despite a differing consciousness we both accrue real benefits from a racist state; acknowledging this makes it easier to lose any tone of moral superiority. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿connecting our politics in a powerful way to the every day. Race can impact on everything from our relationship to the state to the way in which our sexuality is constructed. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿encouraging us to read and study. Racism has wiped out whole histories of oppressed people, particularly histories of resistance. We can learn from these. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿challenging how we organize eg. a university/ student focus might make sense given the existing make up of our group; will it however perpetuate the overwhelming white base of our group as it exists now? 

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﻿</li>﻿</ul>﻿


Obviously this is a cursory look at a complex issue but if we are all committed to building a strong multi-racial socialist current we need to look seriously at how we think about and relate to oppressed groups. This calls for a lot of work! But, to quote James Baldwin, "not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." 

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﻿<font﻿ ﻿size="1"﻿>﻿Thanks to Fernando Marshall for his generous and supportive input. ﻿</font>﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿


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