I have long rejected the idea that I have benefited from white privilege. I don't mean that I haven't been fortunate to have been born to middle-class, college-educated parents. That upbringing allowed me to do well in school and eventually become a lawyer. But I don't think any of my accomplishments were the result of my being white. So…
I have long rejected the idea that I have benefited from white privilege. I don't mean that I haven't been fortunate to have been born to middle-class, college-educated parents. That upbringing allowed me to do well in school and eventually become a lawyer. But I don't think any of my accomplishments were the result of my being white. Some would argue that I benefited from white privilege because I did not experience racism. That may be true, but I don't believe that not being discriminated against because of my race should be considered an unfair “privilege.” Look at it this way. If a person benefits from an unfair, unearned privilege, wouldn't the right thing to do be to remove that privilege? Presumably, that would require discriminating against everyone equally. I think working to eliminate racism and racial disparities is a much more productive approach. Not being discriminated against because of your race shouldn't be considered a privilege because it should be the right of every person.
But Coleman's experience with TED made me realize that I probably do have at least one privilege that Coleman doesn't enjoy. If I had given the same TED talk that Coleman gave, I doubt it would have created anywhere near the backlash that was aimed at Coleman. (Let's just ignore the fact that I wouldn't have been invited to give the talk.) The reason there was so much backlash against Coleman was because he is Black. Clarence Thomas has been the focus of far more hatred from the Left than was ever aimed at Antonin Scalia, even though they shared a very similar judicial philosophy. Part of that was because, being white, it was OK for Scalia to be a conservative. (Hey, I just discovered another example of white privilege!) But more of the vitriol is probably because they fear other African Americans might be convinced to share his views. Coleman is a far more persuasive advocate for color-blind policies than I could ever be. The people who were so upset at Coleman being given the platform of a TED Talk realized that they couldn't really debate Coleman on the substance of his talk. If a white man had given the same talk, they could just call him a racist and be done with it. But that is a much harder charge to successfully lodge against Coleman, not that they haven't tried.
I have long rejected the idea that I have benefited from white privilege. I don't mean that I haven't been fortunate to have been born to middle-class, college-educated parents. That upbringing allowed me to do well in school and eventually become a lawyer. But I don't think any of my accomplishments were the result of my being white. Some would argue that I benefited from white privilege because I did not experience racism. That may be true, but I don't believe that not being discriminated against because of my race should be considered an unfair “privilege.” Look at it this way. If a person benefits from an unfair, unearned privilege, wouldn't the right thing to do be to remove that privilege? Presumably, that would require discriminating against everyone equally. I think working to eliminate racism and racial disparities is a much more productive approach. Not being discriminated against because of your race shouldn't be considered a privilege because it should be the right of every person.
But Coleman's experience with TED made me realize that I probably do have at least one privilege that Coleman doesn't enjoy. If I had given the same TED talk that Coleman gave, I doubt it would have created anywhere near the backlash that was aimed at Coleman. (Let's just ignore the fact that I wouldn't have been invited to give the talk.) The reason there was so much backlash against Coleman was because he is Black. Clarence Thomas has been the focus of far more hatred from the Left than was ever aimed at Antonin Scalia, even though they shared a very similar judicial philosophy. Part of that was because, being white, it was OK for Scalia to be a conservative. (Hey, I just discovered another example of white privilege!) But more of the vitriol is probably because they fear other African Americans might be convinced to share his views. Coleman is a far more persuasive advocate for color-blind policies than I could ever be. The people who were so upset at Coleman being given the platform of a TED Talk realized that they couldn't really debate Coleman on the substance of his talk. If a white man had given the same talk, they could just call him a racist and be done with it. But that is a much harder charge to successfully lodge against Coleman, not that they haven't tried.