And If You Don't Know, Now You Know

White privilege has tangible historical roots that we would do well to recognize and come to terms with, but our whiteness also affords us very practical advantages in our daily lives. These things are difficult to appreciate because they are invisible to us. Not experiencing them ourselves and being separated from people of color who are experiencing them, we don’t even know to appreciate their absence in our lives: * You’ve never been told by someone that they do not date people of your race * You expect, and mostly receive, fair treatment and even kindness from people * You do not fear death or arrest when you are pulled over even if you are breaking the law * You have never been arrested despite breaking laws: did you drink or smoke underage? Ever tried a drug? Ever driven 40 in a 25? * You have never worried that your children’s race could get them killed * You have never had to explain to your children that their race could get them killed * You have never thought, or been told

These internalized, often unconscious, beliefs are especially problematic in the middle and lower-middle class because we are working hard. We hear again and again from white liberals and conservatives alike: “I’ve worked hard for everything I have.” And this is often true. Capitalism keeps us all working very hard. Working hard for what we have, however, makes us blind to all that has been unfairly taken from others and given freely to us as if we deserved it. Let’s start with The Homestead Act of 1862 . Knowing possession is nine tenths of the law, the US government practically gave away land--which they had stolen from Native peoples--to citizens and non-citizens who “had never borne arms against the U.S. government.” So when we hear stories of our Euorpean ancestors coming to this country “with nothing” and flourishing, it’s important to know that often that miraculous progress was only possible because of stolen land they got for free. If your ancestors resided in the south as