Please read this article of mine, a rather kindly (tho probably not interpreted as such by the person at whom it was directed) piece written to someone who constantly shows her unacknowledged racism when she speaks to a dear friend of mine who is black and significantly disabled.
You will learn a lot from this that TOTALLY challenges your gross misunderstanding of what racism is. And what PRIVILEGE is.
This article includes a link to Peggy McIntosh's article on White Privilege, published in 1990, which grounds the entire discussion of White Privilege...except for those who have not read it, and by that totally misunderstand the concept.
BTW, I myself have actually DONE RESEARCH on the subject. Most people who yack endlessly and ignorantly about the subject have NEVER EVER actually read original sources or the changes over time.
My article also includes a discussion of my own privilege. There happen to be a couple of items that don't apply to me. Because disability is never mentioned as a complicating effect in the original list.
BTW I am ALSO an introvert and for most of my 73 years I could barely talk at all to people I did not know--except in the context of teaching, when I had to work hard to end my reluctance to speak to "strangers." I am still an introvert, but I have learned how to PLAY extrovert when I have to, all the while the butterflies in my stomach are pounding my innards trying to get out.
You have made a massive mistake in this piece, relying on a very limited article on white privilege to tell you what it is. In short, you have not done any actual research to educate yourself on the subject.
Indeed, you truly have no real idea what white privilege is. IN SPITE of the little Medium article you read that listed 10 questions about that privilege.
For instance, imagine being the kind of introvert you are AND being black.
You can learn how to cope with your introversion. But nothing will ever change the color of your skin and the privilege that accompanies it.
My article link:
“I am not a racist” but I have thoughts I am told are racist: But…I don’t SEE color!”
I wrote this piece in response to an ongoing discussion that a dear friend of mine has to deal with often. It is addressed to and written for one person, but it easily applies to all white people who still don’t get the idea of white privilege.
*****
Now, read that article of mine AND Peggy McIntosh's list of privilege questions (included in the article).
BTW, you don't have to check off every one. There are a couple that don't apply to me, but ALL of the rest do. And I suspect, based on your article here, that the vast majority apply to YOU as well.
I discuss also how my own privilege has worked out in some of the unconscious racism I expressed during my long life (73 years).
Yes, despite my current exceptionally low income due to about 25 years of disabilities, I still have a hell of a lot of white privilege.
If your skepticism of "white privilege" doesn't yield after you've read both articles, then all I can say is you're not thinking hard enough because it is way too uncomfortable to have to take back your own words as they are based on a major quantity of ignorance.
I am hoping your ignorance on this subject particularly will begin to be vanquished. What I have written here is barely a drop in the bucket.
You have a very long row to hoe to count yourself as knowledgeable enough on the subject to criticize it.
