It's OK to be White . . . But . . .

In last week's blog post I shared about the course being offered at nearby Florida Gulf Coast University  called "White Racism."  While the first day of classes went smoothly, posters, apparently in response to the course, have been placed around the campus that say, simply, "It's OK to be White."  The creator of the posters appears to have misunderstood both the intent of the course, and some of its philosophical underpinnings.  No one is saying there is anything wrong with being white per se.  It is a factor you can't control.  The color of your skin is determined by things outside of your scope of influence.  It is OK to be white, just as it is OK to be black or brown.

BUT, it is not OK to ignore the reality that in our society, in our culture, certain privileges adhere to being white.  Certain advantages come with being white.  And certain disadvantages come with being a part of a racial minority group.  Yes, many of those privileges, many of those advantages, are rooted in laws and practices that predate those now living--sometimes by decades, even centuries, but the effect of those laws and practices of the past mean the impact of things like slavery and Jim Crow are still being experienced today.

An example might help.  In the first part of the twentieth century, banks engaged in a practice called redlining.  Certain neighborhoods in large cities (and elsewhere) were sometimes literally circled or marked in red, indicating loans could not and should not be made for properties or projects in those areas.  More often than not those redlines coincided with neighborhoods made up largely of persons of color or certain ethnic backgrounds.  The effect of this was fairly straightforward:  no financing, no development, no property improvements, and so on.  Thanks to the Fair Housing Act of 1968 redlining is now illegal, but those neighborhoods that were impacted by these racist actions in the past, are still feeling the years of economic neglect.  And those who live in such neighborhoods, largely members of minority groups, are therefore at a distinct disadvantage.

It is OK to be white.  You are who you are--and your skin color is a part of who you are.  But being white does bring with it such often unspoken advantages, and being black or brown, often unspoken disadvantages.  That's what we need to pay attention too if we are white.  And as people of color work to rectify such matters, we need to be willing to be their allies in the effort.