"Exploring White Privilege" #SOC119

when you guys hear conversations about white privilege and white supremacy what do you hear well I just I mean people usually just bring out white privilege and uh I know I live in a privileged area so I hear it a lot from um I guess other races other than people of my color they just they're not usually um like saying anything bad they're just they're saying how it is and they're saying how they see it and usually there's um better areas like where I live near Baltimore County Baltimore county is not the best area then but then where I live it's a better area so people make those differences like real world differences that um I agree with but I just I mean I don't argue with them I just just witness it how it is so how what's it mean though so so in other words do you see yourself as privileged yes what's that mean for you um just means I have it better than other people and I just accept it what's it that I might have more money than other people I mean I mean I may be living in a nicer area than other people okay so for so privilege for you privilege you what the way this conversation gets defined is that privilege is about resources and about like money and a house and opportunities and this kind of thing uh-huh Maya how about you um I haven't obviously benefited from White Privilege but I do see it um like I said I grew up in Northern Virginia which is a predominantly white area and so I get to experience not really experience it but I get to see other people exerting it in everyday life that they don't really uh realize or recognize but I can recognize it from my my background and my experiences so what would it mean to benefit from White Privilege for you like for like skin color or yeah just what would it you said you said yeah I haven't really benefited from White Privilege so what do you mean by that but I haven't really benefited by her or I've been kind so I think for myself I am lighter skin compared to a lot of other black people and I do recognize that um I do benefit from it because when I'm in more like white environments a lot more people will come up to me than to my friends who are of Darker complexions and they feel more ready to be open and more friendly with me and and be willing to give me more not information but willing to talk more just engaging to engage yeah so so you have benefited from White Privilege yes but I I but since I'm not white I'm not getting the full privilege but since I am lighter I'm still benefiting from some of it so so what would full privilege privilege look like so I think full privilege would be so I went to um I don't know if you've ever heard of this but George Marshall High School and from Vienna Virginia so like the population I think is 50 white uh 30 Asian and I think two percent black and so I've grown up a lot around like white people and so going up around them it's more like it's not uh I think a lot of it is you're not on a it's unapologetically going after more like what you want or what you think is yours and so you don't have to think about other people or your circumstances or surroundings it's more like you're not not as inhibited as someone who's kind of more raised with the your kind of because I'm kind of raised with some things will limit you because you are a woman because you are black yeah but with having White Privilege it's one less thing limiting you okay so hang on let me I'm just going to push on to something here um so you so you're you're what class what social class are you um I said I'm upper middle class and bro what what how about you say like upper like upper middle upper upper middle okay so which is the Maya but you okay but upper middle so that allows you to so you've lived then around a certain class of white people also yes right and so that's it's white privileged by extension yeah okay um Devin what what's white Pro what's when you hear that white privilege what's that what's it mean for you um to me it just means that like my skin color in and of itself does not make my life any harder um than someone who is a person of color like I will never question if something you know if something bad happens to me was it a result of my skin color I hope that makes sense well yeah except that things could happen to you that you could like maybe not get a job or something because you're white like someone's getting like yeah I can't hire you because you're white we need more black and brown people there are all sorts of things that could happen to you I just want to push on that a little bit um I mean from my perspective I grew up in Philadelphia so I do hear like both sides of um I guess the white privilege thing from white people I mean um like there are white people that I know that grew up with not a lot and so they think that they can't possibly be privileged well okay hang on hang on let's go with you though so you identify as lower yeah when growing up I was lower middle class now I'd say I'm more working class okay okay so but is that wait hang on your upper middle class lower middle class lower lower middle class working class right can Maya wait do you have more privilege than Maya dude she's living in a really sweet neighborhood by the way but I I do have white privilege um would I say that her life is privileged in other ways I'm sure but her skin color versus my skin color I will always get the upper hand always I'd say so do you guys do you agree with that Daniel do you agree with that she's she's always going to get the upper hand over Maya I wouldn't I wouldn't say always but usually yes with being white Maya do you think that I think yes I mean I'm not sure what her uh I think it depends on if it's what the situation is but I think most places in most cases yes yeah huh so listen let me just say I want to say something about where where I'm where where I'm going here right um for me as a as an instructor we like throw these terms around a lot like white privilege and white supremacy and whiteness and whiteness and white that and whatever like white people just have power and white people are special and white people whatever right and then I'm like I'm gonna just sit in I'm gonna I'm gonna just take you and I'm gonna say all right let's just put you in the in the lower class for a moment okay so you're going to be your representative instead of lower middle class working class I grew up in the working class so like I I'm there on that so like but I'm going to just hold you there um foreign but like look the way I see it is like the these these two right here Daniel and Maya they they have they have some things like if you went to their neighborhoods right I can because I just I know I know where y'all live right if you saw the cars their family drove and their neighbors drove and this kind of thing and you were and do you think if you really saw that would because I'm gonna I don't and and let's pretend for a moment that Daniel isn't white that he's black because they're dude first off you do understand there are black people in this room who can who are rich like rich man he he y'all you all know who you are and maybe it's something I'll bring you'll come up here later in the semester but like come on man maybe Maya is one of them but the point being like let's let's uh let's I just wanna I just want to open this conversation up a little bit right like how do we get to this place where it's just automatically assumed like you have dude imagine where Maya lives for a second and you're sitting here going like yeah but I have this privilege and I'm like dude go home with her over Thanksgiving break man come back and report back to us like I don't know what what do you I think because I have been exposed like my my roommate he's from Colombia um he drives at Ben's um and it's like his prize possession so in Columbia the country of Colombia uh yeah okay um so he has always been somebody that I look up to in his work ethic and whatnot but I still feel that on the topic of white privilege that's in it's intrinsic to my identity you know what I mean like there is no um like my social class and my social upbringing is not readable when I walk into a room what is readable is my skin color yeah I got you it's kind of like Isabella right a little bit right like I know like if I I know the the the upper class in Quito so I know where Isabella is from I know I know who she is right but okay this is poverty in the U.S okay this is defined in different ways look you got 40 million poor white people in the U.S what do you say to all those white people those 40 million white people hang on look right in the camera actually and what do you say to them um well poverty isn't always generational but that is a giant factor and a lot of people's upbrings and how how much money wealth they have because a lot of things that uh well I think me I've had discussions before about what is wealth and what what's the difference between wealth and having money yeah and having wealth is meaning that you can Tide it over to Future generations and that they'll be okay but having money is just you having enough for yourself in this lifetime okay and I think a lot of factors play into a lot of people do have money but not a lot of people have wealth and I think that's a giant thing that and financial literacy also and knowing what to do with that okay all right now you know what you just sounded like right there you sounded like a really privileged uh educated smart American forget about the fact that you're black for a second you sounded like a privileged American in that response right there but here's what I want you to do I want you to look into the camera and I want you to talk to 40 million white people who all have white privilege so hang on white people 40 million white people you have y'all y'all have a ton of white privilege and no matter what when you walk into a room your whiteness is gonna get you things like people are just gonna throw at you because you're white you know that's how it works um but Maya right now and Daniel and Devin they're gonna talk to you and tell you how you should think about all that white privilege you have okay all right so go ahead man what are you gonna say um I'm not really sure I understand the question well you got it here I got it oh hang on here you go you ready uh hold on I'm gonna I'll do this here's the question dude I'll just sit right here so I'm I'm one of those white people okay and uh I'm going like man what the I have a privilege like I can't I can go see the doctor I can't I can't do I'm poor man I'm working three jobs I'm barely hanging on and like where's my privilege just being white like where's my privilege man like I'm so poor I can't even get a job at Walmart like where's my privilege all right that's what I want you to respond to okay um so what I'd say to that is no to those people to those people to you actually you you could say to you okay to you what you can think of is White Privilege is not just this uh God complex it's not oh I'm inherently better it's not I should have this job because I am white it's because you get those little advantages those little when you say you have nothing when I mean if you're a white and poor you still are white and that in itself with our country's history does give you a little leverage over people of color and wait over you yes let me ask you this would you rather be poor and white pork and white okay he grew up your mom works at a diner 20 hours a week because she's home taking care of her disabled father and your father is kind of I don't know a crackhead right and you're white okay would you rather be and you know really trying to survive maybe disabled forget the crackhead thing disabled like really work on her or or you ready or would you rather be you of course I want to be me because I know I know myself no no no no I am not talking about that my friend I'm talking about you black and Wealthy because you're in the richest one percent of the world's population so am I by the way so are you by the way the richest one percent of the world's population so Devin's you're down a little bit but you're all right would you rather be that person in white or would you rather be you um I mean sometimes I would think that I would rather be white but I think with who I am now I'd rather be my who uh in my circumstances all right bro what would you say thanks man hey by the way I I'm totally putting on the spot you got that right yeah I mean you got there's no answer to this like basically I'm just kind of backing you against the wall and I'm gonna see how you're gonna come away from it but dude how about you like what do you what are you what are you gonna say to all your white brothers and sisters out there who are really poor I would just say it depends person to person how much money they have how much money they grow up with um it also could depend on where they're from the opportunities that they have I don't know or just going to school getting a job things that you know dude you're talking like what you know what you're talking like right now you're just talking like a white guy who doesn't want to say anything racist right it's like because holy I'll get canceled and like my life will fall apart and then I'll have to be like a Catholic priest the rest of my life or something right just seeking alms from the poor look is that what priest said do they do that anymore I don't think they do that all right dude I'm talking about this conversation we're having about white privilege and I want you to go go down into inner city Baltimore don't look Baltimore Inner City Baltimore 65 black but pick out just the poor white people and I want you to speak to them about their privilege compared to all the rich black and brown people including in this room by the way what do you how do you what do you what do you what do you say I'll say an example like that I mean changes the idea of white privilege I don't know if maybe if they're walking to a certain kind of store they have white privilege um you mean so like some like the security guard doesn't follow them around certain things like that but okay hang on what kind of car do you does your mom Drive uh what kind of car she drives yeah yeah she she likes having a Tesla no my family doesn't own a Tesla all right okay but um because you only own Ferraris like but I'm just kidding what kind of car do you drive um I drive so I drive one of my parents cars uh I drive mainly a Honda Accord all right okay oh that's okay that's cool all right dude what I'm just as a white guy I'm asking you as a as a privileged white guy which you are I'm asking you how do you respond to your like you just what you do you do other white people do you just get into this white like white privileged conversation about yeah well I'm privileged because I have this because I'm white and I'm like what about those 40 million people man you gotta you gotta take account of them how do you take account of them I mean I guess those the less I know less wealthy white people they still can have some white privilege but they have the thought in the back of their head that there's people like their same skin color that have more privilege than them so it becomes I don't know less of a factor in their lives but um I would say the lower class white people still have some kind of white privilege even if they don't know it I don't know um yeah okay all right all right dude that's that's fair Devin as someone who grew up without a lot do you sometimes hear this conversation about do you when I say there's rich black and brown people in this class you know what that means all right I mean like really rich yeah how do you feel how do you feel if they talk about their the fact that you have all this privilege and like they don't do you have any thoughts like what do you have anything you want to say to them I think I I feel differently because you know once upon a time I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the same question like how could I have white privilege when I grew up in the way that I did but our identities are intersectional we have you know various we're existing existing in various systems of Oppression and privilege and so in that sure there are factors working against me but there are factors working for me and one of them happens to be that I am white and so to all those white poor people I'm sure you're oppressed because you have a lower social class but you are still advantaged because you are white you are the dominant group all right okay um hey I'm not gonna I I don't I'm not gonna push any further because whatever you you understand you you all get what I'm doing here right I'm I'm saying like we got to get outside of these like really narrow confines of how we think about certain things and we need to just like up up the game a little bit like get out of it right because these things are really complex and we don't want simple stories you don't want some if you're thinking like all the other people are thinking you're not thinking very smart in a very smart way all right we have it okay thanks man deal thanks thanks for going with me y'all right all right okay [Applause] [Music]

Channel: SOC 119

Views: 172,904

Keywords: Sociology, Soc119, Soc 119, Soc, Penn State, PSU, Penn State University, Sam Richards, Sam, Richards, Dr Sam Richards, Dr. Sam Richards, Race, Ethnic, Relations, Race and Ethnic Relations, University Class, Free education, Free, classroom, virtual class, mixed americans, being mixed, mixed race, mixed raced

Id: xO7vWBCkXcA

Length: 20min 32sec (1232 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 26 2022