Tim Wise Pens "This Is Your Nation On White Privilege"
Anti-racism activist and author of White Like Me Tim Wise has penned an essay entitled,”This is Your Nation on White Privilege” which is making its way around the internet.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
A commenter on Wise’s Red Room blog , however, brings up the important distinction that this is an example of class bias more than it is a racial one, using Halle Barry’s unwed pregancy as an example of a black woman who was not criticized for being in similar circumstances because she has the money to take care of her baby. We totally agree. Class is the true, unexamined prejudice in America. We would also add to that the case of Jamie Lynn Spears as an example of a wealthy white teenager who was grilled over hot coals when she turned up pregnant proving that people really are just judgmental of undwed, teenage mothers regardless of race or celebrity status.
This is not to say that racism is not rampant in America, but can we have an effective discussion on race during the presidential election when partisan bias—something Mr. Wise’s essay reeks of—clouds everything we see? In the end, most Americans will see about their candidate what is convenient to see and hold fast to their points of view as a matter of “principal.” That said, in the interest of your own principals, you should read the entire essay here and make up your own mind.
THIS IS YOUR NATION ON WHITE PRIVILEGE [Tim Wise Official MySpace]
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I’m not too sure about the Halle Berry example being more of a classist example. Berry was past 40 when she had her child. I feel that societal expectations for women after a certain age change.
As an example, myself. If I would have gotten pregnant at 17, yes I would have been seen as another statistic: “those damn Latinas and their hyper-fertility!!!” (we all know how those stereotypes go). At 25, my current age, getting pregnant now is, ehh, not such a big deal, but my parents would prefer for me to get married or be in a stable relationship. At 35-40, “your biological clock is ticking and expiring” comments will increase from intrusive peers. My parents, particularly my mother, would probably tell me “please use a turkey baster and get pregnant already. We want our grandchild.”
Posted by L-K | September 18, 2008
i was going to say the same about halle berry — she is a 40+ woman. it is different than being an unwed teen. and the spears girl was another example of the prevalence of stereotyping. had that been raven simone, her show would have been canceled immediately…
Posted by VVAV | September 18, 2008
I also think that, even though she’s super rich, Jamie Lynn was still often referred to as a redneck, white trash and a hillbilly all throughout her pregnancy.
Posted by La Linda | September 18, 2008
Halle Berry can not be held up as an example of anything and neither can Jamie-Lynn. They are celebrities and Tim Wise is talking about regular everyday people. The point about it being partisan and bias is a more sound argument. However, just because someone is voting for a certain candidate, it does not mean that there isn’t truth behind what he is saying. Bristol Palin being pregnant is “cute” to America in general because she is white and her own mother has used her (and her baby brother) as a political pawn to prove just how against abortion she is. If Barack Obama had a teenage, pregnant daughter, he’d be out of the Presidential election, without a doubt. That’s our nation on White Privilege and it extends to Latinos as well, in the people’s list of 15 most influential Latinos, every single last one of them looked Caucasian, are there no darker skinned Latinos doing anything worth noting in the USA?
Posted by BXMariposa | September 18, 2008