White People, Let's Get a Backbone, Shall We?

Alas, a blog, has some posts (and a great cartoon, below) by Barry Deutsch on racism that are worth reading.

by Barry Deutch (click here for a LARGER VERSION)

Deutch talks about the privilege that comes with skin color in Privilege is Driving a Smooth Road and Not Even Knowing It.

When strangers often think less of you because of your sex or race, you have less access to the material benefits of our society and economy.

People with more privilege, in contrast, can easily imagine that they are independent. A big mark of privilege is that social and economic networks tend to facilitate goals, rather than block them.

And inspired by Prometheus 6 (this is worth reading, too), Deutch wrote How Not to Be Insane When Accused of Racism (A Guide For White People), in which he encourages whites not to overreact when accused (faIrly or unfairly) of racism.

It's true - a lot of white people, hell, most white people turn ten different colors of pissed off and shoot steam out their ears if someone suggests they've said something racist. And if you make a point of talking about race and racism, sooner or later someone will accuse you of being racist, fairly or unfairly.

Frankly, I think we whites - especially, we whites who think of ourselves as against racism - have to get over it.

Read them in their entirety at Alas, a blog. OK?