Do white liberals understand the white privilege they receive daily?

[lumberjack_jeff]

201. By what magic do black, native american or hispanic liberals grok the nature of being white?

It's safe to say that discrimination, bias and racism exist, and that empathy and understanding are in short supply. This isn't a one-way street, however. The barriers that make me ignorant of the reality of others lives also blinds them to the reality of mine.

I think that people are missing the irony that anyone has a particular qualification by virtue of their sex, orientation or race to quantify privilege, a term which could be defined as the state of ignorance into the reality of others lives.

Because the disparate outcomes can be measured, I'm inclined to agree that white privilege exists and that my ignorance of the daily lives of black, hispanic or native american people is a barrier to effectively creating social change. But the nature of the two way street is this: to the extent that I have a comfortable if not affluent life in which my needs are met, the reasons are not entirely due to privilege. I think that some degree of social change could come from listening and not just poking me in my anonymous lily-white chest.

In real life, I'm not an altogether unfortunate role model. What I've done has mostly worked to create a happy life. If we could have a less accusatory discussion on the topic I think it would supply more light, less noise and perhaps an opportunity to learn from one another.