General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: White people (especially men...especially straight) seem to have lived in a bubble all their lives [View all]deutsey
(20,166 posts)I'm a white American male.
My mother (who worked as a waitress in a diner for much of my first decade) had me out of wedlock when she was 14 back in 1964.
I don't know my biological father.
My first step-father became addicted to heroin and he kept us in poverty for that first decade of my life. My mom was on food stamps for a time and social services even threatened to put my sister and me in foster care after my step-father went to prison and we were evicted from our apartment.
I was the first in my family to go to college (I got in on the tail-end of reforms that made it more affordable), where my roommate was an African-American male. We are still very close friends, went on to become roommates after college, and he was the best man at my wedding. I've been welcomed into his parents' home many times. His father (who was a minister involved in the civil rights struggle) held my (at-the-time cranky) infant son in his arms and soothed him to sleep. I have been with my friend in stores where he has been ignored by the white salesperson who went on to serve another white customer (who came in after us) instead. I've seen white women grab their purses when my friend has walked by them.
As a summer-intern reporter for my hometown newspaper, one of my beats included "minority issues" (which involved engaging leaders of the Black community), and covering a racially charged special city council election (mandated by the U.S. Justice Dept.) in the town that was famous for its civil rights tensions back in the '60s (a riot broke out after H. Rap Brown spoke there, for example).
I could go on about other friends I have, actions and courses I've taken, books I've read, heroes I have..all of which have changed my life and my way of seeing my place in the world and relating to others, but why bother? You've got me all figured out.
White, American, male, straight=ignoramus living in a self-delusional bubble of privilege. No self awareness at all on my part. No attempt on my part in my years on this earth to see through what privilege I know I have even with my poor background. No sir. I just go from my cushy, greed-driven executive job where I kiss senior management's white, wealthy asses and lord my male whiteness over my inferior underlings, then off to my whites-only country club where I just love to indulge in sexist and racist banter over drinks with the boys, and then home to have my subjugated wife serve me a cocktail and render other wifely duties unto me.
You can continue playing your little game of "Jumping to Conclusions" now...I'm done.