The Fears of White People

[jaysunb]

It may seem self-indulgent to talk about the fears of white people in a white-supremacist society. After all, what do white people really have to be afraid of in a world structured on white privilege? It may be self-indulgent, but it's critical to understand because these fears are part of what keeps many white people from confronting ourselves and the system.

The first, and perhaps most crucial, fear is that of facing the fact that some of what we white people have is unearned. It's a truism that we don't really make it on our own; we all have plenty of help to achieve whatever we achieve. That means that some of what we have is the product of the work of others, distributed unevenly across society, over which we may have little or no control individually. No matter how hard we work or how smart we are, we all know -- when we are honest with ourselves -- that we did not get where we are by merit alone. And many white people are afraid of that fact.


http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=30&ItemID=8698

crossposting earlier post by, hardrainfallin

[Bellamia]

1. My father taught me early on..............

"Remember, somewhere, sometime, somehow, somebody worked very hard so you have all you have today." I acknowledge that I didn't grow the food I eat, build the car I drive, sew the clothes I wear, or whatever. None of us in totally independent, tis not possible. Is that so hard to recognize and be thankful for?

[jaysunb]

2. Alas....it seems to be.

n/t

[Karenina]

3. The piece nails it!

Thanks for posting.

[salin]

4. nominated

hope many read this article.

[jaysunb]

5. Thanks to "hardrainfallin for the find !

it seems to go down pretty fast whenever I kick it, but I'll keep trying. LOL !
:evilgrin: