Our fellow humans walk this earth with experiences that most of us know nothing about. A dialogue about anything - whether we agree with the other’s point of view or not - does not have to threaten us
As a mental health therapist, the more global reason I was inspired to talk about this is summarized in the last video.
Here are the bullet points:
1. White privilege isn’t like the tooth fairy, it’s not a matter of whether you “choose to” believe in it or not
2. White privilege doesn’t mean that you are wrong, bad, or necessarily racist just because you are white. It’s not about the wrongdoings of any one specific individual
3. White privilege does not necessarily mean that you have the socioeconomic benefits we tend to associate with the word privilege. I think this one is especially challenging for us as Americans to accept because we are much more comfortable talking about class in this country than we are talking about race, at least compared to people in other parts of the world in my experience. And yes, there’s a correlation but they are still two different demographic variables
4. Last but not least, the subject of white privilege - like all important issues in our world - is part of a bigger conversation about the human experience. It’s about how painful it is to take our blinders off and actually see things that we previously knew nothing (or very little) about
Without some level of self-awareness, our default is to be outraged at the person sharing the message (vocal vegans and activists of all kinds should know a lot about this) because it’s sooo much easier to point the finger and try to silence the messenger than it is to look at ourselves
Additional thoughts:
Our fellow humans walk this earth with experiences that most of us know nothing about. A dialogue about anything - whether we agree with the other’s point of view or not - does not have to threaten us
But - if & when it does, the answer is not to continue looking outwards, but to look at ourselves and where we still have healing to do
With the right mindset, intentions, and conversations, we are much stronger together than we ever could be apart
Tara x
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