Out For A Walk

Oooh, that was a good choice because a strange man followed me home with wine. The dudes at Trader Joe's are just adorable.

I hadn't seen SNL, but when I got into my office on Monday, my officemate asked me if Patterson was particularly known for incompetence. He didn't know much about Patterson other than the really basic info, and had figured that, if SNL was doing a sketch like that, it must be because Patterson had been doing some particularly clueless stuff lately. But nope, SNL was just going for the easy joke.

When I taught 8th graders I'd say "It's only a joke if both people laugh." I have found that often works on adults too.

SO tired. Will someone come walk my dog?

That privilege essay, along with my ongoing annoyance at Annoying Officemate (who manages to find some way to mention to me that he has Jewish friends at least once a week -- seriously, I could deal with this stuff when I was at Tulane and a lot of the other people in my dorm were from relatively Jewless areas. But he's from just outside San Francisco), kind of reminded me of an incident when I was in high school. I was heading out the door to an Academic Decathlon competition. My mom noticed that I was wearing a Star of David necklace, and told me that she didn't think that was a good idea, because two of the events (interview and speech) involved someone looking at me and judging me. I said that was nuts. She repeated that she just didn't think it was a good idea, because, "You never know, even OK people might have some subconscious things." I said that one of my teammates was wearing a cross necklace, and she said, "You know that's not the same thing."

I wore it. But then, before stepping into the interview and speech rooms, I had a weird moment of panicky "What if?" and tucked the necklace under my shirt.

The discussion of privilege is pinging me in weird places. Maybe it's because I've never lived in an area with a large non-white population (sub-Appalachian Pennsylvania to Utah, very melanoma lacking). I can recall no conversations in which race was a primary topic. Granted, I was a spectacularly naive child, but when I first met a black person--I didn't realize he was a different "race". He was just someone who looked a little different, and he had neat hair.

Privilege in my life has always been defined in class terms. In a poor area, being able to pay your bills and own your house and have some extra makes you high class. Beyond that, the head of household's profession, did you live in town or not, etc. determined the unspoken pecking order.

My family acknowledged no one as our superiors, but it was never discussed. My mother didn't play any social games that I noticed, so I never learned to kowtow or lord it over anyone. If I was taught to be privileged, it was so very subtle that I doubt my teachers were aware of it.

I don't think I need to feel guilty for being white, and that's what the articles about white feminist privilege and such sound like. I'll accept that I have advantages in America because I'm white. Those advantages should belong to everyone. My husband could tell you stories about being one of three white kids in a predominantly black high school in LA in the 70s that don't have the word advantage anywhere in them--except that his parents gave him a bigger caliber pistol than the other kids had.

Every group of people has to deal with advantage. Every person in that group should be aware of where the advantage lies and if that advantage is unrighteous. Decent human beings should fight to make sure the playing field is as level as practical. If I misuse my advantages, I should be chastised. But I'm not going to feel bad just because I have one.

Urgh. I've got the Jensen Ackles real bad.

Is the treatment a cream or a suppository?

I recommend a little hair of the dog.

Did you read the linked article, Connie? I found it made clear how invisible the privilege is to those who have it and what it consists of. I don't think it called on us to be guilty as much as aware.

Although I also want to say that I think your experience of class privilege is very pervasive as well.

Ok...I know this is not at all on-topic, but I had to share two pictures from the party today (and these will go back behind lock in a minute).

Snowman Cake: [link]

Eating Snowman Cake: [link]

Did you read the linked article, Connie?

I did. It's what made me think that her list of privileges were not so much "white" as "dominant culture."