{"id":1181,"date":"2016-06-01T15:25:05","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T22:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=1181"},"modified":"2019-06-10T13:30:59","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T20:30:59","slug":"white-privilege-random-emails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=1181","title":{"rendered":"White Privilege & A Random Email!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The majority of my life, I have dealt with and confronted white privilege in many different social spaces. So, I\u2019m not shocked by the current debate over privileges! This debate has been an ongoing battle for decades!<\/p>\n

But, it does remind me of the writings\u00a0of Dr. Peggy McIntosh<\/a>. In her groundbreaking article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack<\/em><\/a>, she pointed out that \u201cwhites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege.\u201d She continues by stating that “white privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.” Furthermore, McIntosh “identif[ies] some of the daily effects of white privilege.”<\/span>\u00a0Here is a short list of them!<\/p>\n

1. I can if I wish to arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
\n2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
\n3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.
\n4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
\n5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
\n6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
\n7. When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
\n8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
\n9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
\n10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.<\/em><\/p>\n

For me, as a faculty of color, I encounter those effects of white privilege almost every day, especially when I receive random emails from my students questioning my credentials. Here is a clear\u00a0example of white privilege! This student was enrolled in one of my courses but decided to drop it. For some odd reason, the student decided to email me a year later!<\/p>\n

[student name]<\/strong><\/p>\n

[address]<\/strong><\/p>\n

[city, state, zip code]<\/strong><\/p>\n

[date]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Mr. Moreno,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know it has been almost a year since I was enrolled in your class, but I decided to write this letter to both thank for sparking an interest in the history of minorities in America as well as my own family history.\u00a0 Additionally, I am writing this letter to inform you about some of my findings.<\/p>\n

While it is true that many white college kids are uneducated about the history and lives of minorities I have found that the reverse is also true.\u00a0 I feel as though you made several comments that I found offensive and indicated that you may be misinformed as well.\u00a0 These include comments like, \u201cthere is isn\u2019t very much color in [state]<\/strong>,\u201d insinuating that if someone is white that means that they are racist and that minorities are all open minded.\u00a0 In fact studies show lower levels of anti-Semitism and homophobia among white Americans than many other ethnic groups.\u00a0 You also referred to Western Civilization as the culture of \u201cdead rich white men,\u201d which I found incredibly offensive to anyone whose ancestors served in the military to defend our freedom.\u00a0 My ancestors fought for liberty not Marxism.\u00a0 I could mention numerous other comments, but that would take up too much space so I will continue with informing you about my family background.<\/p>\n

Through my research I have found that I had ancestors from Ireland who were locked up in prison for fighting for their freedom from colonial rule and were forced to come to the United States to save themselves from starvation.\u00a0 I have Greek ancestors who were kicked off of their land in modern day Turkey and lived under oppressive Ottoman rule were they were basically treated as slaves.\u00a0 Upon arriving in America my Great Grandmother was forced to sleep with animals and eat dog food as that is how rich businessmen in New York City viewed her.\u00a0 My Grandfather recalls being called a \u201cGod damned Greek\u201d and even had his house in [city]<\/strong> burned down.\u00a0 He was told by a teacher that he would of course never go to college.\u00a0 I have ancestors from French Canada who were kicked out of Acadia by the British.\u00a0 Nearly half starved to death.\u00a0 Many of my mother\u2019s ancestors were Irish and German Catholics who were at one time viewed with the same suspicion as Muslims and Hispanics today.\u00a0 I even discovered that my third great grandfather was of African American and Spanish descent and he escaped slavery on the Underground Railroad.<\/p>\n

Yet despite the hardships that my ancestors faced, despite the fact that my father and his brothers were repeatedly harassed growing up for doing well in school and eventually getting well paying jobs, I am viewed by people such as yourself as just another white man.\u00a0 I am viewed as an oppressor, a bigot, a homophobe, etc. just because I am a white man.\u00a0 Because my family members have good jobs and do well financially it is assumed that we are members of a magical \u201cdominant group\u201d of white people who congregate together to figure out how we can get rich exploiting minorities. \u00a0I think it is important for you to understand that many white people have had no involvement in the oppression of minorities and work their asses off to get good jobs. \u00a0Maybe white people in a rich, liberal state like California buy your narrative, but not in a state like [state]<\/strong> which is filled with descendants of poor ethnic Europeans.<\/p>\n

I hope this letter has helped you to understand that not all white people come from the same background and hate their ancestors.\u00a0 I have a great deal of respect for the sacrifices that my ancestors have made.<\/p>\n

[student name]<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

c\/s<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The majority of my life, I have dealt with and confronted white privilege in many different social spaces. So, I\u2019m not shocked by the current debate over privileges! This debate has been an ongoing battle for decades! But, it does remind me of the writings\u00a0of Dr. Peggy McIntosh. In her groundbreaking article, White Privilege: Unpacking […]<\/p>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6ibJA-j3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1114,"url":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=1114","url_meta":{"origin":1181,"position":0},"title":"Family, Sugar Beets, And The Academic Industrial Complex","date":"December 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"For half of my life, I have been an academic migrant, and for the last seven years, my home has been in the Midwest. During this time, I have relied on my friends to give me a sense of community, culture, and history. I had the opportunity to spend the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Borderlands"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/luishmoreno.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/11125680754_6b079e1954_o.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":589,"url":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=589","url_meta":{"origin":1181,"position":1},"title":"Pachuca\/os: The Criminalization of Mexican Youth, Part I","date":"August 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Part I - Series On The Criminalization Of Mexican Youth: In my process of researching the history of Mexicans in Ventura County, I have collected thousands of news clippings. The majority of the clippings focus on the themes of\u00a0labor, migration, and activism, which I'm writing on. It's common for my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activism"","img":{"alt_text":"Untitled","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.staticflickr.com\/407\/19568642575_930598fbeb_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":995,"url":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=995","url_meta":{"origin":1181,"position":2},"title":"Guerrillera\/os de la Pluma, Spring\/Summer 2013!","date":"June 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I had the opportunity to be the editor of the Guerrillera\/os de la Pluma for over a decade! Before the passing of our comrade, Ernesto Bustillos in 2012, I had decided to step down as the editor and focus on other media projects. 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This community was constructed by city policies of segregating the Mexican population from other ethnic groups, but especially\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Academic"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/luishmoreno.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/FullSizeRender-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1059,"url":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=1059","url_meta":{"origin":1181,"position":4},"title":"The OPD vs. Local Historians!","date":"November 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Local Mural in La Colonia (2012). Courtesy of the author\u2019s photo collection.I was born and raised on the Oxnard Plain. My family was part of the migration of Mexican workers into Oxnard during the 1930\u2019s. They settled in La Colonia in the 1940\u2019s. And we lived in the same house\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activism"","img":{"alt_text":"Untitled","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8208\/8275591475_65e77e190e.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1618,"url":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=1618","url_meta":{"origin":1181,"position":5},"title":"Remembering Colonia Village, Part I","date":"July 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Part I - Series On The History Of Colonia Village: In 2014, Oxnard Housing Authority began the first phase\u00a0of demolishing Colonia Village, a public-housing tract\u00a0in La Colonia. Just like the house on Bonita Avenue, the housing projects is an essential part of my mother's history. 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