The phrase ‘black privilege’ - which has cropped up recently as a counterattack to the growing use of ‘white privilege’ - is pointed to as a set of societal advantages black people have access to, that other people (i.e: white) don’t. Essentially, it’s often used to dismiss conversations about systemic racism.
The most common examples are the fact that black people are allowed to be proud of and celebrate their heritage, that they get to have exclusive spaces, or that they get to use words that others can’t…but a.) would any white person decrying ‘black privilege’ trade all of their advantages for the ones I just mentioned, and b.) apart from the fact that these are minor ‘benefits,’ there is a historical and systemic reason as to why ‘black privilege’ simply doesn’t true.
After centuries of slavery, segregation, and discrimination, systemic disparities continue to affect black communities today. From education to employment, housing to healthcare, black individuals continue to face disproportionate disadvantages, and trust me, these structural inequalities fly in the face of black privilege.
Privilege, at its core, is “a right, advantage or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.” So, let’s go back through the advantages I mentioned earlier and put them into perspective:
‘Black people are allowed to be proud of and celebrate their heritage.’ Well, first of all, celebrating one’s heritage doesn’t imply superiority. Especially not in this case. If you take into account the history of slavery, segregation, unwillingness to acknowledge black contributions, theft of black contributions, underrepresentation, offensive racial caricatures etc…at its essence, something like Black History Month, is about acknowledging and celebrating the unique experiences, contributions, and resilience of black people throughout history and today.
Society at large celebrates the accomplishments of white people every day, so much so that it’s institutionalised - whether in courts, education, the legal system, or in politics. There is an inequality of recognition and the fact that some calls to celebrate whiteness are in response to black celebration, exemplifies the malignant racism behind it all.
White privilege exists because of historic and enduring racism, and to say that it doesn’t, is simply a way to downplay economic, political and social inequalities. That also holds true for those decrying the ‘privileges’ of having exclusive spaces or saying words other people can’t.
Nobody has ever said that it wasn’t okay to be white, however, our society has long told black people that. So yeah, black only spaces exist as a response to historic and ongoing community trauma. They emerged as safe havens that provided a sense of empowerment and affirmation for black people that faced constant discrimination in predominantly white spaces.
In fact, unofficial safe spaces - for a multitude of communities - have existed for centuries, and they have always been founded on the basis of common lived experiences. ‘White spaces’ on the other hand, have historically been created with prejudice and a notion of ethnic superiority in mind.
We don’t live in a post-racial society, and if you really think about it, ‘black privilege’ is simply a step towards equality. And interestingly, this notion of ‘black privilege’ isn’t even new.
In the U.S, in 1875, Congress passed legislation that banned all discrimination against former enslaved people in public places. But then, in 1883, the Supreme Court found that law to be unconstitutional and Justice Joseph Bradley even stated that quote, “there must come a time when blacks cease to be a special favorite of the laws.” This was 18 years after the abolishment of slavery. The majority of black people at the time were former slaves.
Of course, this decision then led to the creation of Jim Crow laws and that’s another story for another day. The important thing to remember is that in many countries, slavery was abolished less than 200 years ago. In fact, the last country to abolish slavery, Mauritania, did so in 1981.
But yeah, sure, black privilege. Guess that's what it is when you aren’t in shackles Pointing to a black celebrity, a black politician or any successful black person to denounce ‘black privilege’ is quite funny to me, because it implies that black people don’t have a right to be successful. Or if they are, it’s a problem.
Ultimately, the idea of ‘black privilege’ is a weak attempt at getting out of recognising that our society was built on and still deals with systemic racism. It’s a sort of whine from people who don’t like being challenged about their white privilege.
All one has to do, is simply acknowledge that they benefit from it and do their part in changing it. But I guess acknowledging it means confronting it, so some people would rather put their energy elsewhere.
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