Monday, March 28, 2011

It's called an intersection for a reason people

Renee at Womanist Musings has a great piece up called 'Stop denying
white female privilege'. Remember my little kyriarchy prime, little
bits of privilege mix with little bits of oppression to make something
new. That's an intersection. Also 2 (or more) oppressions can mix to
make something new. It's like cooking. Oil and vinegar are 2 totally
disparate substances, but when you mix them together you have
dressing. So yes, white lady privilege ABSOLUTELY, UNEQUIVOCABLY
EXISTS. I lived for years as one of the few whites in a black
neighborhood and my neighbors and I All understood that if a person in
authority (like the cops) needed to be called, the best response
happened when it was my white lady presence talking to the authority.
When i got hassled by men on the street, my sole weapon was the
knowledge that if the police showed up I'd be believed because the
hasslers were always POC (not because POC are more likely to harrass
but because that was the neighborhood I was in.) That's privilege.
Full stop.

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