Roseanne Barr and White Privilege

I’ve seen a lot of people on my Facebook wall upset that the hit sitcom #Roseanne was canceled by ABC because its star made some “politically incorrect” remarks on Twitter.

Here’s what happened:

Roseanne Barr — the star of the show — made a culturally and racially offensive remark about a black woman by comparing her to a monkey — an insult that has far-reaching historical overtones.

Here’s why our reaction to this news says a lot about us as a country and you as a person:

White privilege doesn’t mean white people don’t struggle in America. White privilege means that when all other factors are held equal, it’s more advantageous to be white in the U.S. than it is to be any other race. And, as a white male, I understand why it can be so hard for white people to accept or understand this.

I can’t speak for the black experience in America. But I do know what it means to be white. I grew up in a small East Texas town and attended a predominantly white high school and college. Through conversations with friends and acquaintances, I’ve become painfully aware of the privilege afforded to me through our country’s racial history and my whiteness.

This doesn’t mean I need to apologize for my identity or on behalf of all the racist white people throughout history, but it does mean I need to be aware of how my thoughts, words, and actions could further disenfranchise and marginalize a historically oppressed people group.

The threshold for racism is not (and should not) be whether or not you’re in the KKK or a white supremacist (that’s a ridiculously low bar to set for yourself) — the threshold should be our awareness of how outdated ideas and attitudes about race continue to influence and affect the world today.

White privilege is a lot like gravity — it exists and affects you whether you believe in it or not. But the true test of someone’s “wokeness” is not the correct ideas they hold in their head (though that’s a great start), it’s how you’re using your privilege to elevate and make way for the ideas, opinions, and work of people of color.

If you’re white, the best thing you can do right now is listen. Listen to the lived-in experiences of our black brothers and sisters and make an effort to educate yourself. There are plenty of books, movies, and other resources designed to help white people see the world through a different set of eyes (if you need suggestions, let me know!).

And this new education will probably be very uncomfortable — I know it was for me. But we really need to stop conflating “racism” with “stuff that makes white people uncomfortable.” Because let’s get real — black people in America have only known freedom from slavery and segregation for 13% of the time since the first ship delivered slaves to America’s shore in 1607 (and that’s only if we consider the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as the “end” of segregation).

So, before you launch into another online tirade against the cancellation of Roseanne, or kneeling NFL players, or Civil War Statues, ask yourself: What would it be like to be black and be taught history as a succession of “things white people accomplished”? To know that when Thomas Jefferson penned “All men are created equal” in our Declaration of Independence, he was only referring to white males with property?

What would it be like to “fight for your country” and come back to segregated water fountains? What would it feel like to walk past statues honoring people who fought and died to keep your ancestors enslaved? What would it be like to grow up knowing your grandparents — or even your parents — lived in fear of being beaten or lynched for violating vague social decorum?

A little bit of empathy and historical context can go a long way.

I’m going to end with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. But it’s not one of his most popular quotes — especially among white people.

From “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” (1963):

“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”

Let Reverend King’s words resonate just as powerfully now as they did during the Civil Rights Movement.