When people shame me for being white, what should I do?

[bcol01]

You know, all the white privilege/shaming stuff going on these days. Should I be ashamed for choosing my own skin color?

[Queequeg]

You know, all the white privilege/shaming stuff going on these days. Should I be ashamed for choosing my own skin color?

1. You shouldn't feel ashamed for something like your skin color. Why should you?
2. White privilege should not be a source of shame. Just acknowledge it and move on. Why should it be shameful?

[Grigoris]

You know, all the white privilege/shaming stuff going on these days. Should I be ashamed for choosing my own skin color?

Taking advantage of your privilege for self gain/profit is "shameful", using this privilege to benefit all sentient beings is not shameful.

BTW, when was the last time you were shamed for being white? I mean, really...

[bcol01]

Today actually. Not sure how to respond to someone who tells me that I should be ashamed for being white.

You know, all the white privilege/shaming stuff going on these days. Should I be ashamed for choosing my own skin color?

Taking advantage of your privilege for self gain/profit is "shameful", using this privilege to benefit all sentient beings is not shameful.

BTW, when was the last time you were shamed for being white? I mean, really...

[Grigoris]

Today actually. Not sure how to respond to someone who tells me that I should be ashamed for being white.

Personally, I would just look at them like they are an idiot. But then, I am not afraid to get into a punch-up.

[Johnny Dangerous]

You know, all the white privilege/shaming stuff going on these days. Should I be ashamed for choosing my own skin color?

Taking advantage of your privilege for self gain/profit is "shameful", using this privilege to benefit all sentient beings is not shameful.

BTW, when was the last time you were shamed for being white? I mean, really...

I'm all for examining one's privilege, economic, racial or otherwise. Honestly though there are some people in the US (usually millennials, but I've seen it in older sets) who are so irrational and reflexive about the whole thing that it's simply ridiculous.

The answer is, acknowledge whatever privilege you do or don't have, do what you can to support oppressed people, and refuse to play the silly guilt and means testing game they are advocating. Nine times out of ten it's more about scoring points than anything else. Most people I've met who bring up white privilege immediately in conversations out of nowhere are immature, and it's not worth socializing with them. If someone told me I should be ashamed for being white I'd tell them to go away. Ironically, the only people who have ever told me that are young, naive white people who have the privelege of going to college and immersing themselves in college-oriented identity politics.

[cyril]

Not sure how to respond to someone who tells me that I should be ashamed for being white.

But why would you care about what idiots think and say? They'll never be your friends, they'll never be part of your family, so why would you bother responding?

[Queequeg]

Today actually. Not sure how to respond to someone who tells me that I should be ashamed for being white.

Personally, I would just look at them like they are an idiot. But then, I am not afraid to get into a punch-up.

bcol, take some notes from Greg.

The proper response to someone trying to shame you for just being is to spin them around and give them a quick kick in the ass. Tell them, GTFO.

[Simon E.]

I might be tempted to say that I was born into a working class family in a poor part of town, raised by a single parent and shared the house with loads of relatives, who also shared a toilet in the yard, which was pretty fresh in the wintertime..and no bath...And then ask what privilege THAT conferred.
But I would probably not bother although all true..

[Queequeg]

I might be tempted to say that I was born into a working class family in a poor part of town, raised by a single parent and shared the house with loads of relatives, who also shared a toilet in the yard, which was pretty fresh in the wintertime..and no bath...And then ask what privilege THAT conferred.
But I would probably not bother although all true..

Oh, Simon, that's exactly what someone with White Privilege would say...

My Dad says similar things...

"Where's the privilege in walking to school uphill 10 miles through the snow, both ways?! Tell me!"

Before people get upset... joke alert.

[rory]

I'm white and Jewish. I get all kinds of things easy because of it (I'm 60% Middle Eastern) and yet I've been scared and hated in France, Greece, Ireland, Britain, and New York City because of my ethnicity-religion. Anti-Semitism is over 2,000 years old. Life is complicated, don't fall into emotion, do your practice and cultivate compassion - the real kind where you meet people overcome with afflictions in every day life and make skillful choices in your relations with them.
gassho
Rory

[Simon E.]

You had SNOW? We couldn’t afford snow. We would have killed for snow. We had to walk 20 miles through molten lard...

[seeker242]

Say "OK" and then move on with your life.

[KathyLauren]

If you'd rather not use one of the rude or violent options suggested above, just acknowledge your white privilege. It is real, but it is not something to be ashamed of. It is just something to be applied skilfully. Say, "Yes, I acknowledge that I have benefited from white privilege, but I have done nothing to be ashamed of." Then walk away.

Om mani padme hum
Kathy

[KeithA]

You know, all the white privilege/shaming stuff going on these days. Should I be ashamed for choosing my own skin color?

What other folks think of me is none of my business.

I acknowledge fully and without doubt, that my whiteness accords me privileges and treatment not afforded to non-white people in my particular culture (East Coast American). It is what it is. I hope that I can use my situation to make the world a better place, not a worse one.

_/|\_
Keith

[rory]

Here is a genuine reply that I am (sadly) sure will make those acquintances utterly avoid you:

"I agree; you need to make reparations now Give 25% of your spending money/income to historical black colleges and tribal colleges and universities."

gassho
Rory

[Felasco]

Today actually. Not sure how to respond to someone who tells me that I should be ashamed for being white.

Have you tried giggling? Honestly, why take such statements seriously?

[tkp67]

Personally I have a completely different take on the topic.

If someone behaves malignantly in regards to their fellow humanity it is a reflection of their mind and this is an opportunity for compassion. Perhaps if their delusion was powerful enough to permeate my mind I would react with repugnance but it is not. My joy of being is not based on external attachments and thus I feel nothing but deep compassion for those who do not enjoy the same condition, well at least on my good moments.

[shaunc]

Don't get caught up in flavor of the month. If they've got a problem with it, let them have a problem with it, and you just keep on living your life however you want.

[KristenM]

There's a famous quote from the Buddha about how praise and blame have existed for as long as time and never ends. Ignore both blame and praise. In the relative world we live in, however, act with a Bodhisattva attitude of equanimity/compassion/patience etc to end injustice.