What Do Band-Aids, Bras and Bilbo Baggins Have To Do With
White Privilege?
If you happen to be white, these are some things you might
take for granted.
On this week’s episode “Decoded,” Franchesca Ramsey gets a
little help from some friends to put together a pretty surprising list: Things
white people take for granted.
Whether it’s the faces that appear on our money, the (limited) races of Middle Earth, or the “flesh” and “nude” colored Band-Aids, bras or make-up you can buy (whose “flesh” and “nude” are they looking at, anyway?) they all point to a really uncomfortable conclusion: So many things in our culture are just built around being white.
It goes deeper than just the things we consume. We’re talking about people’s everyday lives being molded and shaped by whiteness — the lack of knowledge and understanding of cultural cues, the expectations that go along with the hidden biases about race and the glaring holes in popular culture that don’t acknowledge (let alone celebrate) the wealth of different shades and experiences that are out there.
And, if you happen to be white, these are things you may
never have even noticed.
Can you think of anything else white people take for
granted? Or, if you’re white, did any of these surprise you? Let us know what
you think.
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