Letters to the Editor
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Emily (again):
I think this is the concept I was taking issue with:
Most white males in, say, their 30's or above have actually seen white male privelege dismantled in their lifetimes.
Because I simply don't see that it *has* been dismantled. Are things better than they were twenty years ago, or even ten? Sure. But that doesn't mean that it's simply not a problem anymore, any more than it means that racism is dead because things are better than they were in the bad old days during the civil rights struggle.
As I said, I sympathize with people who feel marginalized by society, no matter what their race. And I would feel horrible for any white boy growing up who gets the impression that his personal problems simply aren't important because of his gender and color. But acting as if the concept of "white male privilege" is an outdated notion that should be confined to the history books is misguided, I think.
I respect that you worry about the message we send to young white boys, because it's an important thing to be concerned with. But the whole concept of privilege is about making people aware of what's going on around them in everyday life, not making them feel guilty for what happened in the past. From my point of view, and my personal experience, it's simply too soon to declare "white male privilege" DOA.