tsg2010:

I’m  standing at a Josh Ritter concert, in the back of the crowd behind, of course, the tallest guy there.  I try to shuffle, crane my neck, inch sideways, to get a glimpse of the stage.  I’m a little frustrated, but not angry, at this inconvenience; it is a standing room only concert after all.  The anger comes a few minutes later, when a pretty blond, about my height, squeezes in beside me.  Within minutes, Tall Guy turns around, apologizes for blocking her view, and settles her into a better spot in front of him.  This is white privilege in action.  Now, some of you are thinking, “well, he was just flirting with her.  That was only his excuse to talk to her.”  And you may very well be right, none of which makes this any less about race.  Aida Hurtado, in her essay, “The Color of Privilege” describes how, in simplified terms, white women are subordinated by white men through seduction and black women through rejection.  While white women have been historically conceptualized as the weaker sex, black women have been characterized as strong, even masculine.  It is this framework that led to the scenario above, where I was an invisible object and Blondie was a frail, little thing in need of protection.  This is not to say that her treatment wasn’t also rooted in sexism, but that her treatment as a (capital W) Woman affords her certain privileges.

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