From a white teenage girl’s perspective
Victoria N.
Fortson, GA
My ancestors came to America just like many others. Just because I am white, does not mean my family “owned” “slaves”. When an African American girl says to me “you’re so lucky to have that hair” or “I would pay a lot for some of your hair”, it makes me mad. Hair or material appearances should not be what you see when you look at someone. It’s about what is on the inside, not the color of one’s hair or skin! I have strawberry-blonde hair so I get called a “ginger” from all races. According to some people, I only have “half a soul”.
Being called a ginger hurts just as much as being called the N word. I like to drink Starbucks so I’m a “Typical white girl’? That term is degrading to teenagers like me. Just because I am white, does not make me privileged. My dad only makes about $30,000 a year. My mother is unemployed and homeless! Being white does not make someone racist or privileged. Do you see colleges or scholarships for “white” people? No, but you see them for African Americans. Also, to the African American boys that get mad when a white girl says she has a preference: For MOST of us, it’s not because you have dark skin, it’s because our mind is not physically attracted to you. Stop calling us racist or our DNA makeup. Our generation only has control of the future, not the past, so get over it.
White but never owned a slave
Crystal,
Fredericksburg, VA
Honestly I am getting sick and tired of being told I need to apologize for slavery. I have NEVER owned a slave and refuse to apologize for something I had no part in.
I do not feel privileged in fact if a white man and a black man with the same credentials apply for a job guess who gets the job? Not the white man.
What I do see as racist is the fact that there can be schools and grants and organizations that cater ONLY to black people but if there were an all-white school or organization that is racism.
I hate that black people can be proud of their own race but if a white person is its racist.
I have LITERALLY had a social worker look at me dead in my eye when I was once homeless with a child and say these exact words to me “if you were black I could help”
Where is my privilege?
I have been mistreated by police before
Where is my privilege?
I have seen my children run off of playgrounds because the black kids said whites were not allowed to play
Where is my white privilege?
I hear “y’all white people” constantly
Where is my fight against racism? I am one person I am not all white people
I am not a slave owner
I don’t have not am I offered anything above what anyone else is offered. In fact, it is the opposite I have roadblocks because I am white!
Because I am white
statues of my descendants are being destroyed.
Because I am white
I cannot attend certain collages
Because I am white
My children cannot play at certain playgrounds
Because I am white
I dont qualify for certain scholarships or schools
Because I am white
I am not allowed to be openly proud of anything that portrays my race.
Because I am white
I am not allowed to have a voice without being attacked if my views do not match some others views
Because I am white
I am actually the one being discriminated against
I Hate Myself for Being White.
Rose Johnson,
Redwood City, CA.
I feel so dirty. I don’t know why. I feel racist even though I go out of my way to be kind to all the Mexican kids at my school, or the homeless African-American guy who camps near the 7-11 I go to after school, because I know they probably get shit on all the time just for having more melanin in their skin than I do. Ferguson hit me really hard, and I wish I could do something, but since I’m white, I feel like people will think I’m just trying to get attention, like, “Oh, look at me! I’m a nice white person! I’M not racist!” I feel like I was just born racist and prejudiced and bigoted because of my skin color. I just hate myself so much. And I know I sound all whiny and pathetic, but I’m really not trying to garner any sympathy. I’m just getting this off my chest.
