Alexander Dolitsky is so offended that anyone would think he has benefited from “white privilege” that he accused those using the term of being racists. He misunderstands the point. White privilege does not mean enjoying a cushy life at the country club. It refers instead to all the cumulative advantages and benefits of the doubt I get specifically because of having white skin. White privilege is indeed deeply racist because it comes from a single characteristic, reflecting the systemic bias that exists in our society. Mr. Dolitsky is rightly proud of what he has earned by his hard work and discipline. White privilege does not diminish his accomplishments, just as the fact that English is my mother tongue takes nothing away from my own achievements, though I did not have to learn a second language like he did.
What white privilege does mean is that I have never been tailed through a department store by a security guard. It means that I have been taken seriously when applying for a loan or asking to look at a house in a nice neighborhood. It means no co-worker has ever doubted my qualifications by claiming I must just have been a diversity hire. White privilege means my encounters with police officers or customs officials start with the premise that I have done no wrong, rather than putting the burden on me to prove that is so. I didn't ask for these advantages, but I receive them nonetheless. The goal of identifying white privilege is not to tear down people like Mr. Dolitsky and me. The goal is to extend the same basic human dignities to everyone, without regard for skin color or other such characteristics, such as whether one speaks English with an accent.
Finding a way to take offense is easy and accomplishes little. An honest appraisal of the injustices in our society is harder. Taking action to fix the dysfunction in our society is harder still but necessary if we are to live up to the ideal so eloquently expressed in the Declaration of Independence, that we are all created equal, endowed with unalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. it is an extraordinary and tragic irony that those seeking to be fully included in the American dream are the ones accused of causing trouble, as opposed to those defending the deeply flawed status quo as if America's ideals can't possibly work for everyone. Our country's greatness lies precisely in the ceaseless quest to turn our ideals into reality, for every one of us.
Henry P. Huntington
Eagle River
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