Societal Rules and Privilege

A couple of weeks ago, I had my students read Don Kulick and Thais Machado-Borges' article "Leaky." The article talks about Brazil's openness regarding plastic surgery and definitions of beauty. Part of the argument is that middle class Brazilians undertake plastic surgery, in part, from their desire to obtain a level of whiteness that the upper class has. The authors put it this way, "[M]odifying your body in Brazil is fundamentally about displaying your wealth. But since money is associated with race (a well-known Brazilian proverb is 'O dinheiro embranquece'--'Money whitens'), changing one's body is about approximating whiteness" (120-121). This reading, along with others that we read for the week, led one student to approach me during the break to ask a question about the texts. Essentially, the student pointed out that the texts had a feminist leaning (we were in the gender section of the reader) and that they pushed against the the construction of whiteness as an indicator of beauty and white privilege.

At one point, the student asked, "Why should I feel guilty for this?" The question didn't strike me as odd. It is actually something that I expect students to ask. Speaking with the student, I told him that while we have no power to determine the color of our skin upon birth and in life, we have the power to counteract the history of elevating whiteness at the expense of others. Even though he may feel guilty about all of this, I informed the student that most people don't even get to that point because they don't realize that such a thing as "white privilege" actually exists, or they downplay it. The student's acknowledgement, whatever the reaction to that acknowledgement, constitutes the first step in working to rectify the problem that has evolved over the past 400 years in this nation.

Gaines tackles the subject of "white privilege" throughout his works. Typically, the discussion appears either in the memory of slavery and 400 plus years of oppression. Elsewhere, the conversation revolves around the "rules" of society. For example, in "Book III: The Plantation" in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Tee Bob wants Mary Agnes, a Creole schoolteacher, to love him. Tee Bob eventually tells his friend Jimmy Caya about his feelings for Mary Agnes. Jimmy informs Tee Bob that he doesn't have to wait for Mary Agnes to love him; instead, because of his "white privilege" and the "rules" of society, all he has to do is take her. Jimmy tells him:

If you want her you go to that house and take her. If you want her at the school, make them children go out in the yard and wait. Take her in that ditch if you can't wait to get her home. But she's there for that and nothing else. (183)

Tee Bob did not choose to be born into a society that allowed him the "privilege" of taking Mary Agnes whenever he so desired. However, he does realize that he loves her, but he does not know how to counter the "rules" that have been place before he came into the world.

After Tee Bob kills himself, Jules Raynard drives Miss Jane home. In the car, he tells her that Tee Bob wanted to love Mary Agnes despite the societal rules. Mary Agnes knew they could not exist together because "she knowed the rules" (205). The "one drop African blood" in her veins would not allow him and her to be together as man and wife (205). This is the crux of Gaines' Of Love and Dust (1967) as well.Jules even tells Miss Jane, "We all killed [Tee Bob]. We tried to make him follow a set of rules our people gived us long ago" (204). Like my student who asked why the readings cause a feeling a guilt, Tee Bob felt the same way. He did not make the rules. He did not choose to be born into the "right" strata of society. However, he must conform to the rules. He does acknowledge the problems, but since everything around him tells him he can't change the rules, he feels helpless.

Unlike Tee Bob, my student has the opportunity to dismantle the "rules" that hold up the idea of "white privilege." No, the student did not choose to be white. Yes, the student does realize that whiteness comes with certain advantages. This means that the student can either accept those advantages and move on, or the individual can strive to inform others of the disparities that "white privilege" breeds and work to counter it throughout life.

There is, of course, more that could be said here. Please, remember to carry on the discussion below. For now, I would like to conclude with a verse from Brother Ali's "Letter to My Countrymen." The video of the song is below.

We don't really like to talk about the race thing
The whole grandparents used to own slaves thing
Pat ourselves on the back in February
Looking at pictures of Abe Lincoln and the great King
But the real picture's much more embarrassing
We're still not even close to really sharing things
The situation of oppressed people
Shows what we feel it means to be a human being
What does it mean to be American?
I think the struggle to free is our inheritance
And if we say it how it really is
We know our lily skin still give us privilege
Advantages given to the few
That are built into the roots of our biggest institutions
That's the truth in life we got to choose
Do I fight in the movement or think I'm entitled to it
This is not a practice life
This is the big game we got to attack it right
Each one of us is headed for the grave
This old crooked world won't be saved by the passive type
This is a letter to my countrymen
Not from a Democrat or a Republican
But one among you that's why you call me brother

Ain't scared to tell you we're in trouble 'cause I love you 

Gaines, Ernest J. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. New York: Bantam Books, 1972. Print.
Kulick, Don and Thais Machado-Borges. "Leaky." One World, Many Cultures. Eds. Stuart Hirschberg and Terry Hirschberg. Ninth Edition. Boston: Pearson, 2015. 115-125. Print.