Posts by Jamie Utt
Income vs. Wealth: How Privilege Is Passed Down from Generation to Generation
Recently I got an angry e-mail from someone who knows my parents pretty well, and had read something I had written about privilege. “How disrespectful can you be!? You’re spitting in the face of everything your parents have worked for.” I explained that acknowledging privilege doesn’t discredit any of my dad’s hard work. It simply puts that hard work in context.
Read MoreA New Masculinity: Why I Need Feminism as a Man
I want to see a masculinity where love, power with, and compassion replace dominance, power over, and violence — a masculinity where some of those good messages I learned from the men in my life endure while leaving behind the destructive things that hurt me and so many other male-identified people. In short, we need a new way to understand ourselves as men.
Read MoreHolding the Tension: Whiteness vs. European Cultural Identity
We must get in touch with our cultural heritage to understand our stake in ending White Supremacy through a connection to what we lost, but we also have to understand and remain accountable to the privileges that Whiteness affords us every day. In some ways, this is a complex tension to hold. Because while not all White people are bad, Whiteness surely is.
Read MoreTrue Solidarity: Moving Past Privilege Guilt
There are many aspects of my identity that afford me privilege. I used to feel as if this meant I was a bad person, and I was trapped in shame. In time I came to realize that if privilege guilt prevents me from acting against oppression, then it is simply another tool of oppression. I had to find a way to move out of guilt if I wanted to make a difference.
Read More4 Reasons White People Can’t Use the N-Word (No Matter What Black Folks Are Doing)
Dear White Folks: We have to stop using the n-word. Here are four reasons why it’s never okay for us to say it – and what the so-called “double standard” is really about.
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