Sirota Brings the Hammer Down On TAGG-"Latest White Man That Thinks He Can Have Whatever He Wants"

THURSDAY, OCT 18, 2012 10:35 AM PDT
Tagg Romney: Mr. White Privilege
Tagg Romney admits he'd like to slug Obama, becoming the latest white man that thinks he can say whatever he wants
BY DAVID SIROTA

Tagg Romney, grandson of George Romney, son of Mitt Romney, is the latest flesh-and-blood embodiment of White Privilege on the national presidential stage. Though that stage has historically been a catwalk for the whitest and most privileged in the world, Tagg is in a class few achieve. With his lineage and his inherited wealth he equals George W. Bush when it comes to getting advantages by virtue of nothing more than whose crotch he popped out of in the hospital delivery room.
....

One of the hallmarks of White Privilege is the unquestioned and largely unchallenged assumption that white people can say heinous things about people of color without blowback or even mild criticism – things that people of color rarely dare to say about white people, for fear of serious retribution. Tagg – aka Mr. White Privilege – proves the point perfectly. He feels totally comfortable fantasizing about committing physical violence against an African American man. And remember, he’s not just any white guy pondering such grotesque dreams. On the contrary, he’s one of the public faces of a national presidential campaign appearing in a public media interview, meaning White Privilege has made him feel so comfortable airing such notions, that he didn’t hesitate to whimsically broadcast them to thousands of voters.


UPDATE: To respond to some of the comments: This article never argues – nor does it want to argue – that Tagg Romney is a racist. It simply argues that his willingness to say what he said and assume such statements are acceptable proves he enjoys the assumptions and entitlements of White Privilege. Those are two different things. You don’t have to be a bigot to benefit from privilege. Additionally, merely acknowledging the reality of White Privilege isn’t akin to trying to paternalistically tell people of color what to think – it’s simply to acknowledge a basic and troubling reality that hurts our whole society. Let me also offer one more thought to all the white folk who seem angrier at a discussion of White Privilege than at a presidential campaign spokesman publicly dreaming of violence against a sitting president: You aren’t admitting any individual shortcoming or fault as a white person to simply acknowledge that White Privilege exists. All you are doing is admitting a reality – one that should be disturbing to us all, regardless of race. Finally, to those who accuse me of being a beneficiary of White Privilege – like most white people, I’m guilty as charged. But benefiting from a system of White Privilege – a system I had no individual hand in creating – is no excuse to pretend that system doesn’t exist or isn’t a problem.

MORE:
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/18/tagg_romney_mr_white_privilege/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mitt-romneys-son-tagg-i-379977
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/18/1146452/-The-Tagg-wanted-the-Slug-Obama-Story-is-growing-Legs