I agreed with her. Calling someone a white supremacist is lumping white people into a diabolical sect that think Hitler is a hero and who put swastikas all over their possessions and swastika tattoos on their bodies. These people hate anybody who isn't pure Aryan in their words. I do not agree with calling all white people this.

If white entitlement or white privilege isn't a strong enough term, find one that is but not this one and make sure that this new term hasn't already been co-opted by another demography.

But I concede that "white supremacist" carries harsher connotations. So does "white entitlement." Is there a word for passive acceptance of privilege because it is something one enjoys -- as in "complicit"?
Meanwhile, the utter disregard for the lives of African Americans by certain segments of our society continues. Possibly abetted by the silence of the rest of us.

Clearly, none of us is doing enough to address this situation.

disenfranchised PoC are in our society. A lot of people don't know that our militarized police treat PoC differently than they treat white people although I don't know how they missed that when Rodney King was beaten to a pulp on video and seen across the nation. I wouldn't doubt that many of the white police identify with KKK and other white supremacy groups. But to lump ordinary white people in with a cult that idolizes Hitler, beats women, gathers in militarized compounds, who are petty criminals and some who have been complicit in mass murders of people they thought were Jews or PoC does not help get their message out. I had to live five years in Idaho with those WS in my midst. I got to know them close up. So I cringed when I heard that phrase being used on stage and to Bernie Sanders, a Jew who lost family in the holocaust, frankly my mind closed for a bit and I had to step back and take a breath. Then I remembered the words of my friend Louise, who also had a white parent, calling it white entitlement something I can agree with.

are guilty of complicity if they do nothing. I don't agree at all with her choosing Bernie Sanders to deliver this message to. That showed lack of maturity and ignorance of history. I do not however think I can deny there is truth in her message. That her words stung cannot be denied.

Glad to see you can actually grasp that concept even though you have proclaimed to be fed up with the "word nazi's" here.

adjective or verb.

It's still good to know that you have discovered the concept of words and labels being offensive and are willing to speak up about it.

Is a matter of being blessed with favorable ethnic stereotypes.

Years ago, if you applied for work in a factory and were a German immigrant: Oh, he must be very careful and precise, put him in the tool room and let them train him up to be a tool and die maker. If you were a Polish immigrant: Put him on the line, he is probably a good worker but dumb as a box of rocks.

You can see these stereotypes coming through the various ethnic jokes told like, Jewish, Italian, Redneck, Black, Greek, Chines, Mexican.

if you ever got inside that is.

so it may be softly referred to as privilege today, but it is in fact a result of what was (and in some cases still is) simply white supremacy.

until there is some real accounting for past and ongoing oppression we are still on the hook. we (white folks) don't get to choose how we are perceived we only get to choose how we proceed - its a bit of a table turner

"...we (white folks) don't get to choose how we are perceived we only get to choose how we proceed..." Thanks for saying this.

thank you for your OP

I dream of the day when we all realize that we are are brothers and sisters of the single family tree whose roots are African.

I am disappointed with the state of the current debate, and while some harsh criticisms are being leveled at white liberals, they are if not 100% true, based 100% in historical truths that can no longer be glossed over.

thought I could make coffee.

I make the worst coffee in the world. I just don't have the knack.

But it has migrated up to the professional level.

High-level law firms, where I have had my experiences, genuinely don't care about race any more, at least if you are middle-class or above, and it's for monetary reasons. They wantand need lawyers who look like and can relate to their clients, who are increasingly diverse. I've even heard it bruited about that there aren't enough candidates available for the spots they'd like to fill; and I think this is an honest comment. Many big firms are gonna woo a well-qualified young African American law student or attorney as if he/she were a Disney prince(ss) these days.

Now if you're working class like I was when in my last years of law school, well, that's a different kettle of fish altogether. I grew up in a very working class suburb. Dads there were electricians, mechanics, worked for the city or state, were teachers, worked in factories, and the fancy-Dans had a one/two man accounting practice or insurance agency. Hell, they were royalty in the burb where I grew up. No doctors, lawyers or "executives", that was for sure.

Despite graduating college summa cum laude and making it all the way to Harvard Law, every firm but one made sure that "where did you go to high school, hifiguy?" was one of the first three questions asked by a partner. Translation: "Do your parents have money, connections, or, preferably, both? Are you Our Kind of Person?" I din't go to high school - dropped out when I was 16 to play bass and smoke dope - but the name of my hometown got responses of dead silence or "Oh....well" And I am a real Joe Average in terms of appearance - neither fat nor skinny, tall nor short, ugly nor handsome. I know how to be polite and professional in all surroundings, had an appropriate haircut, and how to dress appropriately despite being Asperger's. I am very reticent and rather socially awkward F2F, though, and always have been. But where I would have went to high school was far more important to them than the fact that I made it to Harvard Law School. Not our kind, dear. NEXT!

I have no interest in trying to understand the mental workings of the screaming hysterics on stage in Seattle.

My ethics come from inside me and how I was raised. I don't feel any need for self-reexamination because a screaming 20-something hurled insults at a crowd.

It takes a village, right? I was raised in a country where the dominant culture rules. No need for self-examination there, right?

Without digressing into a comprehensive and multi-faceted discussion on the perennial questions of ethical development in individuals and society, I'm speaking only for myself and my own personal situation. I'm a fully-grown adult and my basic ethical outlook is fairly stable. "How I was raised" encompasses all of those things that had a major influence on me, which include, in descending order of importance, my parents, my grandparents, teachers and mentors, my own reflection, the local community, and the dominant culture.

Change occurs at every stage of people's lives. I'm not saying my outlook is fixed, but it's fairly stable at this point. And again, the screaming 20-somethings hurling insults at a crowd in Seattle aren't forcing me to reexamine my beliefs. That's just me.

and this is good. I think when I say it takes a village, I meant the combined wisdom, teaching, indoctrination, conditioning of all of those people and institutions you mentioned. Mostly one hopes positive influences. Inevitably some negative. I am trying to overcome my conditioning. Or at least entertain the notion I might have issues.

The drive to change for the better.

My experience growing up in a liberal household in the Deep South taught me that the dominant culture is sometimes wrong and it's more important to follow your own conscience than to follow the crowd.

My maternal grandmother was the proprietress of a restaurant in downtown Mobile, AL. As time went on it became more of a bar and grill. Gradually, it became well known as a gay bar in the heart of downtown. She was compassionate but firm, generous but watchful. Just before she retired, the gay community asked her to be the queen of their Mardi Gras Ball, in appreciation of everything she had done. Despite some reservations, she wore a nice a dress and went. She told me that she never approved of her customer's lifestyle (she was raised in the Greek Orthodox church) but she saw that many of these people had a hard time of it, and she was too kind to kick them out. She became rather protective of her customers over the years.

That's one story.

My father's parents were from the country. I never in my life heard either of them say an unkind word about a neighbor, black or white.

I've been a lucky man.

Sounds like she evolved with her customers and they grew to love each other. Her generation left us some amazing stories.

Even letting "dominant" stand for "majority," it's still true.

South Africa, Rhodesia, Mozambique and other colonialist outposts were exceptions. There are countries where there's not a clear majority culture, but those tend to be either strictly decentralized so there are a lot of little countries (often poorly cohering) or it's bloody from time to time with a strong central government that brooks little interference and propagates a dominant, if not majority, culture.

My son-in-law is black, and I see first hand the bullshit he endures.

For example, when I go to Walmart by myself or with my daughter, we are never stopped on our way out to have the attendant check our receipts. When my son-in-law is with us, we are stopped every time.

White privilege is real.

White supremacy is also real, but it's not what Marissa Johnson thinks it is. Words have meaning. We can't just make words mean what we want out of convenience to our argument.

I agree that her anger seems misplaced and extreme, but I understand where it comes from. As does your son-in-law. One question. Who gets madder him or you? I bet it is you. Because you get a pass he doesn't. She's mad about that too.

I understand her anger, but it doesn't negate the harm she has done by calling the son of Holocaust victims a Nazi. That is wrong.

I get mad at injustice whenever I see it. My son-in-law just rolls his eyes at it - he's been targeted so many times, because he is large, dark-skinned and has dreadlocks. He's been pulled over for riding his bicycle because the police assumed he stole it.

realize how dehumanizing the term is. But she should be educated as to its real meaning.

to the charge of being part of the dominant culture that oppresses others. I don't think this young woman is in any way part of a demographic that grovels in a state of abject slavery. Nothing in her demeanor to suggest that!

It seems to me from your description, your son-in-law is a continual target of a white supremacist society. He chooses to ignore it with eye rolls. But would you blame him if he lashed out?

of the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races, especially the black race, and should therefore dominate society.

American society on the whole is not "white supremacist" - many of the features of American culture that are disparaging to black people are subconscious, ingrained attitudes that in most cases are not recognized without serious introspection. Look at all the posters who claim to be entirely post-racial and deny the existence of white privilege: they are not white supremacists in any way, they are just unaware.

The institutional racism of the police state is closer to the mark.

How can one be unaware that the police seem to be viewed as an occupying army in the black community? How can anyone be that blissfully ignorant? And do I care if they are shocked? I was shocked by the term "white supremacist" as it seemed so loaded a word, but after 150 years of struggle for basic social justice, that term seems valid to describe the institutional racism and the willful lack of awareness of those who benefit from the system and perpetuate it by their silence.

lied and falsified evidence in order to convict the defendant (white) of methamphetamine distribution. One of the jurors, a young white woman attending a local, private Catholic university, simply refused to believe that the police would lie: "Why would they do that just to convict some scumbag?" were her words.

I think many people have the same mindset: "The police wouldn't do something bad for no reason, would they? If the black person was shot, they must have done something to deserve it!" Less "white supremacy", more "authoritarianism". And if you want to convince me that white liberals are authoritarian, I'll be right there with you.

I'm white and male.

When I'm with non-whites in a store, we've been followed. When I'm alone, nobody follows me. What's really sad is when an AA security guard is following me and a AA companion. That's soul crushing on several levels.

I see it in my office. PoC's are kept to the edges of things, women too. Not me, I'm in the middle, but I'm also IT so I'm invisible until something breaks and then I'm the most important man in the room. Still, while invisible, I'm privy to all the racism and sexism around me. I used to hear it, it slips out conversationally like its the normal way of doing things. For example, complaining about "made up names" African Americans "use". A favorite around the office to belittle was "She-ni-qua" (not sure if I spelled it right, read it phonetically, but they'd pronounce it with pauses where the dashes are, really douchy thing to do) A few years back I started calling people out on that stuff. I got fed up hearing it. They stopped, at least when I'm around. Now I get noticed, and at least for me, I have a bubble non-racism around me. They still go on with the sexism, calling them out on it seems to have little effect. But we have a lot more women in the office now, it used to be 100% male and white, so that sort of thing is going away. Yay for progress! Anyway, all the non-whites and females seem to think I'm OK and are pretty friendly. The others, not so much. But they know better than screw with the IT guy, else the Internet has problems for them. I could care less, if they stop acting like animals when I'm around, I'm OK with it, that's the small affect I can have on people.

White Privilege is found everywhere, one need only open eyes to see it. But, I've come to relish squashing it where I find it.

Another story, this one kinda creepy.

I was driving back north from Orlando. It was late, I was tired and hungry so I pulled off to a McDonald's near the FL/GA line for a quick burger. Inside all the patrons were white locals and trucker types. Every single person working behind the counter was black. And they looked pretty scared back there. I'm a Northerner, so this was really strange to me. When I ordered, the girl taking my order wouldn't make eye contact with me. She spoke in very submissive tones and language. It was like I was a overseer or something, everything was "yessar" and "nosar" I was appalled and pissed off by that. So I made sure I made eye contact with her, smiled. Called her "mam", thanked her, loudly and told her to keep her head up and stay strong. She looked at me like I slapped her, then smiled sweetly. Everybody behind the counter stopped moving and was dead silent gawping at me. I turned around and all the white trash behind me was giving me the "fuck you" stare. I looked each one in the eye and walked out with my head up and no other word spoken.

I was scared shitless inside, but my rage against the racist bullshit going on there was too strong. And her smile was worth it. When I got back in the car, my wife was pissed off at me, and she's probably right for taking such a stupid risk.

Still, If I wasn't white, I probably would have been jumped when I got outside. As it was, nobody moved in the restaurant towards me.

That's white privilege, right there. If I was black and did those things, I'd probably would have been jumped when I left.

did being white help me, but i had good looks. years ago you had to be good looking to be a receptionist. has that changed? hopefully, yes but i do wonder.

were hired in the front office and even in the back office at times. No one ever wanted to hire a fat woman. I even had an argument with a supervisor over an applicant for a position to be my assistant. The woman was well qualified. He had dozens of excuses which I wore down one by one.

Finally, he just said, "I don't want to look at a fat chick every time I leave my office. This discussion is over. Find someone else."

new york's garment center. i was the only employee in the office who wasn't jewish. then the office manager hired an african american woman as an assistant bookkeeper. bless his heart. that was in '59. as far as the shipping department -- they were mostly african american or hispanic.

another office i worked in was small -- 3 girl office. all good looking.

i worked as a bartender for a short period in '70. there were 5 of us. we wore costumes. the girls with the biggest breasts got the biggest tips. i've always been small breasted. i learned how to fold a falsie in half and put my breast on top of it -- giving the illusion of a bigger breast. lol.

... and it's really hard to think rationally about what makes a person
a white supremacist and what that even means.

Me -- I wouldn't identify myself as a "white supremacist" because in
my mind those words are attached to Nazism, skinheads, the confederate
flag, and guntoting assholes from militia groups.

However, I would say that I probably have a strong sense of "white
privilege or entitlement." Every so often, I do a bit of soul searching
in this regard; but more often I tend to project it on the white teens
and young adults who I think have it in spades.

Also, sometimes I think I need to expand that sense of "white
supremacy" to the idea of corporatism and wealth; but that comes
with a bit of stretch, allowing the term to include non-whites who
embrace the culture of supremacy and otherness in the same way
that those who actually identify as white supremacists do.

In any case, this is not something that is comfortable to look at on
any level, in any sense.

But it is necessary to do so if we are to move forward.

to move forward. Wise words.

T'ain't worth the effort, McGee.

My mom taught me to never waste time arguing with or trying to figure out people who were obviously nuts and I took her advice to heart.

We who are (perceived to be) 100% white receive privileged treatment. I am sure that I benefit from white privilege every day, although I never notice it.

Three of my grandchildren have a Latino father. The oldest once asked me if he was white or Latino. I told him he was both, but society would likely consider him to be Latino because of his surname. I have seen my Latino son-in-law treated contemptibly. I have seen the stares when my (perceived) 100% Latino children call my daughter, "Mom." It infuriates me.

Thank you for such an honest and thoughtful post. You have provided a perspective that we (whites) need to understand and acknowledge. White privilege is real. Institutional white supremacy is real.

Sometimes you have to witness injustice to really see. Otherwise, it's too easy to forget it exists.

father was of Northern European ancestry. He was blond with pale gray eyes, but I am brown eyed with formerly dark brown hair (gray now) and don't bother to consider myself Anglo. Although because of my German surname and later married Irish surname people don't think of me as Latina when they first meet me unless I tell them or speak Spanish to someone, then they go...Oh I didn't know you were Mexican. (I'm not Mexican but from S. America.)

thanks.

so slander like "white supremacist" hasn't been thrown at me!

On the contrary, reveling in all my center-right glory I get to join in the slander fest, and let me tell you, it's fun!

It doesn't matter to me that this swift-boating of the liberal/progressive/socialist/leftist (nasty, nasty people, those!) has no bearing on and can't possibly raise awareness of the problem of racism in the USA, in Ferguson and all over -- and in fact diverts all that feeling onto a totally different and politically chosen target (HRC's major opponent) -- in fact I think that's great! I think it's great that leaders of #blacklivesmatter had a private conference with Hillary (who, need I say, is the *furthest* thing from being a liberal/progressive/socialist/leftist white extremist!) - so it's set in stone by the elite, the leadership of the AA community and the Democratic party, that Bernie sucks and Hillary rocks on "social issues".

I am certainly solidly in the Sanders' camp and lean pretty far left as Dems go, but I can't fault BLM for meeting with any candidate. And I am willing to try and understand where they are coming from.

My Mom's Parents were a mixed marriage. My Grandfather was 7/8 Cherokee, born on the reservation, and my Grandma is (was, RIP) white as the driven snow. They married in Oklahoma after WWII. Had to go to California to get away from the stigma and my Grandma picked tomatoes in Hanford while carrying my Mom in a basket from plant to plant.

My white as snow Grandma from Ok learned to speak Spanish in those fields. But she never spoke it after they left for So. Cal. Weird. I remember once being in the grocery store with her and when we got out to the car she was hopping mad. There were two women in front of us speaking Spanish. I don't know what they were talking about but they were talking about her because they never would have dreamed she habla. She never said a word to them but boy did she cut loose in the car LOL. That was how I found out she spoke (or at least understood since she hadn't spoken it in so long) Spanish in the first place.

Pastures of Plenty
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
It's a mighty hard row that my poor hands have hoed
My poor feet have traveled a hot dusty road
Out of your Dust Bowl and Westward we rolled
And your deserts were hot and your mountains were cold

I worked in your orchards of peaches and prunes
I slept on the ground in the light of the moon
On the edge of the city you'll see us and then
We come with the dust and we go with the wind

California, Arizona, I harvest your crops
Well its North up to Oregon to gather your hops
Dig the beets from your ground, cut the grapes from your vine
To set on your table your light sparkling wine

Green pastures of plenty from dry desert ground
From the Grand Coulee Dam where the waters run down
Every state in the Union us migrants have been
We'll work in this fight and we'll fight till we win

It's always we rambled, that river and I
All along your green valley, I will work till I die
My land I'll defend with my life if it be
Cause my pastures of plenty must always be free