Illustrations by Giacomo Gambineri 5Photographs, from top: John Moore/Getty Images; Mike Blake/Reuters; Kirsten Luce
The ThreadA middle-aged white dude here. I was
surprised by the number of overly defen-
sive comments on this article made by
people whom I presume are white. I
think many of the people responding
negatively about the article seem sen-
sitive regarding the idea of white privi-
lege, and they also seem to feel that it
somehow diminishes their own accom-
plishments. I get pretty irritated when
my fellow white folks complain that
people of color ‘‘make everything about
race,’’ or that they ‘‘play the race card.’’
My friends, white people are the ones
who have made everything about race in
this country — from slavery to Jim Crow,
lynchings to legalized segregation, insti-
tutionalized poverty to mass incarcer-
ation. If your response to this piece is
angry, or defensive, maybe take a deep
breath and consider what it must be like
to be made conscious of your appearance
every day of your life.
Danny Isaacs, CaliforniaAs a black woman, I greatly appreciate
the author’s commentary, and I admit to
having many of those same thoughts in
my head when having similar conversa-
tions. While I don’t fl y fi rst class, I do fl y
a lot and am acutely aware of the space
I take up in airports and on planes and
the classism and racism that plays out
standing in lines and boarding planes
and in interactions with T.S.A. agentsluck not just to you, Ms. Rankine — good
luck to all of us.
Th om Hessel, New YorkThe phrase ‘‘glanced at me each time
he stood up the way you look at a stone
you had tripped on’’ put into words what
many people of color feel in predominant-
ly white spaces. Feelings of disgust, anger
and annoyance displayed all without utter-
ing a single word. When you bring it up
to a white friend or co-worker, they look
at you like you’re crazy or overreacting.
Reema Doleh, BrooklynOver dinner, my nephew Timur posed
a question: ‘‘What are you grateful for?’’ I
attend A.A. meetings, so a gratitude topic
was a cinch: ‘‘I am grateful for my teach-
ers.’’ Timur, from Chechnya, replied: ‘‘You
should be grateful you were born white into
a life of privilege.’’ I felt sucker-punched.
I was angry. While my life has been no
cakewalk, he was right. Claudia Rankine’s
essay hit home, too. Elegant, it tugged at
my 66-year-old-white-male conscience.
Craig Kronenberg, Chattanooga, Tenn.The best point made in this article was
to see my privilege in the here and now.
In the way I am treated by the police, or
store clerks, colleagues or other profes-
sionals with deference, respect and an
assumption of trustworthiness because
I’m just a professional-looking old white
guy. I am where I am thanks to a million
things and a lot of people, but one of
those things has been just the fact that
I’m a white male, which in a million sub-
tle ways made achieving my goals easier.
David Deeds, Edina, Minn.Send your thoughts to [email protected].‘By listening to
other people’s
stories, we can
compare them
with our own,
and then learn
about ourselves.’Readers respond to the 7.21.2019 issue.RE: I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT
WHITE MEN THOUGHT ABOUT THEIR
PRIVILEGE. SO I ASKED.
Claudia Rankine wrote about her decision
to start conversations with white men about
their privilege. THE STORY,
ON TWITTER
Extraordinary
reporting.
@EricSchwartzRIand fl ight attendants. I have also recently
started doing an experiment in airports
that I call ‘‘black woman taking up space.’’
I simply stand as myself, with my suitcase,
anywhere, and watch travelers navigate
around me. White men seem to be the
most shocked that I don’t step aside for
them. Anyone reading this article should
include this people-watching experiment
on your next airport visit. Watch who
yields, who barges forward, who asks for
attention and who demands it.
Renata Reid, CaliforniaOh, Ms. Rankine. I wish you so much
luck talking to white men about their
privilege. I feel like I’m aware of my
white male privilege, that I have bene-
fi ted from that privilege in ways I don’t,
or maybe even can’t, know. I don’t know
what to do with that. I’ve brought it
up with white friends, and have heard
that ‘‘I’ve worked hard to get where I
am’’ so many times. No one’s denying
that — those people may have worked
hard, but they have still benefi ted from
institutional racism. They may not have
even realized the benefi ts. To know one’s
white privilege is to be empathetic. I
cannot know what it is to be black or
brown. I cannot know what it is to be a
woman. But when I listen to the stories
of black and brown people, when I lis-
ten to women’s stories, I believe them
(too many stories not to), and know that
they have had challenges that I defi nite-
ly have not. I think that underlines the
issue. We need to move the focus away
from ourselves; we need to listen to
other people. By listening to other peo-
ple’s stories, we can compare them with
our own, and then learn about ourselves.
Empathy is the way. But right now we’re
stuck in self-centered tribalism. Good