It's strange being white

[rhyll]

Checked out an article in the Economic Times about Barcamp. It's a bit weird to see myself quoted like that - "Ms C..." doesn't feel much like me.

Being white gets you a heap of privileges in most societies (including Australian society), but usually it's almost invisible (one theorist called it something like 'the invisible backpack' of Stuff you carry around with you because you're white). Here it's so blatant. It means I spend a lot of my time here feeling like a jerk, and terribly awkward.

Comments

[suriount.livejournal.com]

> It means I spend a lot of my time here feeling like a jerk

how come?

[alexmoon.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure, exactly. I guess it's partly because I'm continually reminded about how privileged I am, which kind of jars with the whole "I'm just a little anti-materialistic hippy" mindset I have at home.

Also because I don't always know how to respond to the help that I get in a way that I feel good about - for example, so many people invite me over for dinner, and I can't return the favour and don't even know what to bring with me that would be appropriate. (Of course, I realise that most people who invite me around aren't inviting me because I'm white - they're inviting me because I'm a visitor and they're nice people...but then the fact that I have the resources to just wander over to India and trip around the place making has a lot to do with being white...)

And I think I feel like a jerk about this article because there were a lot of people who've been involved with barcamp for longer and know more about it, and when I was asked for a quote I should have realised that it would probably be used like this, so maybe I should have suggested that the author talk to some more experienced barcampers instead?

(I think the answer to this will still take a bit more working out in my head.)