guilt n 1: the state of having committed an offense 2: remorse cause by feeling responsible for some offence conscience, guilt feelings, guilt trip]

Maya Angelou was once quoted that Black people still have moral authority (magazine article) and I wondered what that meant. I assumed it had a lot to do with what some older Black adults talked about at home and in the community about "white" people. My grandmother and father used to come home work livid about some "white" person who patronized them out of their guilt. I asked my Pops what they were guilty of and he said guilty of a higher status because of their race (priviledge) of keeping Black people down. Priviledge seemed to be something white people should be ashamed of.

When I was little, growing up down south, I learned that Black folks had a place in the social scheme. As long as we stayed in our place then the white folks (in power) would leave us alone. This was something we kept secret from white people. I learned that white priviledge was offensive to many Black people and later I learned about the "white man's burden". This burden had to do with fighting to maintain the status quo and the psychological effects of it...one effect was guilt.

"White guilt" refers to the guilt that whites, particularly white liberals, feel about the West domination and oppression of people of color (supremacy). "Proponents of white guilt explain that while whites may not necessarily be racist on an individual level, they live in a racist society that automatically grants them certain advantages at the expense of other people."

"A number of whites have questioned whether they should feel guilty about racial discrimination solely because of their skin color. They note that not only should they as individuals not be blamed for racism but that even as a group, many whites are not that much better off than their black brethren...some whites' repudiation of white guilt comes off as awkward, defensive, and overly dramatic. For example, French-Canadian journalist
Donna Laframboise makes the point that minorities can be racist, which is undoubtedly true. The examples she uses to illustrate her
statement, though, are less than convincing. She describes a visit to Japan and Korea, for instance, during which the locals, considering her something of a novelty, stared at her, touched her skin and hair, and asked to take her picture. As uncomfortable as these experiences may have made her feel, they can't be equated with being called a racist name by the occupants of a passing car or being denied a job or promotion on account of one's skin color.

It's also worth mentioning that much of the racism exhibited by non-white groups is directed not at whites but at other minorities." (http://www.webcom.com/intvoice/emily7.html)

Listening to my elders I used to feel that they were somehow comforted by the fact that white people were somehow in the wrong just by condoning the actions of those in power and helping to maintain the status quo. As long as Black people and other people of color are on the other end of the stick it seems right for them to exempt themselves from the actions of the priviledged (moral authority). I am reminded of this when I read the threads from this past week on fear and guilt.

This so-called exemption from the affair of those is power is an illusion, just as the position of white priviledge is an illusion. This illusions are slowly falling apart but until they are totoally gone we will continue to play this game.

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"Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own"
--Paulo Coelho, "The Alchemist"

"Know thyself"

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you". So we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
-- Hebrews 13:5,6

"There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path"
--Morpheus in "The Matrix" (and a Buddhist philosophy)

"It's our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"- Dumbledore to Harry Potter "Chamber of Secrets"