on whiteness

To me, "white" stood for and stands for not so much a degree of pigmentation as a set of attitudes that takes privilege as an exclusive right. We are all of us always members of some groups that can or do oppress others. To be "white" means to be insensitive to the possibilities for oppression within one's self, therefore out-of-touch, for opportunistic reasons, with who one is and who others are. If "white" meant all-inclusive, like white the color of light containing all colors, then "white" would be a term of love and life. But, the "white" I am talking about is a whiteness of exclusion, an absence of color, an absence of responsibility and self-awareness. Whiteness is a death trip. And the attempt to break out of it is an attempt to gain life.