Unemployed, Well-Educated, White, Male

As a currently unemployed, well-educated, white, male I love what Tim Wise says in this video.  The myth of entitlement Wise speaks about in the closing minutes of this clip is a powerful witness to the reality of privilege and racism in American society today.  And if I'm honest and I reread the first sentence I just typed, I can point out that a mere three words in to this post I display, without thinking twice, that same pathological entitlement.  Because, you see, I'm just "currently" unemployed.  It would be hard for me (too hard) to believe in a world where unemployment for myself would be an ongoing, persistent, and debilitating issue.  And it's funny because sitting here (in all of my flagrant white privilege) I live in a modest house where I just mowed the grass and have internet access in order to comfortably sit on a seat at a kitchen table so that I can compose this post...white privilege.

It would be a mistake to think Tim's comments are without sympathy for someone in my position.  But Wise isn't addressing the pain of unemployment or the feelings of inadequacy and frustration or the current climate of the world's economic systems.  Wise is giving us a reminder, a proof if you will, that what we think about the unemployed (that they are lazy, that they WANT to be on welfare, that they intend to leach off of the government until our government and society implodes on itself) is a narrative and picture that has been painted by the people in society who look like me.  And as Wise says, "[it] is ironic, and it is sad, and it is tragic," because those are the people that have bought into this myth of meritocracy.  It is that same White Protestant ethic that I can hear in the back of my brain, "god helps those who help themselves," as if all you need to do is work for what you want.

I'm privileged that my days are filled with endless applications and going on the occasional interview.  I'm not excited about it, I'm not happy about it and at times I can feel quite depressed about it, but at least I still have the luxury of searching for employment in a field I would enjoy working.  And never in that process has my status as a natural-born citizen of the United States been questioned (This might have something to do with the fact that I'm not a high profile public figure but I'm also fortunate enough to be white with an acceptable Anglo sounding name).  We need only look at the top rung (THE VERY TOP!) of a hierarchy of public service to see the plague of racism and privilege that continues to permeate this country.  Birthers, was it really the fact that President Obama never released a satisfyingly official document (at least to your unbiased eyes) to assuage your fears of a foreign-born Black Nigerian Muslim with a funny name taking over "our" country or are you just bigots?

There are days I would like to paint myself so that when these people say these things, these people who look like me, I can hide for a few days (at least).  There are days when I wish I could wash off the legacy of slavery and Jim Crowe and reservations and smallpox in blankets and Tuskegee even though I know that would help nothing.  Beyond the laughter President Obama shared at the beginning of his most recent news conference to address the claims of the Birthers, I was honestly and utterly ashamed of myself, of white culture, of privilege, of this country, of all of it and all of us even though I know the shame and the hiding doesn't do anyone much good.  Instead, for now, I'll simply say I am an unemployed, well-educated, white, male and I can admit what our brothers and sisters of color have known and lived with much longer than me, that sometimes it doesn't matter how much you work or how much you know; sometimes the only thing that matters is whether your name sounds white enough or your skin color is light enough.