The Privilege of Being Oblivious to Privilege

I've been thinking about white privilege. It's kind of uncomfortable to think about. I don't like thinking about the sick system that I am a part of - the system that I have unknowing contributed to and benefited from at great cost.

My understanding is incomplete (and will never be complete) and perhaps partially incorrect. Nevertheless, I invite you to join this conversation with me. Here are some things that I have identified as white privilege:

1. When I learn about the history of my country, I see that people who look like me are the ones who fought for the land that I call home.
2. The textbooks that I read all through school told the stories of people who look like me and their contributions to the world. Unless, of course, I took one of those elective courses, African American Literature or Asian Studies.
3. The money that I use to buy things has pictures of people who look like me on it.
4. A majority of my elected officials have the same skin color as me.
5. My failure has never been attributed to my race.
6. I don't fear the police or law enforcement.
7. I don't really ever have to think about race. Unless, of course, I'm thinking about "other" people. 
8. It would not be hard for me to arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
9. I can turn on the television and see people of my race widely represented.
10. My parents did not have to educate me to be aware of systemic racism for my own daily protection. 
11. I can speak to a powerful group without putting my race on trial. 
12. My success is not considered a credit to my race.
13. I grew up assuming that racism was individual, specific acts of unkindness, not invasive and systemic injustice.  
14. When I get pulled over, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race. 
15. I generally feel well represented in situations where various opinions are being heard, rather than feeling unheard, isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, held at a distance or feared.
16. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.
17. Most of the emojis on my phone have the same color skin as me.

But perhaps the biggest privilege is the fact that I had to do some research (an embarrassing amount of research, actually...) in order to make this short (and grossly incomplete) list. Why? Because I think that perhaps the greatest of all white privileges is the privilege of oblivion.

We have the privilege of being completely oblivious of our privilege.We have the privilege of living day after day unaware of how the color of our skin affects our lives, of being able to fool ourselves into believing that our success and achievements are all due to our own efforts and hard work.

There are many things about white privilege that I cannot control. I cannot control how other people respond to my whiteness. Oblivion, however, is something that I can control. No, I will never be able to completely shed my oblivion - there will always be something more for me to learn, something deeper to understand, another story to hear, and another realization of my own lack of regard. I cannot obliterate oblivion, but I can fight it.

And may I never forget that I cannot fight it alone. I need brothers and sisters by my side, fighting it with me, by sharing and talking and teaching and learning and loving each other.