“White Privilege II” is a nine-minute hip-hop hit from six years ago that is part agit-prop, part thought-poem, and part audio-doc by the white hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, featuring Black Chicago singer Jamila Woods.
I have this song on my Pandemic Playlist because it’s an uncomfortable piece of music. It questions not only the obscenity of white privilege but also the very existence of the song itself and its white duo who are performing it. It is, for them, a deep dive into the theft of Black culture and the white relationship to Black Lives Matter.
This is a rare attempt at white humility and a willingness to ignite a discussion that is much needed. Not a discussion of faux liberal guilt or white crocodile tears into a frothy latte, but one of seriously copping to and acknowledging the actual day-to-day white supremacy that runs this country, the kind you (white people) and I (white guy) share ample benefits from. The kinds of things we don’t even notice, but are self-aware enough to appreciate how society’s order makes our lives (the ones of us who have more than $500 or $5,000 to our name), well, somewhat carefree.
One year, back before film festivals ended, I found myself on my way to the Toronto Film Festival and sitting on the Air Canada prop plane next to the great Chris Rock. He told me how some film producers had been approaching him to make a film about cops shooting unarmed Black citizens and other abuses of Black people in this country.
“And,” Chris reported to me, “to every one of them I said, ‘Why are you asking me to make this kind of film? We’re not the ones committing the abuse and the racism. Get a white director to show us why white America is doing this to us. That’s the movie I want to see.’
“Of course, that movie won’t get made.”
He paused a beat.
“Unless you, Michael Moore, make it! You’re the one who’d be crazy enough to do it. In fact, that’s what I told one of the studios. ‘Get Michael Moore to make that movie. He will tell us why white power is what makes life hell for the rest of us.’”
He assured me he wasn’t just throwing another burden on my shoulders. “You’re the one (white) filmmaker who already does this. White supremacy, racism, crazy white people — these scenes are in every one of your films. You’re not afraid to piss off the power structure. You make that movie.”
I think Chris’s main point (aside from his personal orders to me) was that there needs to be a large movement amongst white people to go after and disrupt the infrastructure that‘s built and maintained by all of us white people to benefit all of us white people. WE are the problem, and we have to fix it. Yes, I know, nearly 60% of us voted for Trump — twice!
So for the nearly 40% of us who didn’t vote for Trump, how about we spend Black History Month ditching our liberal platitudes and MLK half-quotes. Instead, let’s spend the month (and the rest of the year) ending white privilege by changing the rules, the traditions and the laws, and truly committing ourselves to living in a different and better world. Radical empathy is necessary for us to be real changemakers. Less talk about wishing for Obama to return and more action by each of us to integrate each of our neighborhoods, make every school in our districts equally brilliant, make a true living wage the law in all of our cities and states, and each of us demanding those who participate in all-white coups receive the necessary restraints to protect the rest of us.
Give a listen to “White Privilege II.” Each time I hear this piece by Macklemore, Lewis and Woods, I hear something new. This is what good art does. Don’t judge his white-think, just listen. Then, if you’re white, make a list of what you can do — not for Black people, but what you can do about yourself and where you live, work or go to school. C’mon, we all quietly know how the game is rigged, we know where the keys are kept, we know where the not-so-invisible “Whites Only” signs are placed. We also know where the money is, who has it, where it’s hidden, and — wait! — why the average white worker now has less and less and less. Exactly. You know what’s going on here. And Black Americans know you know.
So the only way to stop it is with your brothers and sisters of color. The 40% of us white voters who are progressive, along with the 35%+ of the electorate that is Black, Hispanic, Arab and/or Muslim, Indigenous or Asian. When white billionaires and banks, white CEOs and Supremacists, see us locking arms and sharing a table and a polling place together — well, watch out.
Michael, I am a 75yo woman who is embarrassed to be white. I have four grandchildren who are black or 1/2 black. They are the light of my life. I see and worry how they are treated one just got a drivers license. I will do anything I can to support your idea and please make the movie to get it started
YOU ARE NOT ALONE..You know what scares the crap out of the fearful white privelge folks..56% of babies now born to US CITIZENS are of mixed race..so no wonder they are flipping out..they will be voting or legislating or our representatives within 15 to -25 years..I don't get it..and these awful scared white bunny rabbits have the never to claim to be followers of JESUS?? who was NOT white by the way in spite of the silly idolatrous states showing otherwise..I fear for my beautiful grandkids everyday and THEIR FATHER , who is a highly educated brown skinned man who has been nominated for doctor of the year in his specialty f several times...I have lost track of the number of times he has been harassed and threatened by so called "peace officers" clearly a term long forgotten....Hang in there Mary..Perhaps it will be the grannies of the country that will take these ignorant fearful people to taks..in the meantime, MR MOORE, MAKE THE MOVIE!
Thank you
Keep on with your great brave attitude!!
I just moved to Connecticut about 5 years ago. Looking for something meaningful to do, I signed up to volunteer with the alliance on aging and was assigned to help an elderly woman who needed assistance. She can no longer drive because of an injury, lives alone, and needs help with groceries. I pick up her groceries once a month from the food pantry and bring them to her home. I call her on phone and visit regularly to make sure she's okay. I help her with some medical issues. Last summer I brought her vegetables from my garden which she really enjoyed. After struggling with red tape, I was finally able to get her a free cell phone.
I've been doing this for the past 2 years and will continue doing it until I am unable to.
She is 82. I am 79. She is black. I am not.
She is only one person that I can help, but it's something that I can do.
We are back to that "right to vote" legislation which is buried in Washington right now. Why is this even a thing? So we need legislation to tell a supposed democratic country "hey you might want to consider letting people vote". Seriously?
As a straight white woman, I made a New Year's resolution in 2016, to simply step outside my bubble.
Whenever I encountered a beautiful woman with a gorgeous hejab, or lovely locks; I would simply Complement her loveliness. No strings attached. I gave words to thoughts I have had for years.
I often kept quiet because I did not want to be misunderstood. Perhaps I kept quiet because I could lose my straight, white privelege. I have found that the honesty has opened up conversations both short and long, where I can Listen and Learn.
Privilege lost is not equivalent with Inisights Gained from reaching out.
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Michael, as usual you hit the nail on the head. We (white people) need to acknowledge our privilege, get past it, and DO something to change it. Just the fact that Black History was given the shortest month is telling. White privilege is so endemic that many whites can’t even believe it’s there. It is and WE must be the keys to real change.
Make the film! Pat Sax
I listened to “White Privilege II” it is my very first time hearing it.
I am a 72 year old woman who is trying to understand what in the hell is happening to our world. We are tearing society apart by allowing the injustices to humanity to continue while billionaires race to space ! The taxes the 1% should be paying would make a difference!
We are human beings each and everyone of us, we are exactly the same on the inside!
These days it is the size of your pocketbook that counts! The lies you can get away with!
What will it take to wake up the world? I don’t think there is too much time left to find that answer.
Thank you Michael for each and everyone of your podcasts! They calm me!
You are my trusted truth teller! I am proud to support you!
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I know so many white people who are reading the books about anti-racism, joining groups that explore diversity, equity, and inclusion, AND who are rarely in spaces where they get to work the courage muscle of having hard conversations with other white people. They feel good about themselves because they read every book and join every discussion group. AND they live in their elite communities. Sigh. I have had people come up to me after speaking and tell me I am not going to change anything and they claim to be allies. I reject that idea. I believe that if I interrupt white supremacy, there will be impact. I believe.
Let's end the so-called war on drugs. You know its real targets, right? And how much it costs?
Powerful. I looked up the lyrics and learned even more.
Perfect timing (my post just disappeared, so I'm trying again). I needed more music for a presentation I'm doing for my husband's Unitarian Universalist fellowship ("Waking Up at 60"). I'm in this study and action journey for the rest of my life. I did have to look up the lyrics, as these 65-year-old ears don't hear as fast as some people sing/talk. And thanks for the Chris Rock story! Keep up the good work.
Well said
Michael, I am confused. Where did you get your statistics? The Pew research website shows Trump getting 46% and 47% of the vote in 2016 and 2020, respectively. I don't understand your stat of "60%+, twice." I find it ironic and confusing that for some reason, white people are supposed to make the movie about white people dumping their advantage and control. I would be surprised, that if a white person had already made that movie, there would be cries of outrage that a person of color hadn't been enlisted to do so. We are talking about leveling the playing field. If successful, that means that millions of people are going to lose power, opportunity, material security, and sense of safety, to name a few things. Not that it shouldn't happen. That isn't the question that is important here. I think the discussion needs to include EVERYONE involved. White men, White women, White non-binary, White SGBTQ, their black counterparts, their Asian counterparts, their Native American counterparts, their Moslem/Mid Easter counterparts, etc. AND the discussion needs to include what everyone will gain AND lose, how to approach the losses, and whether or not there will be an ensuing hierarchy that simply has different groups trade places on the Titanic. Primates, including Humans, have hierarchical social order, by nature. It can be transcended by prefrontal cortex efforts, but not easily. If there is inevitably going to be some kind of hierarchy of power and control, who is going to be the new "bottom"? The new "Butts"? Should we rotate every ten years? What is it that you think we can really accomplish besides stating that what we have is not fair and just. We surely know how to establish an unfair and unjust system, how to criticize it and how to demonize it. Do we really know how to create and maintain a fair and just social order given the psychology of human primates, and the dangers that freedom comprises?
White Privilege is money and power. Most whites don't have that and turn rabid because they "are delusional ". I'm going to sound like Whoopie - this is not about race - it is about the ability to raise money and power and give everyone else austerity - debt. "Little people" don't get money - corporations do. The 1% weaponizes racism, classism, sexism, fanaticism and hatred. We don't have capitalism in this country or the world for that matter - we have world oligarchy. 2020 was a decoupling of financial markets due to Covid - but the real hits came in 1929 and 2008 (bailing out of banks worldwide). You give the money to corporations so they can drive up their share price. Inequality for the many - politics (propaganda) to maintain this unsustainable economy for the few. We are ALL living on the reservation. Wake up.
Powerful piece of music
thank you, again, Michael. If you really want to make this movie, I want to get involved
I am trying to 'gift". your site insist invalid email! I t looks like I am in now???/
Wow! Read your piece here, Michael, and then read the lyrics. There is so much to think about, which I do on a regular basis, but I haven't yet figured out what I can do other than try to be kind and considerate of others.
Briefly, this is how I came to be where I am. I am 79 years old, and a white woman. I never learned any prejudice from my family but, like many white people of my time, we had very little interaction with people of color. There were elderly black neighbors across the street, who we were taught to be respectful of, just like anyone else.
While raising three children on my own because of the devastation of my husband's unwillingness or inability to deal with addiction, I learned what it was like to be the recipient of unequal consideration and justice because he was politically connected and I was not. Often I would think, "what must it be like for people with black or brown skin?" Fortunately, I was not embittered by it, but it made me much more aware of the daily injustices inflicted on some people just because of their color.
My situation is changed but, just a couple of years ago, I was stopped in my car by a white police officer. I can't tell you how shocked and angry I was for the way he treated me, a seventy-something, unthreatening white woman. (Apparently, my license plate number was similar to one from another state, who must have been under investigation.) Again, I thought, "What might it have been like if my face were brown or black?"
Bigotry takes many forms and has been experienced by people of different nationalities--whoever is the newcomer or the perceived "different" one. But it never compares in intensity or duration like the blind hatred that some people have for black people and, in my lifetime, I have never seen it displayed so openly by so many "Americans". I believe that Donald Trump's rise to power has emboldened these individuals. I never thought it could happen here, and it only has because of all the people who have enabled him over the years. Hopefully, he will be held accountable at least for some of it and I hope he will be eliminated from the possibility of re-election. (I can dream at least.)
I try to keep myself aware, I sign petitions, and I wonder what will make me go out into the street to protest. Or, if Trump is re-elected, maybe "they" will just come and take me away...
It has always seemed to me that there should be no problem with the shift in our demographics if those in power, mostly white people, had been fair and treated all with equal justice. I think those who fear the most are those who know at a deep level the hatred and bigotry in their own hearts and assume that when the tables are turned, they will be on the receiving end of that venom. In the simplest terms, it comes down to "Treat others as you would want to be treated".
I have poured out here what I am thinking. I hope it isn't too unpleasant to read. Thanks for the soapbox, and peace to all.
People don't like it when I say "white women come to the game late". My mother never taught me that I had value. She believed Society would take care of me because I was white. What she didn't understand is that it is a WHITE MAN's Society and women are not valued in it. So as a white woman having a conversation with my black, male friends I commented "we have a lot in common; we live in a society that does not value us". Women, too have to struggle to be heard. Finding you have a voice AND a choice changes the game. Proving your worth is the old game. Knowing you have VALUE changes the game. It's called Authentic Power and standing in it is what changes the game for women AND men. BE the change. "Was blind, but now I see."
Michael, that is a powerful song and a powerful message you have written. Isabel Wilkerson says the same in her brilliant book, “Caste”. Jeffery Robinson urges the same in his fine doc “Who We Are”.
That is, ‘please be silent no longer. Call out racism and take action’.
Thank you for reminding us to think about our next steps and then acting on them.
Signed,
‘A 69 year old white guy who loves his mixed community in Baldwin, NY.’
WE MUST AS FELLOW CITIZENS DEMAND. that the likes of the GQP, Manchin and cinema and Mitch the obstructor be held accountable just as much as the seditionists..they are all the same..only hold different titles