This is a terrific article. I originally had some problems with the subtitle, but I finally decided it is basically accurate, although somewhat misleading. The following is not really a response to the author, but rather addressed to other people who might might misinterpret her the way I did on my first readings.
The author correctly points out, and superbly documents, that most white people are cluelessly unconscious about the existence of their own privilege. (Love the cartoon). But something of which you are unconscious can't "feel too good to let go". If you are unconscious of something, it can't feel either good or bad. This article makes the point several times that privilege creates obliviousness. Fish don't feel that water is too good to let go. They just swim in it, and probably feel they are totally responsible for propelling themselves through empty space.
All true, but irrelevant to the author's main point. What feels good is the belief that you have done it all on your own, and you can only believe that if you are clueless about your own level of privilege. You can pat yourself on the back if your hard work enables you to beat hundreds of people in a contest. But you can be even prouder of yourself, and dismissive of people with less privilege, if you ignore the fact that millions of other people were never even allowed to enter the contest. This is one reason why it’s misleading to say that White people love their privilege. The only way we can get this pleasure from our privilege is to be unaware of the fact that we have it, and you can’t love something if you don’t know that it exists.
The main title of the article has a tension that is common in a lot of medium articles: It both demands that white people change, and insists that they can't possibly do so. Of course dismantling racism is a huge task, but I think that most of the change demanded by this particular article is not that difficult. Just acknowledge that Affirmative Action is necessary and just, and do whatever you can to help bring it about. Judging from the polls I have seen, most white people haven't done this. But it isn't unthinkable that more people could do it.
