Kirsten Gillibrand, the Democratic Senator from New York and 2020 presidential hopeful, was the first candidate to speak at the Netroots Nation 2019 Presidential Forum. Gillibrand’s answers on race, racial justice, and white privilege garnered a lot of positive (and to be real—some seriously negative online) buzz in the audience. But it actually isn’t the first time the senator has talked about white privilege. Let’s look back, first.
On Thursday, Gillibrand participated in a roundtable in Youngstown, Ohio. In a now viral-video, a white woman with a baby in her arms asked a question that plagues a lot of folks. How can Democrats (or, arguably, anyone) talk about “white privilege” when low-income white people struggle? Mind you—white privilege is real, but for people who are marginalized in ways outside of race (income, disability, LGBTQ people, and so on) race privilege can become a concrete wall.
So what do you say to help change someone’s mind? Let’s look at the conversations below.
In the Ohio woman’s own words: “Now this is an area that across all demographics has been depressed because of the loss of its industry and the opioids crisis. So what do you have to say to people in this area about so-called white privilege?”
Gillibrand’s response really made a lot of people slow down and think. For a lot of us, it isn’t revolutionary—but the entire notion of privilege can be confusing, overwhelming, and even scary for people.
Here’s what the senator said in Ohio:
And now let’s move into what she said at Netroots. In addition to looping back to her Youngstown experience, Gillibrand spoke about how, “as a white woman who has certainly experienced enormous amounts of white privilege,” she’s been infuriated while traveling with a black staff member. Why? Because she witnesses first hand how her black staff member is treated differently when walking into a hotel. And as we all know, this happens way too often, in countless scenarios. If it’s not a hotel, it’s a restaurant, apartment complex, or job interview…
She also talked about her four-year-old son (who, like Gillibrand, is white), noting that when he walks down a street, wearing a hoodie and holding M&Ms, he’s not going to be shot. (A not explicit, but clear, allusion to Trayvon Martin.)
She also went on to say that if she’s not lifting up the voices of black and brown people, “then I’m not doing my job as a U.S. senator, and I’m not doing my job as a presidential candidate, and that is my responsibility.”
Does she practice what she preaches? She seems to—when asked immediately after if she supports reparations, it was a solid yes.
You can check out the (free) live stream below:
How do you talk about people in your life about white privilege?