Louis CK: ‘Here’s How Great it Is to Be White’

by | Apr 7, 2011 | "race", privilege | 4 comments

One comedian’s take on White privilege.
WARNING…EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.

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Is this funny? Offensive? True?

I laughed. And, I think he is telling a truth many people think but would never say.

I’ll try not to write any spoilers for those who are going to watch the video (you might want to stop and watch before reading further–the video’s only about 2 minutes), but the part about going to the year 2 was hilarious. Even his comment about the future is pretty telling. Do White people share a collective fear that the tables might turn? If that is a fear, why hasn’t that happened? (I can think only of Toussaint L’Overture’s uprising in Haiti in 1791 and Nat Turner’s war on slavery in Southampton County, VA in 1831. Are there other examples of Black people organizing violence against Whites en masse?)

When South Africa’s apartheid system was abolished and a Black president was elected, though Whites were vastly outnumbered there was no violent uprising to “punish” them.

Do/should White Americans fear one day being outnumbered? If that is a real fear, how does it affect race relations today?