So, let’s concede that White economic privilege exists.  But, it may not be what you think, as stemming from discrimination, exploitation, and outright theft.  Rather, it has cultural and historical roots too complex to denounce with a bullhorn.

Think of economic privilege, not as booty from conquest, but as a reward for innovation.  Innovation means “new” (Latin: nova), as in envisioning something new, inventing something new, organizing something new, or daring something new.

Think back to Italian immigrants coming to these shores with meager resources, but 3,000 years of Italian history residing within them.  As the late, former president of Yale University A. Bartlett Giamatti, wrote: “[those poor, barely literate immigrants] would not have believed they were affected by Roman culture.”  That culture was visible to them as they were growing up – in the ornate churches and sacred ceremonies, in the ubiquitous Roman and Greek ruins, in magnificent Renaissance art, in soaring architecture, in a family-centered society, and even in the food they ate – all developed through the millennia of Italian history.  Even these lowly immigrants brought innovation to America in the form of a new cuisine.  They might have opened a pizzeria, a restaurant, or Italian grocery store – a family business that would hire fellow Italians, who in turn, might open their own shops.  Their capital may have come from relatives, and a bumpy start-up survived with discipline and sacrifice.  But, in the end, that innovation would bring economic privilege. 

Of course, our ancestors also dug ditches, labored in the fields, and fished the oceans.  But, many came with myriad skills like masonry, carpentry, or barbering learned in Italy that jumped started their economic privilege here.  Were these privileges at the expense of African Americans, Asian Americans, or Indigenous people?  Hardly. More to the point, what innovations and skills did those other groups add to their own success in America?  Shall we compare more significant European innovations to other groups?  To do so is condemned as racist.  This is why Greco-Roman Civilization must be erased from our education system, why Columbus’s unification of the globe must be denigrated.  These were innovations of the highest order that directly led to “White privilege” because they changed humanity on every level.

It is a slippery racist slope to conjure up comparative histories of the various continents, but so much of our current racial tensions are bound up in where we came from and what we each brought to the table.  If cuisine enabled many Italian Americans to climb the economic ladder, hasn’t athletic ability done the same for African Americans?  Both groups also owe their bootstrap success to talents in music and entertainment.  Asian Americans may not excel in music, sports, or entertainment, but they brought from their homelands marketable cuisines and, more importantly, a near universal passion for education.

Today’s modern world of computers, air and space travel, refrigeration, food canning, communications, automobiles, medicine, and industrial development was overwhelmingly the result of Euro-Caucasian innovation over centuries.  Scientific inquiry and the application of that science through engineering was a hallmark of European civilization.  The capitalist system that bankrolled innovations, and the stable societies necessary to bring all the pieces together into a finished product, were all Euro-Caucasian.  Is it surprising, then, that White privilege came along with these innovations?

I wonder what Black activists would say if an African American founded a global bank named “Bank of Africa” one hundred years ago, but not one Black on that Board today, and an Irish American CEO? I don’t know if such a bank exists, but Bank of America, was founded by Amadeo Giannini as the Bank of Italy.  Not one Italian American sits on that board today, and the CEO is named Brian Moynihan.  So much for “Italian” privilege.  Should Italian Americans demand “equity” in governance at Bank of America, for old time sake?

Is the NBA (National Basketball Association) an example of Black privilege, since 75% of the players are Black?  How about the NFL (National Football League) with 70% Black players?  Is it because Blacks are skilled and motivated that they now have sports “privilege”?  Of course! Should Whites and Asians with less talent demand “equity” in the name of social justice?

It seems we need to change the old adage: ‘Teach a man a skill and he’ll survive,’ to: ‘Just give him a bullhorn and he can demand equity.’ -JLM