Interviews with Artists and Activists on White Privilege: Jes Skolnik

I recently conducted a series of interviews with several people who are white/read as white about what white privilege means to them in their work to end racism and oppression. Following the killing of Mike Brown, I realized to my great disappointment that a number of white folks on social media became extremely agitated and angry at the very invocation of this phrase. Conceptually, though, I think it is critical to understand and engage if we are indeed to move towards a most just and fair world. I am humbled and grateful to the people who participated in this conversation for their honesty in talking about what white privilege means to them, and I hope this collection of voices serves to spark dialogue and ignite change.

It must and can never be only people of color who are charged with the work of dismantling white supremacy and racial injustice. I feel these conversations are critical for white people to have with each other if we are to move forward as a society. Thanks for taking time to read.

(This is the seventh interview in the series. Check out the previous ones with Chris Crass, Melissa A. Fabello, Kelly Johnson, Sean Mahan, Petra Zeh Paredez, and Cory Stowers.)

Jes Skolnik

1.Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m 35, a musician and a writer, former union organizer, currently working on starting an all-ages nonprofit performance space, working at a record store. I grew up in the DC area but I’ve lived in Chicago for nearly a decade now. I’m a nonbinary AFAB queer person who is mostly white/reads as white. 

2. Where and when did you first hear the term white privilege? What were some of your initial thoughts about it?

You know, I have no idea where I first heard it? It’s something that’s been part of my vocabulary for over 20 years (it’s always funny when I read something about the phrase ‘coming from Tumblr’).

My first reaction was that it was a useful phrase to describe a phenomenon I had experienced but didn’t have the words for; I definitely remember my first encounter with the phenomenon even if I don’t remember my first encounter with the phrase. I was in middle school, and I’d gone to buy soda and snacks at a convenience store with a few friends I skated with after school, none of whom were also white. I was THE ONLY ONE that didn’t get followed around the store to see if we were stealing. I remember thinking ‘What the hell?’ and then talking to my friends about it later and realizing the only difference was our skin color and feeling really sad and angry that my friends had to go through that and stupid I’d never noticed it before.

3. How and when do you use the phrase in your own life and activism?

I use it to describe those situations, in which whiteness shields us from the systemic mistreatment other people experience. I’m pretty careful with the phrase because I feel like the whole discourse on privilege can get out of hand really easily but ‘white privilege’ is often an accurate descriptor of a power dynamic, so I try to use it precisely.

4. Have you experienced pushback on the phrase from other white people? How do you respond? What are some common ways the phrase is called into question, and how do you address those?

I haven’t really experienced much pushback on the phrase itself but when you’re calling attention to whiteness (because it is assumed as the invisible default) people can get touchy and defensive. I actually feel like I’ve personally experienced the biggest pushback on calling out whiteness in activist circles, where there’s a lot of white liberal/progressive folks taking up space and talking a lot ABOUT whiteness but not actually examining the ways in which we personally benefit from it (I have kind of an aversion these days to didactic activist social circles and this is part of the reason why). I try to listen to where that defensiveness is coming from and remind fellow white people that this isn’t about us or our feelings, and if we find ourselves getting defensive it pays to interrogate where that feeling is coming from and why.

I actually felt kind of weird about doing this interview because I’m not trying to say that I’m better or special or worthy of attention because the operation of whiteness in my own life and in society at large is something I pay attention to. It’s really the bare minimum for being a halfway-decent person.