Dr. Danielle Poe's presidential address for Concerned Philosophers for Peace 2010 Conference

Dr. Danielle Poe gave the presidential address for the Concerned Philosophers for Peace 2010 Conference titled “Opening a door to the mysteries, hoping to shed a little dark on all the stuff we think we know” (StoryPeople)

At the heart of white privilege, a blindness to that privilege serves to institutionalize that privilege, ease white guilt, and disenfranchise people of color. If this blindness were a function of ignorance, then the blindness could be corrected by providing more information about discrimination and the ways in which groups of people have been disadvantaged by practices such as institutional racism. Certainly, information and understanding discrimination can correct some instances of racism, but frequently those who benefit from privilege have access to information and use that information to claim absolute understanding and to declare racial discrimination a thing of the past. I argue that in order to recognize the cost of white privilege, we need to appreciate that knowledge and understanding are limited. Instead of shedding more light on the problems, we can emphasize our finitude and that cultivating diversity, welcoming difference, and appreciating mystery can bring about a recognition of white privilege such that its power can be undermined.