Leonardo (2005) defines white privilege as “the notion that white subjects accrue advantages by virtue of being constructed as whites” (p. 37). The Dc Gazette article claims, "Just when you thought liberals couldn't be any more nonsensical, they come out and attack Mia Love for benefiting from a form of 'White Privilege'." However, reading the Huffington Post article, there is one mention of white privilege, "This is one way white privilege is reproduced at the legislative level of government." This mention of white privilege in no way is attributed to Mia Love herself, but rather to the system within which she was elected. The Dc Gazette writer accuses Darron T. Smith, the author of the Huffington Post article, of being "upset that Mia Love isn't playing the left's identity politics game." However, Smith himself acknowledges that Black voters are not monolithic. To be Black does not necessarily entail being liberal. What Smith carefully points out is that the Republican party to which Mia Love belongs, does not serve Black interests (e.g., with regards to education, economics, and health outcomes). What the Dc Gazette article does is promulgate the myth that white privilege and its counterpart white racism is an individual act. Mia Love, an individual, is said to be enjoying white privilege... a misappropriation of the term. The Huffington Post, on the other hand, acknowledges the systemic nature of white privilege by attributing it to the legislative level of government acting in its own self-interest, which is largely white, wealthy, and male.
Another phenomenon at play in this debate is white exceptionalism. White exceptionalism is a type of "blame game" in which white individuals who see themselves as anti-racist set themselves apart from other white individuals and groups which they deem to be racist, essentially seeing themselves as exceptional whites. This describes what the Republican party is doing here. They are setting themselves up as exceptional whites by essentially using Mia Love as their scapegoat. The GOP cannot possibly be a racist entity if they are willing to let a Black, Mormon, woman sit at their table. With Mia Love on their side, they can continue to promote legislation that is in the interest of the white majority with little regard to the implications it has for the rest of the population and point to Utah's Haitian-American representative as "proof" that they are doing no wrong.
In sum, is Mia Love "enjoying" white privilege? No. She is being used by those who do possess white privilege. Sure, she now has a seat at the table, and I hope she decides to use it for the good of those who are oppressed due to their race, religion, and/or gender, but make no mistake in thinking that her own race, religion, and/or gender have been forgotten. Electing a poster child for the GOP's skin-deep re-branding effort does not make Utah progressive, nor does it mean that the U.S. is "post-racial."
Leonardo, Z. (2005).
The color of supremacy: Beyond the discourse of ‘white privilege.’ In Z.
Leonardo (Ed.), Critical Pedagogy and
Race (pp. 37-52). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
