The Black Male Privileges Checklist

So...I saw this on the H-Afro_Am listserv and this completely sums up everything I am feeling right now.


The Black Male Privileges Checklist is one tool that students and
faculty may find useful in dealing with issues of Black Manhood &
Black Masculinities.

The Black Male Privileges Checklist

Leadership & Politics

1. I don't have to choose my race over my sex in political matters.
2. When I read African American History textbooks, I will learn mainly
about black men.
3. When I learn about the Civil Rights Movement & the Black Power
Movements, most of the leaders that I will learn about will be black
men.
4. I can rely on the fact that in the near 100-year history of
national civil rights organizations such as the NAACP and the Urban
League, virtually all of the executive directors have been male.
5. I will be taken more seriously as a political leader than black women.
6. Despite the substantial role that black women played in the Civil
Rights Movement and Black Power Movement, currently there is no black
female that is considered a "race leader".
7. I can live my life without ever having read black feminist authors,
or knowing about black women's history, or black women's issues.
8. I can be a part of a black liberation organization like the Black
Panther Party where an "out" rapist Eldridge Cleaver can assume
leadership position.
9. I will make more money than black women at equal levels of
education and occupation.
10. Most of the national "opinion framers" in Black America including
talk show hosts and politicians are men.

Beauty
11. I have the ability to define black women's beauty by European
standards in terms of skin tone, hair, and body size. In comparison,
black women rarely define me by European standards of beauty in terms
of skin tone, hair, or body size.
12. I do not have to worry about the daily hassles of having my hair
conforming to any standard image of beauty the way black women do.
13. I do not have to worry about the daily hassles of being terrorized
by the fear of gaining weight. In fact, in many instances bigger is
better for my sex.
14. My looks will not be the central standard by which my worth is
valued by members of the opposite sex.

Sex & Sexuality
15. I can purchase pornography that typically shows men defile women
by the common practice of the "money shot."
16. I can believe that causing pain during sex is connected with a
woman's pleasure without ever asking her.
17. I have the privilege of not wanting to be a virgin, but preferring
that my wife or significant other be a virgin.
18. When it comes to sex if I say "No", chances are that it will not
be mistaken for "Yes".
19. If I am raped, no one will assume that "I should have known
better" or suggest that my being raped had something to do with how I
was dressed.
20. I can use sexist language like bonin', laying the pipe, hittin-it,
and banging that convey images of sexual acts based on dominance and
performance.
21. I can live in a world where polygamy is still an option for men in
the United States as well as around the world.
22. In general, I prefer being involved with younger women socially
and sexually
23. In general, the more sexual partners that I have the more stature
I receive among my peers.
24. I have easy access to pornography that involves virtually any
category of sex where men degrade women, often young women.
25. I have the privilege of being a part of a sex where "purity balls"
apply to girls but not to boys.
26. When I consume pornography, I can gain pleasure from images and
sounds of men causing women pain.

Popular Culture
27. I come from a tradition of humor that is based largely on
insulting and disrespecting women; especially mothers.
28. I have the privilege of not having black women, dress up and play
funny characters- often overweight- that are supposed to look like me
for the entire nation to laugh.
29. When I go to the movies, I know that most of the leads in black
films are men. I also know that all of the action heroes in black film
are men.
30. I can easily imagine that most of the artists in Hip Hop are
members of my sex.
31. I can easily imagine that most of the women that appear in Hip Hop
videos are there solely to please men
32. Most of lyrics I listen to in hip-hop perpetuate the ideas of
males dominating women, sexually and socially.
33. I have the privilege of consuming and popularizing the word pimp,
which is based on the exploitation of women with virtually no
opposition from other men.
34. I can hear and use language bitches and hoes that demean women,
with virtually no opposition from men.
35. I can wear a shirt that others and I commonly refer to as a "wife
beater" and never have the language challenged.
36. Many of my favorite movies include images of strength that do not
include members of the opposite sex and often are based on violence.
37. Many of my favorite genres of films, such as martial arts, are
based on violence.
38. I have the privilege of popularizing or consuming the idea of a
thug, which is based on the violence and victimization of others with
virtually no opposition from other men.

Attitudes/Ideology
39. I have the privilege to define black women as having "an attitude"
without referencing the range of attitudes that black women have.
40. I have the privilege of defining black women's attitudes without
defining my attitudes as a black man.
41. I can believe that the success of the black family is dependent on
returning men to their historical place within the family, rather than
in promoting policies that strengthen black women's independence, or
that provide social benefits to black children.
42. I have the privilege of believing that a woman cannot raise a son
to be a man.
43. I have the privilege of believing that a woman must submit to her man.
44. I have the privilege of believing that before slavery gender
relationships between black men and women were perfect.
45. I have the privilege of believing that feminism is anti-black.
46. I have the privilege of believing that the failure of the black
family is due to the black matriarchy.
47. I have the privilege of believing that household responsibilities
are women's roles.
48. I have the privilege of believing that black women are different
sexually than other women and judging them negatively based on this
belief.

Sports
49. I will make significantly more money as a professional athlete
than members of the opposite sex will.
50. In school, girls are cheerleaders for male athletes, but there is
no such role for males to cheerlead for women athletes.
51. My financial success or popularity as a professional athlete will
not be associated with my looks.
52. I can talk about sports or spend large portions of the day playing
video games while women are most likely involved with household or
childcare duties.
53. I can spend endless hours watching sports TV and have it
considered natural.
54. I can touch, hug, or be emotionally expressive with other men
while watching sports without observers perceiving this behavior as
sexual.
55. I know that most sports analysts are male.
56. If I am a coach, I can motivate, punish, or embarrass a player by
saying that the player plays like a girl.
57. Most sports talk show hosts that are members of my race are men.
58. I can rest assured that most of the coaches -even in
predominately- female sports within my race are male.
59. I am able to play sports outside without my shirt on and it not be
considered a problem.
60. I am essentially able to do anything inside or outside without my
shirt on, whereas women are always required to cover up.

Diaspora/Global
61. I have the privilege of being a part of a sex where the mutilation
and disfigurement of a girl's genitalia is used to deny her sexual
sensations or to protect her virginity for males.
62. I have the privilege of not having rape be used as a primary
tactic or tool to terrorize my sex during war and times of conflict.
63. I have the privilege of not being able to name one female leader
in Africa or Asia, past or present, that I pay homage to the way I do
male leaders in Africa and/or Asia.
64. I have the ability to travel around the world and have access to
women in developing countries both sexually and socially.
65. I have the privilege of being a part of the sex that starts wars
and that wields control of almost all the existing weapons of war and
mass destruction.
College
66. In college, I will have the opportunity to date outside of the
race at a much higher rate than black women will.
67. I have the privilege of having the phrase "sewing my wild oats"
apply to my sex as if it were natural.
68. I know that the further I go in education the more success I will
have with women.
69. In college, black male professors will be involved in interracial
marriages at much higher rates than members of the opposite sex will.
70. By the time I enter college, and even through college, I have the
privilege of not having to worry whether I will be able to marry a
black woman.
71. In college, I will experience a level of status and prestige that
is not offered to black women even though black women may outnumber me
and out perform me academically.
72. If I go to an HBCU, I will have incredible opportunities to
exploit black women

Communication/ Language
73. What is defined as "News" in Black America is defined by men.
74. I can choose to be emotionally withdrawn and not communicate in a
relationships and it be considered unfortunate but normal.
75. I can dismissively refer to another persons grievances as ^*ing.
76. I have the privilege of not knowing what words and concepts like
patriarchy, phallocentric, complicity, colluding, and obfuscation mean.

Relationships
77. I have the privilege of marrying outside of the race at a much
higher rate than black women marry.
78. My "strength" as a man is never connected with the failure of the
black family, whereas the strength of black women is routinely
associated with the failure of the black family.
79. If I am considering a divorce, I know that I have substantially
more marriage, and cohabitation options than my spouse.
80. Chances are I will be defined as a "good man" by things I do not
do as much as what I do. If I don't beat, cheat, or lie, then I am a
considered a "good man". In comparison, women are rarely defined as
"good women" based on what they do not do.
81. I have the privilege of not having to assume most of the household
or child-care responsibilities.
82. I have the privilege of having not been raised with domestic
responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, and washing that takes up
disproportionately more time as adults.

Church & Religious Traditions
83. In the Black Church, the majority of the pastoral leadership is male.
84. In the Black Church Tradition, most of the theology has a male
point of view. For example, most will assume that the man is the head
of household.

Physical Safety
85. I do not have to worry about being considered a traitor to my race
if I call the police on a member of the opposite sex.
86. I have the privilege of knowing men who are physically or sexually
abusive to women and yet I still call them friends.
87. I can video tape women in public- often without their consent -
with male complicity.
88. I can be courteous to a person of the opposite sex that I do not
know and say "Hello" or "Hi" and not fear that it will be taken as a
come-on or fear being stalked because of it.
89. I can use physical violence or the threat of physical violence to
get what I want when other tactics fail in a relationship.
90. If I get into a physical altercation with a person of the opposite
sex, I will most likely be able to impose my will physically on that
person
91. I can go to parades or other public events and not worry about
being physically and sexually molested by persons of the opposite sex.
92. I can touch and physically grope women's bodies in public- often
without their consent- with male complicity.
93. In general, I have the freedom to travel in the night without fear.
94. I am able to be out in public without fear of being sexually
harassed by individuals or groups of the opposite sex