I'm a counselor in private practice. I've noticed a handful of my young white millennial clients in the past few years have expressed something I've never heard before: they wish they had been born black.
It's my job to probe this, so I've asked why they feel this way. They've said they have been born with privilege as whites, and that they want to reject this privilege and instead live without it.
In most clients, this would concern me, because masochism (outside of the not-uncommon sexual masochism) usually stems from a belief that the person is bad and deserves punishment. No client should ordinarily want something that brings pain and provides no reward. Had my clients expressed that they admired the ethnic heritage or culture of African Americans, I would have no concerns, but they never have.
With my young millennials, I've just had to get used to it, because they seem unable to elaborate on why they would want something that is in opposition to their own interests and would benefit no one.
My working theory is that these young millennials feel that they are not allowed to express their negative emotions because they're fed with the notion that they are privileged. They feel that, because of their "invisible backpack of white privilege", they are ineligible to complain about the normal problems in their lives. I think they want to be able to express their own negative experiences, and they feel that they might have a stronger voice to do so if they were able to identify as a part of a victim group. As it is, they feel that they aren't a part of any minority, and therefore have no right to express their anger, depression, or anxiety.
Note: my average client is a product of liberal arts education, with a bachelor's degree, from a family of upper middle class suburban Protestants. Most are straight and cisgendered.
Thanks,
Lady Signaled Virtue
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