The topic for today is "white privilege". I want to ask the question, is white privilege a thing? To those who say white privilege is reverse racism I ask the following question. If a bully pushes a kid down in a sand box and the kid tells the teacher what happened, can the bully claim they have been victimized by the kid for speaking out? This at it's core is the backward thinking of an oppressor who claims oppression. We see it continuously from those who believe that political correctness has eroded their ability to speak freely. The oppressor shouting oppression. "Black lives matter!" No, they shout, "All lives matter!" But this reverse victimization goes beyond racism. It happens when women ask to be treated equally and some men feel marginalized. It happens when the LGBTQA community asks to be recognized and some straights feel marginalized. And it goes on and on. Affirmative action, of course, means the only way you can get a fair shake is to bribe your way into a top college. I'm being sarcastic but not by much. In my mind, the most sublime expression for defining "white privilege" is the phrase coined by Professor Kiese Laymon in his brilliant book, "How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America". He said, "Blackness is not probable cause." If you would like to read my complete review of Laymon's book just click here.
The phrase "blackness is not probable cause" is the quintessential fact underwriting the existence of white privilege--if it really is a thing. I have never been suspected of a crime merely based on my skin color. For me to be suspected of a crime I would have to be holding the murder weapon while standing over the victim. Even then I would expect to be prosecuted with a fair chance of walking early. Because, not only would I have to be standing over the victim, my prints or DNA would still have to be discovered on the weapon with some blood, or other evidence, turning up on my clothing. It turns out evidence is key to our judicial system. Not so for the Central Park 5 if you've been following that sad story. That was being guilty by skin color. Those horror stories of wrongful prosecution go on and on and will continue to do so. When 40% of our prison demographic is of Black or African decent while only comprising 14% of our total population something is grossly wrong. Those of us who use math for a living know something just isn't right. Yeah, it's a complicated story, but we can't turn our back and believe the numbers contain an acceptable margin of error when in the actual pursuit of justice. We have a problem. Beyond the incarcerations we have other disproportionate acts, like police shootings, and racist incidents that stoke the fire and lead to a belief in something like "white privilege". Yeah the statistics get squishy in other areas but the message still is the same. There is an unanswered phenomenon of young black men being disproportionately shot by law enforcement. This is marginal or incidental if you happen to be white and struggling to get by with all the normal pressures of life--the frustrations, the misfortunes, the bad luck, and the other trials of life that we all face...to whom nobody is immune (accidents, disease, divorce, death, money problems, etc). This idea that somehow we have white privilege becomes a serious blind spot...it's not wrong, it's just not on our radar. We don't see it and thus we tend to passively deny it. We say white privilege isn't a thing at all...we all have our lot in life and we play the hand we are dealt. A doctor once told me "you play the hand you are dealt" as I struggled to decide between triple level spinal fusion and living with pain for the rest of my life. I asked him if I could still be as active post surgery. After he said that I gave him a two part response. Fuck you, stronger message to follow. I didn't have the surgery. I still play soccer. I'm pain free. That's a different story I haven't posted about the conspiracy of unnecessary surgeries by unethical orthopedic surgeons...it's in a file I call "Pelican Briefs". But I digress.
Now in the case of my spinal surgery, that, of course, isn't white privilege, unless you want to consider that I had been to four different doctors and I had four different opinions. I have good health insurance. That doesn't mean I have good medical advice. But does everybody have access to that type of medical care...even though there are a lot of quacks in the industry? What if I only went to one quack..and now I'm living with plates and screws in my spine that will only deteriorate and require more spinal fusions until my entire spinal column is constructed of stainless steel? I also was able to call my cousin, a neurosurgeon, who gave me some amazing words of wisdom through the episode. Having those advantages is also playing the hand I was dealt. So maybe the doctor was right to begin with. But it's inconceivable, to me, to advise a child on the proper way to behave in the presence of a police officer in order to avoid being shot. That is not wisdom my father passed down to me. Maybe he should have? Nope...never considered it. A blind spot because the necessity doesn't exist. It's not something that I've ever had to consider. Those blind spots are real. We can deny them, or try to identify them. Denying a blind spot doesn't make it go away.
The point of this story is that we don't have to play the hand we are dealt. And we certainly don't have to obstruct those trying to change things for themselves from making their life better. That is the American Dream. This is a discussion of white privilege, not immigration. But it is clear anyone coming to our country is doing so to make their life better. They are not coming here to commit crimes. They are not coming here to vote for the Democrats. They are coming here to change their stars to quote from "A Knights Tale". Rags to riches. That too is the American story. How do we forget our heritage? Cinderella is not only for little white girls? Every little girl wants to to be a princess...Disney is trying to make that point more and more...after a shaky start...we should not deny our little girls the opportunity to dream...and dream big!
White privilege has been the result of dreaming big. Our forefathers created the foundation for everyone to be privileged in a free society. Privilege to life, to liberty, and to justice should be color blind. It doesn't become white privilege without the accompanying denial that these barriers exist. Not everyone gets the privilege. It's not real from the standpoint of living in a world of steps with two legs to walk up them. That's called "two-legged" privilege. Those in wheel chairs feel like the two-legged are out to get them. Which is not true. Those out to get them are those who oppose the construction of ramps...or park in front of them. They are assholes. Playing the hand we are dealt oblivious to the hand others are dealt is generally fine. It's not a problem until you actively want to obstruct those from trying to build the ramp...opposing those trying to better themselves given that they have been dealt the shitting hand. That's oppression. When you oppress women, that's sexism. When you oppress those less fortunate than you, for instance the blind and not wanting Braille in your elevators, that's just sick and twisted. You are also an asshole. When you oppress people based on their skin color, that's racism. White privilege, thus, is just a less inflammatory way of calling obstructionists to racial equality racist. It's also a sneaky way to out those who live in that camp...the louder you scream that white privilege is reverse racism the more racist you probably are...at a minimum you are an asshole...
