The Politics of My Skin

I don’t walk around thinking about white privilege. However, current events raise this issue once again. Invariably, people respond to the idea of white privilege by exclaiming how they don’t know anything about it and have not benefitted from systemic, institutionalized racism. They will tell me that they struggle or are broke as evidence that white privilege does not exist. Two things. The first is that white privilege does not mean free money or guaranteed financial abundance or automatic ascension to a particular status in America. The second will be in the form of two examples that I think people can relate to.

If you drive a car, you have likely been pulled over by a police officer or a state trooper. If you are white, you might become nervous, especially if you have something illegal in the car, or simply because you’re worried about getting a ticket. You might become annoyed because getting pulled over was not on your agenda, and it might make you late to wherever you’re heading. What it does not make you is terrified that this might be how your life ends. If you think I’m exaggerating, I promise you that I am not.

I have developed a procedure that I follow on the rare instances that I am pulled over. Before the officer gets out of his vehicle, I quickly take my wallet out of my pocket to get my driver license, and reach into the hutch above my rearview mirror for my insurance and registration, and put them all on the dashboard. Then, I lower the window and put both of my hands on the steering wheel. Why? Because I look like 90% of the composite sketches out there. That’s why. I don’t want to startle the officer while I reach for documents he will ask me for. That’s why. In fact, once he asks me for my license, registration and insurance, I will tell him they are on the dashboard and ask him which hand I should use to reach for them. Why? Because I look like 90% of the composite sketches out there. That’s why. I don’t want to startle the officer while I reach for documents he will ask me for. That’s why. If you think I’m exaggerating, I promise you that I am not. The fact that I have to think like that and other people don’t is my first example of white privilege, and frankly, it makes me sick to my stomach.

If you are a parent, you will naturally try to instruct your children about ways they can be safe when they inevitably start roaming around without you. If you are white parents to white children, my presumption is that you never had to explain to them how to survive an encounter with police. Do you understand? I had to explain to my son how to survive an encounter with police. Every day of his life, I had to have it in the back of my mind that some racist psycho with a badge could end my son’s life if he felt like it. Moreover, he wouldn’t see a second of jail time for doing so. If you think I’m exaggerating, I promise you that I am not. The fact that I have to think like that and other people don’t is my second example of white privilege, and frankly, it makes me sick to my stomach.

I don’t hate the police. You can scroll through 9 years of my posts to confirm how much respect I have for the nearly impossible job they are entrusted with. I don’t hate white people. I do sometimes make fun of how some of you dance, but otherwise, we’re cool. This is not about police. I used those two very vivid examples that involve police for their common ground, relatability and timeliness. They hopefully serve to illustrate the duality under which America operates, and give you a clear picture of the internal life of someone who does not have the same privilege as others. This is not about white people as individuals. This is about a system of white cultural superiority that has existed since the beginning of American colonization. I’m not looking for sympathy. I only seek to educate and enlighten. I hope you can appreciate the intention behind this post.