Personally, when I hear a black person mention white privilege, I don’t get offended — I just think about it and admit that — Hey! I just really don’t know what it is to be black in a society so long dominated by white people. Its just some unconscious aspect of my being which is there because I never had to use “colored” bathrooms, act stupid to get by in the Jim crow South, never had to take a voting test, never had to sit in the back of busses that should obviously be used freely by any human passengers, never had to worry about the KKK, or be attacked by police dogs or billy clubbed by their handlers! I will also never know what its like to be stopped repeatedly by the cops simply for being black, or what it is like to be treated way too poorly by figures of authority. But, I’m not bad or good for being white, I’m just lacking the experiences that might cause me not take for granted how lucky and privilaged I am to be white man in a world full of racism and bias.
I also admit that sometimes I am nervous when I see a large black man scowling at me (or when I see an anxious looking Arabic person boarding the same plane I am about to board). But there’s a little bit of that in all of us who live in a racially and religiously charged society rife with television and media that constantly dramatizes not only our misunderstandings, but also makes us anxious for our everyday safety.
Be that as it may, let me offer some constructive criticism: No doubt you have every reason to be angry about racial prejudice! In fact you have every right to be enraged by them, but you’re using the word “them,” way too much to describe white people, as if every white person must be a cookie cutter image of all the rest too? To me that means that you also have succumbed to alienation which has caused you to stereotype a large group of people — even though some of us are just uptight because everyday we worry about offending those who might judge us personally for things we have never done.
What I do totally agree with is the candor of former President Obama when he commented on how stupid the police were to arrest Professor Gates in his own home, with his own photo ID in his wallet! Politics being as they are, Obama was given Hell for just speaking the truth —just like he was given Hell for almost every stupid made up story you can imagine! Give Historians ten years of professional freedom and I’m sure we’ll see many biographies that will give him credit for the ways he handled both incredible obstruction and potential calamity while never refusing to try and use the political system as it was intended to be used. Thanks for the article!