When You Think About It: White Privilege

F LoBuono

Apparently, a lot of White Folk have at least some difficulty with the concept of White Privilege. Understandably, most of it comes from working class people. They fear that raising ALL to equality will threaten the lifestyle they believe they earned and are entitled to - after all, there are only so many slices in a pie. Some of their other reasoning is as follows:

Well, slavery may have been in this Country for 400 years but my family immigrated -"legally"- just 100 years ago, so what does slavery have to do with me?

And -

Privilege? What privilege? No one ever gave me ANYTHING. I've had to work hard to get what I've got.

Or -

Everyone has an equal opportunity to get ahead. Why should it be my fault if "they" don't advantage of them?

Although these statements may be honest and heartfelt, they are also extremely over-simplistic and myopic in their understanding of the powerful issues that drive racism. And, quite frankly, they reek of White Privilege.

Don't they get it?

For hundreds of years, the system is stacked in various ways against minority communities - so much so - that many of them STILL lack even the basic necessities that we white folk simply take for granted - things like safety, security, nutrition, housing, education, and health. Without these things, there can never be equality. They provide the foundation from which a healthy, equitable society is built.

But, I believe, that's about to change.

The alleged murder of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minnesota policeman simply galvanized a movement that, in large part, was made possible by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the first time in a generation, because of the virus, the American Way of Life has been threatened in ways it has rarely encountered. Amenities that we (i.e. white folk) have taken for granted for years, are suddenly threatened. Our right to peacefully assemble has been attacked - literally. Our social structure has been severely challenged with our movements greatly curtailed. There have been food shortages. We've had difficulty in acquiring even basic household goods like toilet paper and cleaning products. Long lines awaited us at the supermarkets. Prize gouging has taken place. We've struggled with properly feeding and educating our children. When we couldn't find work, we feared that there might be a chance that we couldn't put a roof over our heads. We had to begin to live day by day.

Well, welcome to the world that minority communities face EVERY FUCKING DAY!!!

We have become spoiled living in our Ivory Towers, taking for granted that the Internet will always be there, our supermarket selves will always be stocked, and our children will always receive a good education and live productive lives.

However, The Days of Wine and Roses may be fading not only for White Privilege but for America in general. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently painted a very gloomy picture of our future economy saying it will take years to recover from its current predicament*. Unemployment may stay staggeringly high into the near future and beyond.

So, if the thousands of demonstrations demanding equal justice (in EVERY sense) under the law hasn't gotten your attention perhaps those statistics will.

We need to change that and fate has made the time NOW.

When we finally acknowledge the flaws in our society, we can begin to build again and, this time, insure a more equitable future for ALL.

It can happen. It MUST happen. NOW.

*https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/13/powells-gloomy-outlook-has-investors-predicting-the-fed-may-make-another-big-move-soon.html