Ronni
Well-known Member
- Location
- Nashville TN
Since the murder of George Floyd the #BlackLivesMatter movement has built an enormous amount of momentum and white privilege is being examined, exposed, discussed, and de-constructed by both People of Color and white people.
For a long time, in response to "black lives matter" many people have been proclaiming that ALL lives matter. And while this is true, it has come to be an insulting response, because it devalues and belittles the struggles that People of Color live with on a daily, hourly basis.
I have been one of those people proclaiming that all lives matter, and that *I* definitely DO NOT have white privilege because I just don't think that way. Well, it turns out that I don't think that way because circumstances in my own life have never forced me to examine that fact.
And then I did. And here's what I learned. The color of my skin has never once caused me to feel threatened while simply walking around my neighborhood or down a street. I've never had to reassure anyone that they don't have to be afraid of me because I'm a white person. I've never been looked at with suspicion because of my skin color, or had to compensate for that fact by doing everything I can to appear less threatening.
I have never once had the police called on me, never had a gun drawn on me, never been questioned, never had my motives doubted, never had someone angry with me, never been shot at, all simply BECAUSE of the color of my skin. I've never had to live my daily life in fear. Why? Because MY skin isn't dark. My white skin is my armor, protecting me from things I haven't even comprehended could be threatening to me, things that People of Color face every single day, simply as part of life.
And THAT, folks, is white privilege. And I have it. I never asked for it, never fought for it, wanted it, demanded it, never even knew I had it, because it just IS. It's just the way that it is. Because I'm white.
It's taken me 67 years to even begin to understand that, to recognize that, to encompass that in a way I never have before.
For a long time, in response to "black lives matter" many people have been proclaiming that ALL lives matter. And while this is true, it has come to be an insulting response, because it devalues and belittles the struggles that People of Color live with on a daily, hourly basis.
I have been one of those people proclaiming that all lives matter, and that *I* definitely DO NOT have white privilege because I just don't think that way. Well, it turns out that I don't think that way because circumstances in my own life have never forced me to examine that fact.
And then I did. And here's what I learned. The color of my skin has never once caused me to feel threatened while simply walking around my neighborhood or down a street. I've never had to reassure anyone that they don't have to be afraid of me because I'm a white person. I've never been looked at with suspicion because of my skin color, or had to compensate for that fact by doing everything I can to appear less threatening.
I have never once had the police called on me, never had a gun drawn on me, never been questioned, never had my motives doubted, never had someone angry with me, never been shot at, all simply BECAUSE of the color of my skin. I've never had to live my daily life in fear. Why? Because MY skin isn't dark. My white skin is my armor, protecting me from things I haven't even comprehended could be threatening to me, things that People of Color face every single day, simply as part of life.
And THAT, folks, is white privilege. And I have it. I never asked for it, never fought for it, wanted it, demanded it, never even knew I had it, because it just IS. It's just the way that it is. Because I'm white.
It's taken me 67 years to even begin to understand that, to recognize that, to encompass that in a way I never have before.
