Dear Fellow Privileged White Folks
Dear fellow privileged white folks:
I can’t pretend I understand what it’s like to be a POC. I certainly don’t understand what it’s like to be a POC in the United States.
But I feel pretty strongly that as a white person, who has enjoyed the privilege my light skin has afforded me…
(For my fellow whities who are offended by the term”white privilege” it simply means that out of all the things that make your life harder, your skin colour isn’t one of them)
…certainly I don’t get to judge how people are protesting racism and police brutality in the US. I hope this goes down in history as an uprising. I hope it’s in the history books as the revolution of 2020.
People online say things like, violence isn’t the answer. Burning things isn’t the answer.
Apparently neither was peacefully kneeling at a football game, so what’s our problem? It seems to me that some white folks would like not-white folks to just shut up and maintain the status quo because it’s definitely been to our benefit for a really long time.
To be clear, I’m not advocating violence or property destruction.
I’m pro law enforcement while adamantly opposed to “bad apple cops.”
I’m not an anarchist by any definition. I have no criminal record and I’ve never attended a protest in my life. (Just in case anyone’s curious about bias.)
If you say “not all white people are racist” that’s true. I agree with you that we can’t let a few bad apples represent the entirety, like some bad cops and some bad white people. But then let’s carry that theory across colour lines. Not every protester is looting and lighting cop cars on fire. I’ve also seen some pale, thin-featured folks carrying TVs out a broken store window sooo 🤷
People online say things like, protest peacefully. Phone your representative. Run for political office. Make change peacefully etc etc.
These are white people saying this. Basically, we’d like POC to protest injustice in ways that don’t make us uncomfortable, please and thankssssssss.
We, the privileged, seem to think we’re all on an equal playing field. A person of colour can just get a great education, a great job, write poignant letters, speak to the media, get into politics, change the world.
Yes, that’s definitely possible. We want it to be that easy, and probably so do they, but I’m pretty sure it’s not. Can we just admit that systemically, there’s a lot of extra obstacles in the way for those with more melanin? And can we admit that we, the privileged white ones, put them there?
White men armed with assault rifles stormed a government building in the states a couple weeks ago because they needed haircuts or Cracker Barrel or something. The powers that be ALLOWED this to happen. This was OKAY. They were simply protesting like good people are allowed to do in the states. (Armed with assault rifles but let’s not quibble. Second amendment yadda yadda)
When a group of armed white people storm a government building and are ALLOWED to do so without a single use of force, a single rubber bullet being fired, nor a single canister of tear gas deployed by law enforcement… The police (under strict orders, I’m sure) had to stand there and be yelled at by these yahoos playing soldier dress up while being allowed to do nothing about it.
But an unarmed group of protesters which includes non-white people is so much of a threat that the National guard is dispatched. Use of force is authorized.
They aren’t protesting because Golden Corral is closed.
They’re protesting a racist, oppressive society. They’re protesting ANOTHER murder of a black person at the hands of bad law enforcement.
For me, these two wildly different responses illustrate perfectly why the protests are happening, should happen. If you’re a white person who doesn’t understand that, I suggest that maybe you’re part of the problem.
Do I condone violence, looting, arson? Of course not. I want people safe and unharmed. But I also think it would be cool if POC felt safe going for a jog or birdwatching or barbecuing or being approached by the police or pulled over for a busted tail light.
Do I hope that this dumpster fire of a situation in the states burns hot enough to bring an end to this bullshit in 2020? You bet I do.
We, the privileged, don’t get to decide how the non-privileged try to effect change.
We don’t get to decide that an oppressed group should “get over it.”
We’ve been making the rules for “others” to follow for a really long time and now we don’t like the pushback.
We need to get over it.
You can donate to George Floyd’s family here.
You can contribute to bail for arrested Minneapolis protesters here.
