We've heard a lot about inherent white privilege lately. I've had a difficult time accepting that label. I have never in my life felt privileged. I am a lower middle-class white woman. As a child, my family would have been considered working-poor class. I grew up in a rural town in Northwest Tennessee with a population of approximately 1000 people. I was raised by divorced parents. My mother worked multiple jobs while putting herself through nursing school. We relied on government assistance. I wore clothes from Dollar General and Wal-Mart; when they weren't hand me downs from relatives. I got free and reduced lunches at school. My family was always a recipient of the “Christmas boxes” handed out by local churches. I always felt a notch below.
Privilege. Well, that was the kids in the big houses with the new bikes, the latest trends and the name brand toys. Now, even as a college educated adult, I don’t feel “privileged.” Until very recently, I've never driven a car less than five years old. I had to use WIC; a government funded supplemental nutrition program for low-income mothers and children. I haven't worn the most popular brands unless I scored a deal at T.J. Maxx or Goodwill. I have always, ALWAYS lived pay check to pay check, especially now as a single mother of three. So when this talk of white privilege began swirling around me, my instinct was to balk.
While I've tried my best to, and in some ways had begun to, understand the difference, it wasn't until recently that it clicked. While I was stopped on the side of the road with blue and red lights blinking in my rear view mirror (AGAIN), I was mad. It was my fault. I was speeding, by at least 15 miles per hour. But I immediately began with the "Why me??? Everyone speeds. Why am I the one getting the tickets?!?" So by the time the chief of police took his sweet time to saunter up to my window and politely (he was, in fact, extremely polite) ask me why I was in such a hurry, I was in full blown bitch mode. I was a smart ass. I mouthed off a bit. Even though I knew he was doing his job, attempting to keep me and others on the road safe, I was pissy. I was short. And cold. And not a little bit sarcastic.
But you know what? It never once occurred to me to be afraid. It never occurred to me that I had to "Yes sir" and "No sir" (though I typically do because that's how my momma raised me) to overcompensate for my race. It never occurred to me that while I was slamming around in my console and glovebox looking for my registration and insurance to be cautious lest he think I was pulling out a gun. It never, ever occurred to me to fear him. And that's when it hit me. White privilege. It may not make sense. It may not be "right." But there is no denying it. I have the privilege of being pulled over and acting like a complete snot without fear of being arrested, injured, or killed. I finally get it.
Privilege is defined as a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people. More specifically, white privilege (or white skin privilege) is a term for societal privileges that benefit people identified as white in Western countries, beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political or economic circumstances. So regardless of the thickness of your wallet and the brand of jeans you have on, if you are white, in America, you are privileged. It isn’t your fault that you were born with white skin, and you cannot do anything to change it (unless you’re Donald J. Trump and have somehow turned an Oompa Loompa shade of orange). But whether you realize it or not, you, and I, benefit from it. And it is our responsibility to maintain and spread an awareness of that fact.
