Wednesday, August 27, 2014

White Privilege? Is that still a thing?

Well, I'll be... That Ferguson, Missouri stuff is still going on! Hardly anybody is still doing the ALS Ice-bucket Challenge anymore. Even the variations of it have run their course. So too has the uproar about Central Anerican kids invading the country through our porous border, the one on which that Obama refuses to build The Great Wall Of America. And, Robin Williams is still dead.Yet, Ferguson rolls on.

Right now it's because white people are upset that black people are still upset about Ferguson.

Why do they have to riot and burn their own neighborhoods every time this happens???!

That's an actual sentence you may have heard your friends or family say. The phrase that pays here is "every time this happens..." Unless you are a complete republican meathead, you know that a lot of unarmed black males have been killed by police in this country. We don't even know exactly how many people of any skin tone are killed by cops in this country because no one keeps track of that or breaks it down by race or armed/not armed and such. I think the guesstimate for last year was @400 for the whole country. That's more than one a day. That's a lot considering our allies in the civilized world rarely shoot their citizens..

Black people don't actually riot every time one of their unarmed males is killed. They may protest but, protesting isn't rioting. It can certainly lead to that though. If your protest against injustice is met with cops dressed for success in Iraq- but in Missouri- you might get a bit incited....

Most of life is walking in the metaphorical shoes of another. How would you feel if people of your skin tone were being shot by cops of another skin tone?

Uh huh. If you answered honestly, you'd be pissed. Idiots on the internet have pointed out that a black cop in Utah shot and killed a white kid last month and you didn't see white people rioting.

Fucking pussies....

What you do see is white people taking up arms- ready to kill- in support of old, white ranchers who don't pay their debts. The Bundy ranch. THAT is what riles white people. Not all, white people, mind you. Just the ones that think it's OK to kill cops trying to enforce the laws. Cliven Bundy doesn't "recognize" the US government. Somehow that makes him a "patriot" in Sean Hannity's eyes. Make sense of that. I dare you.

The thing is, black people live with this fear every day of their lives.You are probably as white as I am but unless you are an idiot you can probably imagine what it might be like to be a young black male in Anytown, USA. You can imagine but, you can't live it. Idiot racists can imagine that all a black male has to do is get a job but the reality is that millionaire ballplayers  who are black know that it doesn't matter what's in your wallet when it comes to police stops. Jon Stewart reported last night that a black producer of his show- in a tailored suit- was stopped by the cops as he and disheveled white co-worker scouted out an abandoned building for a future segment. Just the black guy in the suit was stopped. No beating or shooting. Just what are YOU doing here?

If you think black people can and should live like that for whatever reason, you have to think that it would be "OK" for you to be subjected to that, if the 'majority' felt that way about you.

In 20 or 30 years white people will be the minority in this country. Be kind to the people you meet on the way up. You are currently dictating the way you expect to be treated on your way down. You just don't know it.

2 comments:

Topix@wikileaks said...

That last paragraph was brilliant.

I'll pass on humble pie for lunch. Uncle Chris needs it more then me.

I miss Susan said...

So I hit the Topix@wikileaks link and LOL'd so loudly!

Brilliant

BTW

I had a sandwich and banana for lunch