White Privilege

The term “White Privilege” seems to offend some White folks. I think it’s due to the fact that they don’t understand the term. It conjures up a picture of someone being born with a “silver spoon in their mouths”. Some feel it takes away from the hard work they have done to get to their level in careers and personal lives.

I doubt I can sufficiently explain to someone that doesn’t live or intimately understand the Black experience in the United States. Perhaps “White Advantage” would be a better term. It comes down to the fact that it’s not a level playing field. I, as a Black man, could put in the same amount of work and commitment, but not given the opportunities as my White counterpart. I’m sure some people think we are all treated the same. But more times than not, I will have to overcome those preconceived stereotypes from the start. I can’t tell you how many times I have been told that I speak very articulate or don’t have any accent, which is code for “You don’t talk Black” or inversely, “You talk White”.

White people already have a 400+ year head start in government, financial and judicial institutions. I find it hard to believe the average White person can’t see that most Black people have struggled for equality in America for decades. After years of Jim Crow, Racial Discrimination and Segregation, just 56 years ago, we were given the right to vote and given basic human rights. But in their minds, we should be able to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps when we were never even given boots or a way to earn the means to buy them.

I will expand on this with more history and examples as we move forward. That is the purpose of this website, to connect “All the Moving Parts” on this and a range of topics.