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Lessons people of color have taught me that changed my life鈥攁nd could change yours too.

Why you can trust us

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By Jon Greenberg

10 MIN READ

Jul 24, 2017

This article was originally published by . It has been edited for 猫咪社区! Magazine. If you checked out the Jose Antonio Vargas documentary about White people, aptly titled , you鈥檒l know that many White people struggle to discuss race (not that some of you needed a documentary to confirm this fact). Throw 鈥淲hite Privilege鈥� into the discussion, and the awkwardness鈥攁nd defensiveness鈥攃an multiply astronomically. What is ? The reality that a White person鈥檚 whiteness has come鈥攁nd continues to come鈥攚ith an array of benefits and advantages not shared by many people of color. It doesn鈥檛 mean that I, as a White person, don鈥檛 work hard (I do) or that (well, ), but simply that I receive help, often unacknowledged assistance, because I am White.

Or, as , I 鈥渂elieve [I am] White.鈥� I鈥檝e yet to get a DNA test, which led to a for a White supremacist who thought himself 100% White. Perhaps most indicative of the power and prevalence of White Privilege is that, though people of color have been fighting racism since its invention, those who are most associated with White Privilege education tend to be White people: Tim Wise, Robin DiAngelo, Paul Gorski, and, of course, , author of the 1989 article, 鈥淲hite Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.鈥� And I understand why Peggy McIntosh鈥檚 鈥淜napsack鈥� article continues to fill anti-racist syllabuses 26 years later. Her list of privileges makes the concept readable and digestible鈥攈eck, the success of is largely because of this listing format. For example: 鈥淚 am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group鈥� or 鈥淚f my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.鈥� Taken together, McIntosh鈥檚 list reveals a privilege she never explicitly states: the privilege to feel normal. But how odd is it that White people are the ones who so often disproportionately get the credit for educating about White privilege? Think of it this way: Because I have always had full use of my legs, I鈥檇 be the last person you鈥檇 turn to to learn about life in a wheelchair. In fact, navigating a tour of the state capital with a student in a wheelchair for 30 minutes taught me more about life in a wheelchair than my previous 30+ years had taught me. Yet, when it comes to White Privilege, White people somehow become the authority. While I have indeed learned important lessons from prominent White anti-racist educators (like the above ability-privilege analogy that I pulled from Tim Wise), here are lessons people of color have taught me that have changed my life鈥攁nd they could change yours as well.

1. I Have the Privilege of Having a Positive Relationship with the Police, Generally

Sure, the police who patrolled the affluent neighborhoods of my youth were an inconvenience to a few keggers, and I maintain that a traffic violation from the late 90s was unfair, but I grew up thinking of the police officers as a source of safety if I were ever in danger; I certainly never viewed them as the source of danger. In 1999, 鈥攁nd the 41 bullets that police officers in plainclothes discharged at this unarmed Black man with no criminal record鈥攖aught me that not all share this privilege. Diallo was for me what Michael Brown has been to some White people. Too many Black and brown people are not safe with the police. Not even if you are child, a lesson and taught me. Not even if you are seeking medical help, a lesson taught me. Not even if you call the police for help with your mentally ill son, a lesson taught me. Not even if your back is turned, a lesson and taught me. Not even if you tell the police you 鈥渃an鈥檛 breathe,鈥� a lesson taught me. Not even if you have your hands up, a lesson Antonio Zambrano-Montes and Michael Brown (according to ) taught me. Not even if you are 鈥渟afe鈥� in custody, a lesson , , , and taught me. Not even if you plead for help while in custody, a lesson taught me. These are just a fraction of my teachers, those whose names reached the media, which too often neglect reporting police killings of and people. Of course, I might not have learned any of these lessons if not for the efforts of , the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, a movement that is changing , not to mention our .

2. I Have the Privilege of Being Favored by School Authorities

and , both of whom were arrested for bringing science projects to school while , helped teach me this lesson. Recently, one was suspended for intimidating a White girl through his staring鈥攕taring that took place during a staring contest. Huh? Studies confirm such mistreatment of Black and brown students. In , White students who reported that they committed 40 crimes in a year were 鈥渁s likely to be imprisoned as black and Hispanic students who reported committing just five offenses.鈥� In my hometown of Seattle, Black middle school students are as likely to be suspended as White students, a reality that has attracted an investigation by the federal government. One found similar disparities start as early has preschool. Preschool. As a parent of a White 4-year-old, I can鈥檛 fathom how such heavy-handed practices would ever help my child (who recently smacked my face because he didn鈥檛 want me to leave his room at bedtime). But because we鈥檙e White, I鈥檓 unlikely to ever receive the call from school officials that Tunette Powell recounts in her article, 鈥�.鈥�

3. I Have the Privilege of Attending Segregated Schools of Affluence

That鈥檚 true, even if I鈥檓 , a demographic rarely forced to live in 鈥�.鈥� If you are Black and poor, however, you are nearly to live in concentrated poverty than poor White Americans. When I was growing up, was more than history; it was a value. Civil Rights icon taught me this lesson. And research shows that both and benefit from integrated schools. Even though we 鈥渆nded鈥� segregation in 1954, ; integration has long ago been forced from the table of education reform. Using fear tactics and coded language, White people continue to be the barrier to any attempt at integration, a fact that This American Life reminded us of last summer with its must-listen, two-part series 鈥� .鈥� In Seattle, it was a White parent, unhappy she couldn鈥檛 get her daughter into a nearby (recently renovated) high school, 鈥攚hich, not ironically, many White families had already fled because of previous integration efforts. Even in 鈥溾�� Seattle, people of color can鈥檛 even find a safe yoga class for people of color .

4. I Have the Privilege of Learning about My Race in School

In response to outrageous shutting down of Tucson Unified School District鈥檚 Mexican American Studies program鈥斺��, winning victories in districts that are predominately of Color, such as and most recently . Until White America joins the fight, the lesson that educator and activist teaches below will continue to hold true:

Unfortunately, in too many schools and districts, ethnic studies is not even an elective.

5. I Have the Privilege of Finding Children鈥檚 Books that Overwhelmingly Represent My Race

And the whitewashing of curriculum extends into bookstores (less so into libraries) where I live. And it鈥檚 not because I鈥檓 a bad shopper (though I am). In a New York Times op-ed, taught me that 鈥渙f 3,200 children鈥檚 books published in 2013, just 93 were about Black people.鈥� And that doesn鈥檛 mean the remaining 3,107 are filled with people of color of various races. In 2013, only of children鈥檚 books were written by or about people of color. On my many trips to Seattle bookstores, I find the few such stories that do exist tell the stories of Civil Rights icons and trailblazers, such as Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks. And while these stories are important and inspirational, I have not yet been ready to teach my 4-year-old that people of color have been normally oppressed; I just want him to view the faces of people of color as normal. Fortunately, the we can join has emerged to , which is actually a curse if we want our children to interact with others based on reality, not stereotypes.

6. I Have the Privilege of Soaking in Media Blatantly Biased Toward My Race

Everyday Feminism writer deepened my understanding of this bias that rears its unwelcome, White-loving head, for example, in pictures that humanize White killers while simultaneously dehumanizing victims of Color:

Two sets of pictures, one with and one without mugshots鈥斺�攆urther illustrate this bias:

And these biases are besides a media that, according to , continue to be overwhelmingly whitewashed (not to mentioned malewashed, straightwashed, and youthwashed). If you are still not convinced, check out actor Dylan Marron鈥檚 website, , through which the Venezuelan American has edited mainstream movies so that . Even the two-hour-and-19 minute-movie, Noah鈥攕et in a region filled with Brown people鈥攊s reduced to just eleven seconds. More proof is just one Google image search away. Google 鈥渂eauty鈥� and count the people of color. Here鈥檚 what my search found (and notice the glaring lack of Idris Elba images):

And if the media are not blatantly biased, remember that they are covering a blatantly biased country, one that views the epidemic of heroin, , as a Apparently, the addictions of White people merit a 鈥�,鈥� not the three-strikes laws and mandatory minimums that have devastated Black and brown communities.

7. I Have the Privilege of Escaping Violent Stereotypes Associated with My Race

Given that, throughout this country鈥檚 history, White people have been responsible for unspeakable atrocities against people of color鈥攇enocide, forced migrations, lynchings鈥攚hat a set up that violent stereotypes attach to people of color and not to White males like me. Or the three White males recently charged with plotting to bomb 鈥�.鈥�

Or these two, , who were arrested for threatening the lives of Black students at the University of Missouri, students who had dared to protest .

The Huffington Post鈥檚 recently taught me that, since September 11, White supremacists (who tend to be White) have perpetuated more terrorism in the United States than any foreign threat. connects nearly 100 killings to a single White supremacist website, Stormfront (whose users also tend to be White). And though I share a similar skin color as these violent White people, I move about free from violent stereotypes鈥攁nd I haven鈥檛 even brought up all the famous White serial killers! Meanwhile, Homeland Security misdirects its resources on the who dare to protest rampant racism in our country.

8. I Have the Privilege of Playing the Colorblind Card, Wiping the Slate Clean of Centuries of Racism

Another set up that benefits White people. And I don鈥檛 mean to sound judgmental. If we have espoused , it鈥檚 because we have been taught to do so. However, countless students of color have taught me a different lesson: Race is a fundamental part of their identities and deserves to be acknowledged and appreciated. Yes, race is a social construction based on physical differences that, genetically speaking, make as much sense as classifying people by fingerprint pattern and blood type. Nevertheless, White people have been using the invention of race, , to systematically benefit White people from as early as the colonial era. And when overt racism (finally) became socially unacceptable鈥攁fter, of course, vast inequality had become deeply entrenched in every 鈥攚e switched to , making it virtually impossible to address this societal inequality. It also makes it very difficult for White people to examine their , like the ones that associate . Or the ones that prescribe for Black and Latinx children than White children in 鈥渟evere鈥� pain. Or the ones that when it comes to school discipline, job applications, and government inquiries. And, of course, who pays the heaviest price? Again, what a setup, one that clearly benefits White people, though it does lead to some hypocrisy:

9. I Have the Privilege of Being Insulated from the Daily Toll of Racism

Then I watched Color of Fear, and Victor Lee Lewis taught me a new reality (as did , who made the film). And while it鈥檚 not the job of people of color to educate White people on racism, it鈥檚 no longer difficult to find that the toll Victor Lee Lewis powerfully describes above.

10. I Have the Privilege of Living Ignorant of the Dire State of Racism Today

Shaun King, a prominent voice of the Black Lives Matter movement, set me straight on November 10, 2015.

We are living during a 鈥淐ivil Rights Movement.鈥� Will you spend it enjoying the privilege to ignore the movement鈥�or will you join it?

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