White Privilege

I hear so much today about white privilege and it seems to muster quite a lot of emotion, both for and against the term. I have had some of those same emotions as I studied and reflected on what the phrase means. It's not a simple phrase to understand, especially if you're an old white man who has never had to question his place in society.....

White privilege to me means that I am set apart from those whose skin is a different color than mine. It means that given equal qualifications for any position in any business, I will be given special treatment just because I happened to be born with white skin. It means that even if I am a poor white person, I still have privilege when it comes to equality anywhere.

I have never had to go into a job interview and dress or speak differently than I normally would for fear of biasing my interviewer. I have never had to ask for a loan at a financial institution and try to hide my ethnicity for fear of rejection. I've never had to look for a place to live in any particular area of a city because I'm not allowed to look in other parts of that same city because of my skin color. I've never had to fear the police when stopped for speeding (and it has happened a lot) or just to stop and ask for directions or help.

What about sports I've heard folks say.... what about it ? If Larry Bird had been black, would he still be known as one of the greatest basketball players ever ? I hope so, but I don't know. Black athletes are expected to play basketball and football as part of their ethnicity. If a white athlete plays as well as a black athlete in these sports, they're elevated because they're special. White privilege.

I know many will disagree with me. I know some may disparage my words and say that they grew up poor and had to fight for everything they have and I will agree with them. Many of us have worked for what we have, but how much harder would it have been if we had not been white ? How successful would we have been if we had to fight poverty, poor educational choices, and prejudice all at the same time ?

I can't apologize for being white because it wasn't my choice. I thank God for His choice to help me out by making my skin light. I do, however, sympathize with those of a different ethnicity and will do all in my power to help fulfill God's view of equality for ALL, regardless of race or gender. We can talk about religion on another day......