Is Privilege Based on Skin Color and Culture?

photorandy2023

3 years ago

I have written several articles Racism and Slavery. A list of links have been provided at bottom of this article for your convenience. This article will, however address different aspects on Racism and Slavery.

I don’t usually go on a rant without thoroughly investigating the subject first. The photos above show books that I have on the Kennedy family. They include the family history, books written by some of the Kennedy family, the assasination of JFK and Robert Kennedy and even an alternative history on JFK. I read all these books before I wrote anything on the Kennedy’s in my Blog. I even showed a book that I recently purchased on Antifa, which I will read before I post my article on that group. Well today I went on a rant on Facebook without first checking my facts. I thought I new the meaning of the phrase, but I was wrong. Right below is the 2 part section I posted. While I said nothing wrong, it would have been more appropriate in another blog. Below is sldo a my correction, which I posted on Facebook as well. I will also discuss the subject in greater depth than is appropriate in Facebook.

A rant a day keeps the doctor away. How I stay healthy in the era of Covid-19.White Privilege: work 40 hours a week, so the government can take 18 hours of your hard labor right off the top. Rent or Mortgage and utilities another 15 hours, and bills another 10 hours, oh wait that’s 43 hours. That’s because you can’t live on 40 hours you either have to have 2 jobs or work overtime. Don’t get me started on F_____ing White Privilege! Stop F___ing protesting and get to work and make something of yourself instead of expecting every F____ing thing to be given to you. And stop F____ing crying about something that happened hundreds of years ago. Try living in the present and making tomorrow a better place to live in.

Well F—ing work for it. That is what America is all about. We were not built on Freebies. This country was built on hard work. People nowadays just want get something for nothing, they don’t want to do all the work that is associated with success and accomplishment. Those that do all this work and are proud of their accomplishments are considered stupid, old-fashioned and even racist. Where is the fairness in that.

I want to stipulate I am not racist. My wife, however says I am not understanding the basic premise behind white privilege. That may be true, I routinely say or do the wrong thing. But I am also man enough to admit when I am in error. I don’t think I said anything wrong. I Just misunderstood the phrase. I am trying to understand. Please be patient with me if I get it wrong again. These are trying times and uncharted waters and nobody has a compass and chart for them. In every country there are different percentages of races present. If I go to a country in either Africa or South America or in Asia, I will be a minority. I will find it difficult to find food I like to eat or accommodations I would be comfortable in, and customs I don’t understand. I might even be a a target for the authorities at first because I am different or a stranger. Now I would definitely be at a disadvantage there. I guess there we could use the privilege statement and apply it using a differ9⁹ent skin color. This observation shows that there are imbalances throughout the world. Now, back to the United States. I will make a basic statement, every business has to stay in business. If that business is located in an area with a predominate race located there, they have to cater to them inorder to stay in business. This makes sense, right. If there are no Jewish people in that area you are not going to have businesses catering to the Jewish population. For instance in most large cities there are China towns, where all the businesses cater to that population. Another company that has a great business model is Walmart. No matter what part of the country you go to, they cater to that region or population. They have ethnic sections to cater to each group.

Since, I published my FB article on white privilege, I became aware of what I have taken for granted all my life. I guess I was lucky the way I was raised, everybody was treated the same. We never said the black guy next door or the Italian across the street, we simply said the widow next door or the single male or the next door couple. It simply didn’t matter to my parents what your skin color was or what your nationality was, you were treated the same. Personality and friendliness were more important. I thought that was the norm. I mentioned in a previous article about my experience in a laundromat in Alabama in the early 70s. To me the whole concept of racism is incongruous.

So the concept of white privilege is difficult for me to comprehend as well. To me it shouldn’t matter what your race or sex is, you should be treated equally.

What I love about our country and our world is the variety of the cultures and races that are present in it. That is what makes this world so amazing and interesting. However, some people find these differences to be frightening and confusing. They fear what is different and unknown. There are aldo people of every race and culture who feel constrained by the mores that are part of there race and culture. They may dress in garish colors and outfits, and behave in flamboyant manners to stand out and be noticed. Sometimes this attempt to stand out and be noticed can be a double edged sword. They receive more attention than they planned on, sometimes even from the authorities. What is lost, due to the uniform and military bearing of the police and law enforcement in general, is that they are also human beings with all the same feelings and frailties as do the rest of us have. So they tend to treat people that look different, differently. This is how Privilege by color comes into being. The majority population is a known commodity. The officials know how to treat them, because they are familiar and similar, though not necessarily better. Those individuals who are unique present a problem for the police. They don’t know how to treat them. They may in fact even fear them. So they may be tempted to act first, think later. This is where training comes into place. I have covered police reform in other articles in my blog.

Suffice it to say, our country is not perfect, but with tolerance, perseverance, understanding and hardwork we can make it a little better. But I know one thing, I have a better understanding of the term white privilege. Maybe that is better than nothing at all. Because with knowledge comes better and more informed decision making.

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