by Gary Bennett
As seen in the Frederick News Post, June 22, 2020
The events of the past few weeks have got me thinking about the term ‘white privilege.’ What does that mean? I’m white but I don’t feel especially privileged. Oh, but I am, and if you are white, you are privileged, too, whether you think so or not.
White privilege is a term that has been around for quite a while but current events have brought it roaring back. White privilege means that white people, either directly or indirectly, have benefitted from the systematic minimization of blacks and other minorities. Whites in this country have the freedom to move, buy, work, play and speak freely without fear of retribution that blacks do not enjoy. Just like the coronavirus, cancer, or heart disease, white privilege can’t be seen, but it is there.
You may say that, “No, I have not done that. I have nothing against minorities.” But I say that if you simply go on with your tidy life and pity those ‘other’ people because you think you are smarter or have worked harder than them to reach your middle-class place in society, then you should think again.
Consider this: Do you look back fondly on your childhood? Did your school seem to have everything it needed? Did you have the opportunity to go to college if you wanted whether you followed that path or not? Did you have some help from friends or family to land that first job? Did the ability to go to college or trade school lead to that first job? Did you have help qualifying for that mortgage you needed to buy your first home? Did a policeman give you a break on that stupid thing you did as a teenager? Did you learn about police brutality through news reports instead of experiencing it first-hand or by second-hand accounts? If you get pulled over for speeding, do you feel confident nothing bad will happen?
If you answered yes to most of these, or even just some of these, then you are the beneficiary of white privilege. How do I know? Because most black people cannot answer yes to any of these questions. And because they can’t, it weighs down their lives in ways we can’t begin to imagine. One black friend told me it’s like pulling along a ten-pound weight everywhere you go with no chance of getting rid of it.
It took me a long time to learn this.
I grew up in Allegany County in far western Maryland in the 60’s and 70’s. It was and still is 92 percent white. Nearby Garrett County, Maryland and Mineral County, West Virginia are 99 percent and 96 percent white respectively. My high school, believe it or not, was 100 percent white. Growing up in this rural area, I had a better chance of interacting with a bear than a black person.
My first real exposure to black people came in college. Even then, Frostburg State University was only 30 percent black. I wish I could say I had some black friends in college, but I really can’t recall any. There was one person I tutored named Reggie that I liked a lot. He was fun and eager to learn. I do remember Reggie and his friends had some customs and cultural habits that were unfamiliar to me and a little bit scary. I didn’t try to understand or get close. I didn’t have to. I went on my merry way.
I didn’t get to know many black people until I began my career in publishing and associations in the early 80’s. I have mostly worked in the Baltimore and Washington DC areas (60 percent and 50 percent black respectively) until I recently ended my career. I’ve also spent a considerable amount of time in most major U.S. cities. Because of my work situation, I got to know many, many black people. In fact, as I think about it, I’ve worked side by side with many more black people than whites over the years.
A constant in my professional life was cross-departmental ‘work teams’. And one thing was certain, no one cared a whit about the racial makeup of these teams. You either got along and got the job done or you didn’t. And if you didn’t, you had to explain why. And believe me, no one would have accepted cultural differences as the reason.
After a steep learning curve, I can say without hesitation that my black teammates turned out to be some of my favorite colleagues and the best people to work with. They had the same work concerns as you or I. The same desire to do well and make a solid contribution. One thing they had that I didn’t was the deeply ingrained need to always be “on.” You see, they could not afford to coast during a meeting or turn work in late. No, that would be professional suicide and only the whites could get away with that. I shake my head now because I remember white colleagues getting away with this time and again. It didn’t seem so bad at the time.
My black colleagues also had many personal concerns that I was not privy to.
More than once I overheard their anguished complaints over the safety of their children, the lack of resources in their schools, the lack of jobs for their friends, not feeling safe when taking a walk in their own neighborhood or driving while black in the wrong neighborhood. Sure, they were the lucky ones, raising themselves up to middle class or better. But, as I grew to learn, they were the exceptions. Their neighbor, with just as much talent as them, couldn’t find a job or get their kids into a better school. None of them wanted a hand out or even a hand up as the saying goes. They simply wanted white folks to figuratively get their knees off their necks, to just give them a chance. I now know white privilege for what it is – the lack of undue obstacles in my way.
I learned this lesson, but it bothers me that many don’t or won’t.
Those that never get out of their mostly white home towns and counties will never be able to learn this first-hand. Of course, their lack of experience and understanding does not hold them back from spouting hurtful and uninformed opinions. That is why you see the fixation on the relatively few looters, the “whataboutism” of violence against cops by criminals (sad but predictable), the crocodile tears of the effect of coronavirus on these large crowds of protesters and worries about reimagining how public safety and police departments should work instead of on the central issues of the day: racial injustice and police brutality.
This lack of first-hand knowledge isn’t just true for rural western Maryland, but all over this great country of ours. Large swaths of citizens have separated themselves from ones not like themselves or at least have taken no tangible steps to get to know them. It’s not really their fault they haven’t been exposed to black folks, but I do believe if they really want to understand their anguish, they have to work harder to educate themselves.
Police officers are no different from the rest of society in this regard. They bring their own implicit and explicit biases to work just like we do. They no doubt prefer faces that look more like themselves. But unlike other professions, they quite often have split-second, life and death decisions to make. That can’t be easy. But if they have chosen this profession, we must demand better of them. The armed forces have mostly done it right. Blacks and other minorities have a very good chance to make a name for themselves. Instead of surplus equipment of war, police agencies all over the country would be better off taking the military’s recruitment and integration practices to heart.
It seems clear the country is finally in the early stages of moving toward a more just future, and those who don’t understand that and grasp at the vestiges of a bygone era risk being left behind and on the wrong side of history.
