In August of 2012 I read a David Brooks column from the N.Y. Times, ‘The Credit Illusion’, it’s easy to find on line. Just a word about Brooks, a conservative commentator/columnist who has managed to stay above the demagoguery that defines our culture. He can see the flaws and weakness of a particular argument from either side of the political-philosophical divide and he does so fairly. For myself I need to reflect on the word, demagoguery; a manipulative appeal that plays on emotions and prejudice. It appeals to the worst in human nature, frequently associated with sleazy politicians. It’s a word like ‘Bigotry’, floating around in common usage; everybody gets the negative connotation but many simply don’t know what it means. Brooks simply doesn’t go there. His arguments are based on well researched facts and transparent logic. The point of the article was that as young, aspiring individuals, competing in the work place for material success; we must believe, or at least behave as if, every success and every failure come as the direct result of our choices and our actions. We must act in that belief whether or not it is true. Brooks says however that after a career has run its course, looking back, we must realize that both our successes and our failures hinged on the decisions and actions of many, many other people as well. Still, in self defense, trusting karma and fate is the blind leading the blind. The ‘Boot Strap’ argument may be a gratifying accolade but it simply doesn’t hold water; nobody succeeds by themselves. He amends that with the observation, “. . . and most of us get better than we deserve.”
That idea of limited control over our lives and subject to the whims of others brings me to February. Negro History week was originated in 1926, for the purpose of teaching the history of American Blacks, then expanded to Black History Month in 1976. Before that, Black history was for all practical purposes, ignored or overlooked. I draw from my own experience, both 1st hand and vicarious, that’s all any of us can do. That’s how we make meaning from the life and times of other people. Over time, their experiences, right or wrong, credible or incredible become part of our 2nd hand experience. If one avoids or disregards a particular class of people, their story, their struggles and the path available to them, then it’s really difficult to have any sense of meaning or rationale for that demographic.
I am a white man, so white that I squeak when I walk. I never knew a black person by name until I went in the army, never had a black friend until I was in my late 20’s in college, never had a window into that culture until I was in my 50’s. There was no authentic sense of meaning or rationale for the black experience, in my experience. That changed dramatically in 1988 when I went to work in a ghetto school where 11 of about 400 people were white and half of those were teachers. I experienced both charitable acceptance and reverse discrimination simultaneously. I was both alienated intentionally and embraced in innocent ignorance. For people of privilege, equality is terribly uncomfortable. The advantages of privilege seem greater than the benefits of equality. Equality for people of privilege requires a sacrifice.You have to give up something that is valuable and it feels like a demotion to be equal. I had lived the lion share of a lifetime with white, male privilege, believing that it was not only the norm but also righteously ordained. In my 1st hand experience today I can make no other meaning from it than, African Americans still live in the shadow of slavery and carry the weight of Jim Crow in spite of a half hearted emancipation, conditional civil rights and a condescending, convoluted, mock equality.
My friends who dispel the idea of ‘Black Lives Matter’ and scoff at ‘White Privilege’ are afraid, whether they know it or not. Denial is a wonderful, effective refuge from painful truths. We all want to believe that we are the good guys. When I hear, ‘All Lives Matter’ I understand that someone feels uncomfortable enough, they need to change the subject. All lives do matter but it’s not white lives that are being snuffed out and interned in penitentiaries in unjustifiably, disproportionate numbers. ‘All Lives Matter’ is simply a diversion, lawyer talk. The fact is, it is still dangerous, risky business to be a person of color in this country. If you need someone to paint a picture for you, you don’t really need a picture, you need to let go of your denial and just look in those places you have been content to ignore. White Privilege is like being right handed in a right handed world. Only left-handers are aware of it. The way tools are designed, the way traffic moves, the way keys turn in locks and handles turn on doors, the way pages turn and the pencil moves across the paper; it is so internalized we don’t think about how it affects left-handers. Privilege of any kind is simply a benefit that has not been earned. You didn’t do anything to deserve it. For privilege to exist there has to be an opposite side for that coin, disadvantage. When that privilege is withheld and the disadvantage is predicated on the social context of race, class, religion, etc., in a nation founded on democratic principles, it’s just wrong. I realize I will not change anyone’s mind or soften anyone’s heart. Undeserved, white privilege is alive and well and I can't make it go away. But I can step out of line, walk away from the great caucasian support group and be other than a stereotype, privileged white man who believes in 'boot-straps', that he deserves all of his good fortune.
