Pondering my white privilege...

If you’re Caucasian, do you ever think about your "white privilege?"  I do.  I think about it often, and have personally experienced it.  And in my younger days, not just the discrimination of white privilege, but also another fact of life called "lookism"— albeit the “good kind,” being called a natural beauty with a nice body and smooth complexion (thank you mom!). At times, I probably “got the job” when someone else, much more qualified than I, deserved it. Now, at almost 72, looking back I find there is something comically amusing and settling in the perspective of my senior citizen hood; age being a great equalizer to the perks of youth.  Yeah, I guess that’s how it should be (thank you nature!). 😊

 

Anyway, back to white privilege, I have to wonder how my life would have turned out if I wasn’t born with that advantage.  Likely a hell-of-a-lot different, that’s how.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I do not come from an elitist kind of family background.  Far from it. My dad was a factory worker, took three years off from employment to serve in the U.S. Navy during WWII, was honorably discharged and then came back to eventually retire from Westinghouse, a one-time major employer within walking distance from dad’s home, here in our blue collar Midwest town.  My mother was a practical nurse whose credentials consisted of experience and “on the job” training. Neither of my parents finished high school: mom, being the eldest daughter in her family, was her mother’s main household helper, taking care of her other (six) younger siblings; dad was taken out of school to help his father and his other brothers build houses. In the 1940’s, college wasn’t really something big on the average family’s agenda. But I can say, we were happy as a family unit. 

Capitalism was also different, when my parents were a young, striving, middle class family, versus the Capitalism we experience in today’s world.  In the 1940’s-50’s, having a stable job, buying a modest house via a GI Loan, raising a couple of kids, and going for a drive and ice-cream on most Sunday afternoons pretty much describes me and my sister’s childhood experience.  Back then, just having accomplished these basic things was considered being a “success” in life. Sure, times were often lean with not enough money to cover all the monthly bills, but we made it through, and intact as a functioning family.  Life was good for us.

But not all families were as lucky as mine.  Before civil rights laws, if you weren’t white, your struggles were likely many times worse than ours.  Opportunities were few and far between. Experiencing discrimination, bigotry, being considered some kind of second-class citizen, a lesser person (separate lunch counters, restrooms, drinking fountains, etc.), were your way of life, if you weren’t fortunate enough to be born with white skin.  In hindsight, that seems unbelievable about our once upon a time society. We still have many discrimination problems but life has gotten better for all our citizens. That, at least heretofore, has been going in the right direction.

All that being said, yes, I have reaped the benefits of my white privilege beginnings.  And I know it. I’ve had opportunities that I likely would have never had, had I been what’s called “a person of color.”  In that way, my merely luck-of-the-draw skin color has personally served me quite well.

Apologies, as I know this was rather a long read, and thanks for sticking with me here.  My guess is that the majority of you reading this are on the younger side, so my story might not exactly click with you. So if you can’t relate, no problem.  In truth, maybe that’s also a step in the right direction.  Here are some questions:

Q1: If you’re white, do you think you have enjoyed white privilege in your life?

Q1: Do you consider white privileged as still a real thing?

Q2: No matter your race, give me your thoughts and/or experiences on white privilege or any other discriminatory situations you’ve experienced.

Thanks for recommending.

(Authored by Primal Soup)