Recognising my privilege

White privilege is a very real thing, and after yet another uncalled shooting of a black male in America, today I have been thinking very hard about my privilege. There are no excuses as to why the police murdered Alton Sterling. Yes, he may have said he was armed but he STILL let the police pin him to the floor, he made no real fuss about it- and yet the police still shot him.

In America, a white teenager raped an unconscious girl and received a 2 month prison sentence. In the same country, a black man was selling his music and he was shot dead. Let's also not forget black women, like Sandra Bland, who was pulled over for no reason, taken to prison for no reason and killed for no reason. Let's not forget that black lives matter. 

Of course, white lives matter too. All lives matter. But when do you hear about white people being shot by police for no reason? When do you hear about white people being racially abused on the streets by people who think they're part of a supreme race? When do you hear about white people being oppressed by black people?

You don't. 

Why?

Because we have white privilege. White privilege is a very real thing. Now, as this article so wonderfully outlines, you might be white with no privileges in terms of luxury goods e.g. enough money to own a house or to pay for a hot meal. But white people as a whole are definitely privileged in other ways, less materialistic ways shall we say. 

White people will not be discriminated against in job interviews, or even job roles. As Girls Talk London shared with us last night, 94% of journalists are white. 94%. That's huge. As someone into journalism myself, I recognise how privileged I am to be white, knowing I am not in the drastic minority of people of colour working in the same industry as me. 

As a white person, I know I can safely walk down the road without having racial slurs shouted after me (of course, there's the cat calls, but that's another topic for another time). No one will stare at me because I look "different" or am a "minority". 

As a white person, I know that in pop culture, most people I see will be white. Most of the dolls children play with are white. Look at Bratz dolls, for instance. The original gang consisted of Chloe, Jade, Yasmin and Sasha. Only one was black. Look at less popular MyScene dolls, made up of a wider range of dolls; Nolee, Kenzie, Barbie, River, Hudson, Bryant, Sutton, Delancy, Ellis, Chelsea and Westley. Only two were black, one boy and one girl. The rest were white. I know that if I watch a soap, 90% of the cast will be white. I have more 'mainstream' individuals to look up to than people of colour do. 

As Malcom X (I believe, please, please correct me if I'm wrong!) said, "the most unprotected person in America is the black woman". This links to both racial and sexist issues and I feel it links directly to the fact that white privilege has always, and still does, remain at the forefront of most situations in every day life. The fact that we have a man such as Donald Trump winning people's votes for the presidential election despite his extreme racism and his ideas for white supremacy indicate that a large portion of at least America agree with those views! A large portion of America agree that a wall should be built between America and Mexico, that racism is okay, that white people matter more than black people. The fact that white police officers are getting away with killing innocent black people, particularly males, indicates yet again that white privilege is alive and well. 

I recognise that as a white person, I have received privilege that some people of colour would not have received. I recognise that I have a privilege that really should not be a privilege- it should be a standard way of life that everyone receives. No race is more supreme than another. No race is better than another. No matter the colour of your skin, everyone should be treated with equal respect. It is 2016 after all. 

Love from,

Florence Grace

Like this? Why not try... #SayHerName