Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Creating My Privilege #31WriteNow

White people have privilege. Whether they know it or not, white people have this advantage that is not granted to any other group of people.

Privilege- a special advantage, immunity, permission, right or benefit granted to, or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste. - The Free Dictionary

Let's look at George Zimmerman. He's a murderer who was able to walk free after a very public trial. The only thing for a man to do after getting away with killing another person is to disappear, right? Not Zimmerman.

Instead a week after the trial was over, someone decided it was a good idea to make him look like hero. What? Even though the people whose lives he supposedly saved didn't want to be connected to him, so many people talked about it to the point where Zimmerman might as well be a hero. After this fiasco, it seems like he would finally just disappear, right? Nope, not Zimmerman.

Recently a video surfaced of him getting pulled over by a cop in Texas. The cop didn't ticket him, but the incident became very public. It raised many questions. The first was why didn't the cop ticket him. Cops in Texas ticket you for going two miles over the speed limit. Cops in Texas ticket you for sneezing while driving. It's no joke. So he should have gotten a speeding ticket. The other question that was raised was why is Zimmerman even in Texas. This man is killer who walked free. Shouldn't he be hiding from all the people that want him dead? Is he traveling across the country? He seemed very relaxed in that video tape talking to the cop.

That's white privilege. If a black man killed a person and walked free, people would try their hardest to make his life a living hell. Just look at O.J. Simpson. Every time O.J. tries to prosper the government or someone else comes to collect his paycheck. He ends up right back at the bottom.

However, despite O.J. Simpson's misfortune, there is a such that as black privilege too. Jay-Z and Beyonce, President Obama and Michelle Obama, 50 Cent, and P. Diddy are just a few examples. They all have this privilege that others don't. For example a month ago bad new broke out about 50 Cent. The news announced he had a second child and it was discovered after several charges were filed against him by the baby mama. Then not too long after text messages between him and his 16 year old son, Marquise Jackson, were leaked to the public. In the texts 50 Cent cussed at his son and disclaimed him. To cover up the bad press 50 Cent used his money, posed around his house in several photos, and he released photos of him with his mentor, Chris Lighty's, daughter. Now, no one is discussing his bad behavior. That is privilege.

Privilege is real. Just look around your environment. If you live around poor people, it's because they haven't discovered what all they can do and get away with. If you are a middle class citizen, then the privilege you have revolves around your comfortable lifestyle. Plus, your comfortable lifestyle is whatever you want it to be.

I'm currently working on creating my privilege. That's one thing I've learned from rich people. You create your privilege. So I'm creating exactly what I want out of this life. No amount of frustration, stress, and tears will stop me.

1 comment :

  1. I think it's amazing how some refuse to acknowledge the existence of white privilege. I do think the idea of creating our own privilege is very dope.

    ReplyDelete

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