Well as you all know by now I am an African American male living in 21st century America. Ask yourself if you are white do these things happen to you?
1. You son receiving a letter from school stating that he can participate in a "special program" for minority males when he attends high school next year (Fairfax County Schools). He is carrying a A+ average and is in the National Junior Honor Society.
2. When you were a teenager and you first got your license how many time were you pulled over because you and your friends were driving in a car together? No traffic violations, just a routine stop!
3. When you walk into a store, how many store clerks follow you around?
4. When you and your friends are walking down the street, how many white women switch their pockets books to the other arm or duck into a store?
5. When you are at a restaurant and if you have a complaint about your service how gracious is the manager to you?
6. When you here of a rape of a women, how many of you think that is a black man raping a white women?
7. When you think of a person on welfare, what pops to your mind?
8. When you think of a person living in the Hamptons, who comes to your mind?
9. When a person is mentioned as a CEO of a company, you automatically think what?
10. When you go to the store to write a check, how often do they have to call your information in?
These are just a few things that I came up with after reading the article White Privelege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh. I hope that we again learn from such writings and dialogue to understand that there is a whole world out there that if you are white you have no idea exist. Again I don't expect you to ever understand, I just want you to join the fight to change the way we interact, TRULY INTERACT. Open discussion and digestion of another person views as truth, not just complaining. The Census of 2010 statistics show the White America grew at a much slower rate since 2000 than any other population 5.7%; compared to the Asian population grew 43%, Hispanic or Latino grew 43% and the African American community grew only 12%.
http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data
Some other questions to ask yourself:
1. When you walk into a meeting, do you count how many other people of your race are participating?
2. When you apply for a job, do you investigate to see how many people of your race are already employed because you know that they are not hiring a inordinate amount of Black Men in most situations!
3. When you walk into class do you think if I speak up will they think that I am the angry oppressed person just trying to be difficult?
4. Don't you always think no matter what you say you are going to be alright?
I really enjoyed this post Paul
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