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A small, everyday example of white privilege:
On Sunday afternoon, as I was driving home from Arby's, a cop pulled me over. He was a generic white man, probably somewhere between 30 and 50 years old. He asked for my license and registration, which I provided, and then asked if I knew why he'd stopped me.
I said no, because I had absolutely no idea.
He said I'd been holding my phone, and did I know that talking on a handheld device while driving was illegal?
I said yes, I knew that, but I hadn't been making a phone call. I was just turning my audiobook back on. I then picked up my phone from the cupholder, swiped it open, and showed him that the active app was, indeed, Audible, with an audiobook cued up in the middle of a chapter.
Hmm, he said. And what audiobook was I listening to?
Herodotus's Histories, I said, as he looked at the phone in my hand. It was, of course, displaying Herodotus's Histories.
Hmm, he said again, and went back to his patrol car to do something with my license and registration.
When he came back, he returned my documents and told me to be more careful about my audiobooks. I should turn them on before I start driving, and not adjust anything while on the road.
I said I would be more careful, and should I expect a ticket?
He said no, he was letting me off with a warning. This time.
And then I drove home, carefully.
...
The thing is, I was not afraid at any point in that interaction. Worried about a potential ticket, sure! Riding a small adrenaline buzz because cop car lights are calculated to rouse that response, you bet! But not afraid. And I did get off with only a warning. (Probably because the cop didn't think his chances of winning the case were very high if I chose to contest a ticket, and he suspected I would contest it.)
I am 100% certain that my lack of fear is because I'm white, and about 90% sure the mostly-harmless way that the interaction played out is because I am not just white, but a white woman who does an excellent hapless gazelle impression when that seems like the most useful persona to display.
And that is white privilege.
Not because we should all be afraid of cops, nor because being afraid of cops is wrong. But because nobody should NEED to be afraid of cops, and at the moment, a vast percentage of people in America do, in fact, have completely valid reasons to be scared of the police. :(
On Sunday afternoon, as I was driving home from Arby's, a cop pulled me over. He was a generic white man, probably somewhere between 30 and 50 years old. He asked for my license and registration, which I provided, and then asked if I knew why he'd stopped me.
I said no, because I had absolutely no idea.
He said I'd been holding my phone, and did I know that talking on a handheld device while driving was illegal?
I said yes, I knew that, but I hadn't been making a phone call. I was just turning my audiobook back on. I then picked up my phone from the cupholder, swiped it open, and showed him that the active app was, indeed, Audible, with an audiobook cued up in the middle of a chapter.
Hmm, he said. And what audiobook was I listening to?
Herodotus's Histories, I said, as he looked at the phone in my hand. It was, of course, displaying Herodotus's Histories.
Hmm, he said again, and went back to his patrol car to do something with my license and registration.
When he came back, he returned my documents and told me to be more careful about my audiobooks. I should turn them on before I start driving, and not adjust anything while on the road.
I said I would be more careful, and should I expect a ticket?
He said no, he was letting me off with a warning. This time.
And then I drove home, carefully.
...
The thing is, I was not afraid at any point in that interaction. Worried about a potential ticket, sure! Riding a small adrenaline buzz because cop car lights are calculated to rouse that response, you bet! But not afraid. And I did get off with only a warning. (Probably because the cop didn't think his chances of winning the case were very high if I chose to contest a ticket, and he suspected I would contest it.)
I am 100% certain that my lack of fear is because I'm white, and about 90% sure the mostly-harmless way that the interaction played out is because I am not just white, but a white woman who does an excellent hapless gazelle impression when that seems like the most useful persona to display.
And that is white privilege.
Not because we should all be afraid of cops, nor because being afraid of cops is wrong. But because nobody should NEED to be afraid of cops, and at the moment, a vast percentage of people in America do, in fact, have completely valid reasons to be scared of the police. :(
