For those calling for Northems head, do you know Cory Stewart?

[PatrickforO]

77. No, whether or not you like the idea, white privilege is quite real.

As a 60-year-old white guy who was raised in white suburbia because his parents fled the city so he wouldn't be bussed, I can tell you that white privilege is something you and I have enjoyed, and used, without even knowing it.

See, even way-back-when, if I'd have seen some white guy in black face, or wearing kkk regalia at a party, I would have been offended. Or, I guess my sense of propriety would have been offended. Racism where I grew up was considered tasteless and lower class if expressed in the open. But it was very strong and very common behind closed doors.

Let me give you an example of white privilege in action. I live in suburbia still, and a couple of years ago had a very serious injury that caused me to be disabled. Well, during the recovery time, I simply forgot to renew the license plates for my 2015 model SUV crossover.

It just completely slipped my mind. So, surprise, nine months later - nine months - after my license plates had expired, I was pulled over in this very same affluent suburb. The cop was white, and I've already mentioned I am. Anyway, at first I was in denial - oh, no, I couldn't have forgotten that, I said. Please, let me look through every single document in the glove box. I must have done it!

So the cop waited nicely while I did that. Then, I apologized. Said, well I can't find it, so I must have forgotten. He nodded and said he'd have to write me a ticket, and it would cost me $X and I would have to get my plates renewed before I took the car on the road again.

Now - here's the white privilege. When he handed me the ticket, I said, can I just drive home? I live less than a mile from here. He stayed silent a moment, just a few seconds and looked at me. Then, he came to a decision. Yes, he said, you must have just forgotten, because this is a new car. It would be in my power to have the car towed, but I'm going to let you drive it home. The ticket will cost enough.

Now, I've never been black. I don't know what it is like to be black. But I cannot but have some nagging doubt that the cop might well have made a different choice had I been black. I'll never really know, though, but I have seen many videos of cops absolutely grinding on black people for lesser offences.

So, that's white privilege. Yeah, I enjoyed it. In that case, I was glad to have it because between the ticket and the renewal, it cost me nearly one large. If the cop had impounded the car, I would not have been able to walk that distance home because I can't walk very well at all. I'd have had to call for a ride, and then it would have cost several hundred more to get the car out of the pound. That cop did me a favor by letting me drive home.

But...and hear this, please...even as sheltered as my life has been - I didn't even ever talk to someone black until college, I STILL knew clear back in my twenties that the kkk robes and hood are symbols of terror.

Back to that hypothetical party I mention above. White privilege allows me to look at some nimrod stupid enough to wear that as a costume and then the next day it's just a funny memory - did you SEE that jerk? Geez...

A black person at that same party might have awakened that night with a nightmare and shivers, because his/her family member may have been terrorized by these goons in the not-so-distant past. A black person might carry that memory for weeks, months or even years and shudder every time it came into consciousness.

No white guy smart enough to get into med school should have been dumb enough to put on the hood and robes, or black face.