10 Priveleges I Enjoy

10 Priveleges I Enjoy

1. A general sense of freedom to do, behave, and go wherever the heck I want without being noticed or questioned by anybody. This pretty much applies to any actual location in the US – except for maybe a minority neighborhood. I was walking through Brooklyn, last summer, to a friends house and it felt like I was being watched by EVERYBODY (same when I visit friends in certain sections of JP/Roxbury and when I used to go to church there as a youngster). I was the only white person – all the other bypassers or hanger-outers were for the most part black, but also lots of people that (I don’t actually know for sure) seemed Hispanic. Everyone’s heads turned when I walked by and some people even yelled out comments. The general impression I got was that everyone was thinking – “he doesn’t belong here! What’s the deal?”. It occurred to me this is how a person of color would pretty much feel all the time unless they were in their own neighborhood. Except for me, the feeling was just a fleeting (and fun!) curiosity with no real implied threat. I could after all just hop into a cab and go a few blocks to a majority white neighborhood. Plus the spaces where I feel perfectly at home and in my element are everywhere – I’d imagine way more than 99% of the country. Whereas for a person of color, these “safety, at-home, refuge zones” are very few and far between. Related to and a part of this privelege is the feeling of invisibility discussed in the "White Privelege" article. Here's the way I think of it: whenever I come into contact with someone from a different group other than white-like-me, I ALWAYS automatically perceive them 1st as part of a minority group - and size them up according to my stereotypical image of this group (good, bad or neutral). Do they seem to match my preconceived notions? Or are they an "exception" and, if so, to what degree? This happens within the first few seconds of contact and is not exactly unconscious (in the sense that I'm completely aware of my categorizing) but isn't quite conscious either. It's a brief fleeting impression and then after that I'm communicating witht them individual to individual - although this, of course, is still informed by my preconceptions. Now, if I'm doing this - and I grew up in a relatively diverse urban neighborhood, went to relatively diverse schools where tolerance and appreciation for diversity was a mandatory part of the "mission statement" (we had a strictly enforced speech code in high school, for example) and most of the people I associate with would consider themselves tolerant and "enlightened" - I find it impossible to believe every non-minority would not engage in the exact same sizing up. It's a fact of life in America. So if we're all looking at people of color in this way, I can't imagine they don't feel it and the constant sense of being watched. I never feel watched and sized up for external physical qualities I can't change...

2. I can come in late to work and never feel like my colleagues blame my tardiness on qualities they perceive as “inherent” to my skin-color. Having read “White Privilege” I became painfully aware the same may not be true for the people of color I work with. I doubt anyone would actually think this (our boss and about half our office staff are non-White). But that doesn’t really matter – the fact is a co-worker of color could very well FEEL like others may be thinking this (whether or not they actually are) - causing them worry and mental anguish I never have to experience. My partner at work (non-white) always freaks out if he’s even a minute or two late (happens more frequently with him than others cause he’s a big-time night owl) and apologizes like crazy with all kinds of excuses. I was always puzzled by this, because in all other respects he’s one of the best people we have and someone who I admire and imitate (in terms of good work habits) a great deal . I always say “who cares? We’re kicking ass on the ‘whatever we happen to be working on together at the time’ project”. I’ve always assumed his nervousness had to do with the fact my boss is super anal about punctuality, but now I’m not sure at all…

3. I can hold my girlfriend’s hand or give her a kiss in public or anywhere I want without people being: outraged, calling me insults, confronting me, whispering amongst themselves or staring at me like I’m a freak-show curiosity with 5 heads. No one's gonna gawk at me only to go home and tell their family and friends about their hetero-sighting later – “Can you believe it? I just saw a boy and a GIRL – holding hands and walking down the street. What is this country coming to…”

4. When I get pulled over for speeding I don’t have to worry I’ll be harassed, searched, or scrutinized by the cops. I don’t feel like I have to move slowly and cautiously when reaching for my registration/insurance in the glove compartment for fear the officer will freak out and shoot me. In fact - I always feel, in general, police officers are (just as my parents told me at a young age) “my friends and there to help”.

5. If I'm in downtown Manhattan and I'm going way uptown I have no problem getting a cab (general rule for everywhere - not just Manhattan). The following happened several years ago, but well after Guliani passed regulations that implemented automatic fines for cabbies who wouldn't take people of color to "undesirable" neighborhoods - regulations that were supposedly highly effective and had stamped out rascist cab driver behavior. My brother and I and my brother's friend were heading way uptown to a party at his college buddy's family apartment. His college friend, naturally being the best person to give directions, took the lead in seeking a cab. It was early so the street (I'm pretty sure it was Broadway) was flooded with empty cabs going by. Most didn't stop for my brother's friend at all - he was in a dressy outfit too. But when they did, as soon as he said 'Harlem', they took off real fast. I was pretty amazed cause several months prior the media had touted Guliani's anti-rascist cab regulation as working great. To finally get a cab my brother's friend had to stand apart from us (as if he had no connection to our group) - then when the next cab pulled up (instantaneously for me and my brother) we both got in first so we couldn't be kicked out and held the door open for my brother's friend to jump in. Coming back that night there wasn't a cab in sight, by the way, and we had to wait and search for some time. Yet only a half mile away in Manhattan you can't find a place isn't completely over-cabbed - sometimes the whole street is yellow...

6. When I go to my local 7-11 the clerk doesn't blink an eye when I browse around. But if there's a group of black kids, the 2nd clerk comes out the back and watches them like a hawk. If they stay too long he gets yell-y.

7. I never wait more than a minute to use the bathroom. And I never have to worry about finding one that will accomodate my wheelchair...

8. Store clerks automatically assume I’m the decision maker, pay special attention to my concerns and questions, and are eager to please me and give me all the technical info they can - about any item that catches my eye. This happens frequently when I'm shopping with my girlfriend. I also get to sample the wine before the waiter pours it.

9. I'm confident my partner (if I was married) and I would be allowed to adopt a child with relative ease if that's what we desired.

10. If I moved, my new neighbors would never take one look at me and fear for their property values.