Whenever I speak or write, I do so from the position of white privilege. I acknowledge this, but I don’t feel guilty about it. I shouldn’t have to feel bad about my heritage. None of us picked our parents, or ethnicity, or race, or socio-economic status, or the faith into which we were born. None of us got to select our DNA.
Back when the Voting Rights Act was about to expire, I thought: Let it expire – we no longer need it. I thought that, since Blacks could no longer be discriminated against at the ballot box, we no longer needed that protection. It was time to remove the training wheels. Little did I know that I was regarding the issue through the filter of white privilege. I knew little, if anything, about how polling stations in largely Black neighborhoods were different from those in lily-white neighborhoods like where I grew up and first voted. I thought everybody had the same access to the ballot box.
Was I ever wrong.
Little by little I learned about voter suppression. I had long been aware of gerrymandering, but I didn’t realize that there tend to be fewer polling locations in Black neighborhoods and fewer voting machines in them. I had always voted in my largely white, largely Republican district where polling places were easily available and had plenty of machines that functioned. I did have to wait more than an hour to vote some years ago, even though it was early voting, but usually the line I had to wait in was short.
Also, I have a rather simple name – even though my first name is rare and does get misspelled on occasion. I don’t have a hyphenated last name, and I have always used the same spelling. As a result I probably don’t have to worry about persnickety bureaucrats stripping my name from the voter list because my name on my voter card doesn’t quite match my name on my driver’s license. This is not to say that I will never fall victim to such baloney, though – my name could be struck just because I voted for too many Democrats.
Then along came the issue of reparations for Blacks to atone for centuries of slavery and discrimination. My first thought was, what a bunch of hooey! Then I looked around and saw that, even though Blacks have a lot more opportunities open to them today than in the past, they still earn less than whites and are less represented in positions of power. We have plenty of Black politicians, and even had a Black POTUS for eight years; but Blacks still suffer and struggle economically.
OK, I thought, I’ll patronize Black-owned businesses when I can. However, I soon realized that wasn’t enough. Starting a business requires a lot of outlay, and banks still discriminate against people of color, however subtly, so getting a loan may be tough.
So – reparations? I am more open to that idea now. I have stepped out of my white privilege ivory tower and seen, if not experienced, how the past continues to put Blacks at a disadvantage. One real eye-opener for me was The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee. I strongly recommend this book, as it shows how oppressing and suppressing people of color comes back to bite white people in their bottoms. As Booker T. Washington said, you can’t hold a man down in the ditch down without staying down there with him. Only by letting people out of the ditch can we get out of the ditch ourselves. Indeed, helping Blacks economically will pay off in the long run when they are better educated and have fuller pockets. Blacks will start more businesses, creating more jobs, which means that more people will have more money to spend and save, thus providing the economy with stimulation.
Many will argue that reparations are outrageous because a) we’re making people in the present pay for the mistakes of our ancestors, and b) recipients will just spend the money on booze. The response to “a” is Blacks still suffer the repercussions of slavery and discrimination, and racism is unfortunately alive and well since it is so deeply ingrained in our society. “B” is a blatantly racist sweeping generalization. In reality, plenty will find the reparations just what they need to start a business, or put a nice down payment on a house or condo. Whatever they do, they will be stimulating the economy.
And how long will these reparations last? Will they be one big lump-sum payment, or given over a course of months or years? Of course they won’t go forever. I leave it to others to debate over how much will be paid out, and for how long.
I may not be able to see issues through Black eyes, but I can get a good idea of their attitudes and problems just by stepping away from white privilege and observing with an open mind.
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