Saturday's Storyteller: White Privilege

White Privilege
by Belinda Roddie

My name is Belinda Roddie

I am thirty years old and was assigned female at birth.

I live in the California bay area, and I openly identify as gay and non-binary.

I am married, have a stable income and job, and live in a safe neighborhood.

I grew up with both of my parents, my brother and twin sister, pets, accessible transportation, affordable healthcare, and safe schools.

When it comes to many of the positive things I have in my life, I can connect back to white privilege.

This does not mean I have not faced difficulties.

This does not delegitimize my struggles with my sexuality, my gender identity, and my emotional disorders.

But it is a fact that white privilege benefits me every day.

How?

Time to turn to a list I saw on social media that I think sends a strong message.

I stand with my black brothers and sisters.

I will not be killed.

I can go jogging (#AhmaudArbery).

I can relax in the comfort of my own home (#BothemSean and #AtatianaJefferson).

I can ask for help after being in a car crash (#JonathanFerrell and #RenishaMcBride).

I can have a cellphone (#StephonClark).

I can leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards).

I can play loud music (#JordanDavis).

I can sell CD's (#AltonSterling).

I can sleep (#AiyanaJones).

I can walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown).

I can play cops and robbers (#TamirRice).

I can go to church (#Charleston9).

I can walk home with Skittles (#TrayvonMartin).

I can hold a hair brush while leaving my own bachelor party (#SeanBell).

I can party on New Years (#OscarGrant).

I can get a normal traffic ticket (#SandraBland).

I can lawfully carry a weapon (#PhilandoCastile).

I can break down on a public road with car problems (#CoreyJones).

I can shop at Walmart (#JohnCrawford).

I can have a disabled vehicle (#TerrenceCrutcher).

I can read a book in my own car (#KeithScott).

I can be a 10yr old walking with our grandfather (#CliffordGlover).

I can decorate for a party (#ClaudeReese).

I can ask a cop a question (#RandyEvans).

I can cash a check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood).

I can take out my wallet (#AmadouDiallo).

I can run (#WalterScott).

I can breathe (#EricGarner, #GeorgeFloyd).

I can live (#FreddieGray).

This is reality.

Enough is enough.

#BlackLivesMatter 
#BlackLivesMatter 
#BlackLivesMatter 
#BlackLivesMatter
#SayTheirNames

Say their names.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Today's OneWord: Madman

Here we have the madman, standing at the podium. He screams threats and obscenities, and the meager audience cheers. They wear red hats and stamp their feet and gesture to the wind, taunting the spirits and daring them to change the course of time, to change the course of history, which never, ever ends. The madman is strutting. He's grinning at his prize. In perhaps a year, the world will change - the colors will all dim.
Read more

Today's OneWord: Statues

Why were the statues going white, and why was the rain cascading in sheets? I tried to find solace by the window, but the world outside had become nothing but glass. Blankets of water blurred the semblance of life that I stretched my mind to detect. Near me, my lover was asleep on the divan with wine pooling across her lap. Her curls lay in wet swaths around the warm nape of her neck. The statues would crumble in due time. The deluge was impending. We both would drown.
Read more