K.W Oxnard: White Americans, white privilege (Tired of this yet?)

The Savannah Morning News ^ | September 13, 2014 | K.W Oxnard

[2ndDivisionVet]

In the 1990s, when I lived in New York, a friend I’ll call Adam and I drove out to his house in Montauk, Long Island. A few miles into town, we noticed a police cruiser behind us.

Adam, a stockbroker in his 30s, began to panic.

“Crap, crap, crap!” Apparently, his car tag had expired — maybe his driver’s license and insurance, too. The cruiser turned on its lights and siren, and Adam pulled over.

“Listen,” he said, “I may need you to bail me out.”

I sat there, stunned and scared. The officer sauntered up to Adam’s window. “License and registration?”

Because Adam had failed to renew his license, tag or insurance, the officer, brusque but polite, told us he had to surrender the SUV. Adam threw up his hands, rolled his eyes. “This is ridiculous! I’m a taxpayer and property owner. Can’t you just give me a damn warning?”

No dice. The officer apologized to me, then guided Adam into the back of the squad car. I rode in front to the station, fuming at Adam.

Several hours, one phone call to Adam’s lawyer and $500 later, Adam apologized as well. We commiserated over a glass of wine.

Over the years, friends have shared eerily similar tales of lapsed licensure

and arrests. Perhaps the men had to pay a small fine, but they were processed quickly and released on their own recognizance. None were handcuffed or yelled at, much less beaten, tasered or killed. They had broken the law, yet they had been given the benefit of the doubt.

All of those men, including Adam, had one thing in common. They were white.

I found myself wondering if they thought automotive laws did not apply to them. Were they really too busy to take care of such details? Or did they assume that, if caught, they’d get off with a slap on the wrist?

And what if these men had been black, Latino, Asian or Native American? For starters, the men of color we knew would NEVER leave the house, much less get in a car, with expired ANYTHING.

Second, the men of color had been taught by their parents that, when they were stopped (and they would be stopped) they should keep their hands visible and still and remain unfailingly polite. Any misstep could get them killed.

Third, if a man of color had racked up as many infractions as my friend Adam, that benign interaction with the cops could have gone violently wrong.

As the facts of the tragic events in Ferguson, Missouri, continue to unfold, I think back on that incident 20-odd years ago. I think about what most white Americans never ponder.

White privilege.

We don’t like to talk about it. We don’t even like to acknowledge it. Most white folks move through our lives blithely, oblivious to the benefits that accrue to us just because of the color of our skin. Unlike our black friends, we usually learn from our parents that the police are there to help us. We assume that the justice system, however flawed, will be fair. We don’t for one minute think that a minor misunderstanding — or even a misdemeanor — will result in our death at the hands of the police sworn to protect us.

Michael Brown, the 18-year-old, unarmed African-American teenager shot six times by white officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, was most certainly NOT given the benefit of the doubt. Many details of this case remain unknown, but what’s certain is that if Michael Brown had been white, he’d likely still be alive.

I offer no pat answers or ideas about how to prevent such shootings. But I do know this: The prevention of yet another Trayvon Martin, another Eric Garner, another Michael Brown does not lie in parents of color warning their children about how to stay submissive during encounters with law enforcement. The fact that black parents still feel the need to do so is frighteningly reminiscent of the Jim Crow era, when African-American parents warned their sons not to look white people in the eye, lest they invite a lynching.

We white folks must examine white privilege and examine it honestly, deeply, collectively. It will be uncomfortable. But at least we won’t be in denial anymore. And until white Americans admit that we live in an entirely different country than do people of color, nothing will begin to change.

[2ndDivisionVet]

The authoress.

Education

New York University

MA, Creative Writing and English, 1992 - 1994

Brown University

BA, Italian and Journalism, 1983 - 1987

English International

RSA-CTEFLA, Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, 1996 - 1996

Bragging rights

Climbed an active volcano in the Philippines, can play over 25 games of Words With Friends at one time, proud stepmama to two wonderful kids, mama to a crazy Pomeranian named Penny Lane, speak 4 languages, have surfed in 34 degree water--with a 5mm wetsuit! Married for one year to the love of my life, Blake Ellis.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Slap her.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Wow! A real knucklehead suffering from an extreme case of “white guilt”. Obviously not very bright. A shrink might be able to help.

[KC_Lion]

Slap her.

OK

[MeshugeMikey]

if her moronic buddy adam had been white he’d still have gotten that free ride in the police cruiser..

how much more of this amateur bleeding heart NONSENSE can these dopes pump out?

[AbnSarge]

So What? Now do something worthwhile and grow up.

[PubliusMM]

“...but what’s certain is that if Michael Brown had been white, he’d likely still be alive.”

Uh...No. That’s nowhere near certain, by any stretch of the author’s (vivid) imagination.

Proof, again, that liberalism is a mental disease.

[Olog-hai]

A shrink immersed in the pseudoreligion of Freudianism?

[Dawgreg]

Did anyone ever think that maybe a higher percentage of white people show respect, take responsibility for their actions and do what is necessary to right the wrong? Color has nothing to do with it.......character does!!

[Olog-hai]

Very poor attempt at linking two totally unrelated events.

Not very smart to climb active volcanoes. Philippine stratovolcanoes have a tendency to erupt explosively, too.

[JimSEA]

Funny thing, my Mexican ancestry and my wife’s Thai blood, makes both of us visibly “other” however we’ve never had any hassle with the police. My wife has had some pretty nasty accusations thrown her way but that’s been all. We don’t feel put upon and certainly not by law enforcement. Everyone faces some bigotry, try being white in Ferguson.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Wow, I guess the active volcano did not erupt all over her because she’s white.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Adam is white. She says that why he didn’t risk winding up dead.

[ConservativeStatement]

Smug, and she knows it. Stupid, but she doesn’t know it.

[windsorknot]

Woe is me! I am a poor white cracker that just doesn't understand the plight of people of color. Nothing has changed, and Selma is forever.

[goodnesswins]

Did I miss where Adam tried to get the cops gun? Or threw a punch at the cop?

[BenLurkin]

How is that people like her....who clearly have no clue about reality...get published?

Just my opinion, of course.

[AllAmericanGirl44]

Gladly

[kanawa]

White privilege or Black attitude, where does the real problem lie?

[UCANSEE2]

“...but what’s certain is that if Michael Brown had been white, he’d likely still be alive.”

Only if he had a steel plate in his head.