A Matter of Privilege

Often when you start the journey of learning about your own white privilege it takes some time to dissect a situation. Take for instance a situation at my work in which my white privilege was in full force, and it wasn't until I really stepped back and looked at the situation from different angles that all of the aspects came into play.

I work in mental health, and at the facility that I work at we have three registered sex offenders. The facility is a minimum security, lock down facility, and the three people mentioned can not leave without being under supervision of the staff. In any case, a couple weeks ago the sheriff department showed up at the facility to confirm that these three people were there. The staff who went out to answer the door was my fellow coworker, Kim. Now I need to tell you about Kim as it is important to how I viewed the situation. Kim is female and Asian. When she went out to answer the door she told the officers that she would have to check with her supervisor before they would be allowed access to the facility. The officers told her that they needed to see the clients to verify that they were there. Kim came back in the office and told me what was going on, and I told her that I could deal with them while she contacted our supervisor. I went outside and met with the three officers that were present. Two white officers and a Sargent in charge whom was African American. I told them that we were working on a solution and that I would be right back out after I heard from our supervisor.

After several phone calls and dealing with the higher ups I finally got permission to go outside and tell the officers that as an employee of the company I could verify that they were there. At that point one of the officers said, "OK that's all we needed." He then took down my info and they were on their way.

So what does all of this have to do with my white privilege. Several things not least of which was the way that the officers dealt differently with my coworker Kim than they did me. They told Kim that they had to actually see the clients or have them at least brought out so that they could verify them. I was told no such thing. Secondly, as soon as Kim came in and told me what was happening I took it upon myself to go "handle it." This right here was my subconscious assumption that as a white male it was my place to take charge of the situation so that it would be taken care of. That very attitude got me to thinking about the way that Kim had handled the officers by telling them that she needed to go check with her supervisor first. She was absolutely right to do so, but would I have done the same thing? I think I might not have. As a white male in this country I have the privilege of seeing police as friends and as someone who would in no way have reason to hurt or harass me. I view them through my privilege as being completely trustworthy. I may have just let them come on in without a second thought, after all I have no reason to mistrust police. I am not saying that Kim has a reason to mistrust them, just that she stopped and took the time to analyze the situation before acting.

So, many times even when you are looking for it, as a white man in this country your white privilege can go completely unnoticed by yourself. I also question the fact that the lead officer was black, and that he dealt with me in a more positive way than Kim. Is it because even as a person in a job with the power and authority that comes with being a policeman that he had a more deeply ingrained lesson. That lesson being that because I was white and male that I represented some kind of automatic authority. How messed up is that? My coworker who dealt with the situation in a better way then I would have, was treated differently by an officer who was a minority as well. I talked to my friend Kim about all of this and she didn't seem concerned in the least about any if it. I can't speak to her experiences growing up or what she had to deal with. What I can speak to is my own experience as a white male in this country who has just barely started to open his eyes to the inequitable ways that things are run.

I encourage my fellow white brothers to do the same. Open your eyes and see our world for what it really is. A world were we can act with conviction even if we have no basis to do so. A world in which the very color of our skin and our sex at birth gives us privileges we have never earned. Until we start to really see things for the way they are, we can never really heal ourselves from the wounds inflicted from that very privilege.