400 Years Of White Privilege
400 years ago white people enslaved black people. And sold them. And treated them as less than human. For 250 years. While white men built the country on the free labour of enslaved Africans. and the genocide of indigenous peoples, and created laws and systems of government specifically designed to maintain their position at the top of the economic, social and political hierarchy and to keep non whites at the bottom. While 10, 15 generations of white families got to grow and flourish and make choices that could make their lives better.
And then 150 years ago white people “freed” black people from slavery. But then angry white people created laws that made it impossible for them to vote. Or to own land. Or to own businesses. Or to have the same rights as white people and denied them access to the govt programs specifically designed to give a leg up to white people including recent European immigrants. Even programs designed to support veterans with jobs, housing and education were denied to black GIs who fought for their country.
White people then erected monuments glorifying people who actively had fought to keep black people enslaved and launched terrorist attacks against any black people and communities that thrived despite the many barriers, including assassinations, riots and lynchings…all supported by the govt. And the govt instituted discriminatory housing policies designed specifically to prevent black people from owning land or accumulating wealth and segregated them to ghettos. All this while another 5, 10 generations of white families got to grow and accumulate wealth and gain land and get an education.
And then 60 years ago we made it “legal” for black people to vote, and to be “free” from discrimination. But angry white people still fought to keep schools segregated. And closed off neighbourhoods to white people only. And made it harder for black people to get bank loans, or get quality education or health care, or to (gasp) marry a white person. All while another 2-3 generations of white families got to grow and pass their wealth down to their children and their children’s children.
And then we entered an age where we had the technology to make PUBLIC the things that were already happening in private– the beatings, the stop and frisk laws, the unequal distribution of justice, the police brutality (in the south, police began as slave patrols designed to catch runaway slaves). And only now, after 400+ years and 20+ generations of a white head start, are we STARTING to truly have a dialogue about what it means to be black. We are finally having a conversation seeking acknowledgement that just ending racist laws and practices, does not negate the impacts of the generational racial inequities that were suffered while those discriminatory laws and practices were in place.
It does not put the victims of those racist practices at the same starting point as those who were not affected by those policies. White privilege doesn’t mean you can’t be proud of who you are. Or that you and your family haven’t suffered or fought or worked hard. It doesn’t mean white people can’t be poor or disenfranchised IF you are white, but it does mean you won’t be poor and disenfranchised BECAUSE you are white. It DOES mean that we need to acknowledge that the system our ancestors created is built FOR white people. It DOES mean that Black people are treated at a disadvantage because of the color of their skin, andIt DOES mean that we owe it to our neighbors– of all colors– to acknowledge that and work to make our world more equitable.Because Black Lives Matter.
Understanding why we have to say this matters. Your voice in this movement matters. Recognizing privilege, power and history matters.
-Layne Coleman
