WHITE PRIVILEGE: My Stepdaughter has it and I can prove it.

 

This is a true story.

 

Copyright 2015 by Paul Baumgartner

 

Some people told me that I still do not understand “white privilege.” Previously I thought about this in my own life and determined that everything would have been the same if I had been non-white. So I started thinking about other white people around me in terms white and non-white, about having or not having, and about being selected or not selected for things and how things went for them.

I realized that my stepdaughter was white and that she was apparently selected for some things because she was white. Then I realized that many things surrounding the things she was selected for had something to do with being white verses non-white. The year was 1990 and this was before any gang activity started in our city. We lived in a section of town that was well defined by 4 streets that were on the North, South, East, and West of us. If we ordered a pizza for delivery, we had to give a friend’s address that was a few blocks away and run over there to get the pizza delivery. Taxis would not pick us up at our address either, so when we needed one we would have to catch it at our friend’s house as well.

 

After about 3 weeks into the new school year, my stepdaughter confided in my wife and I about something that was happening at school. As school let out each day, a group of 12 non-white boys from school would surround her, force her to take her pants down and let one of the boys rape her. They would surround the event so others did not know what was going on. This had happened 8 times. So, we told my stepdaughter not to go to school the next day. The next day, we called the school and complained about this. We were told that they could not do anything about it because we had ‘resources’ that they did not have.

 

We told my step daughter to Not go to school anymore till we got this sorted out. She did not want to go to the police about this because the boys threatened her with violence and death if she went to the police. We called the school district and asked if we could send my stepdaughter to a different school. Again, we were told that although there were special programs that we did not qualify because we had ‘resources’ that others did not have and that they needed to focus on those that did not have the resources that we did. At a loss for what to do next, we sought out some counseling for my stepdaughter. We found a local program and called. Again, we were told that we had ‘resources’ that others did not have and that they needed to concentrate on the ones that did not have the same resources that we had.  The net effect of this incident was that my stepdaughter never finished High School and thus could not pursue a higher education.

 

I talked to a few people at church about this whole situation about getting help and the responses and they said that we were being discriminated against and that perhaps we should call the ACLU. So I called the ACLU and they lined me up with a free consultation with an ACLU attorney. I went in and told him about this whole situation and he said that he doesn’t doubt that we were discriminated against. Then he went on to explain that these are not the kind of cases that he usually handles and that he would not take this case because it would be unusual for his practice. I asked him what he meant by that. He said, “Look at the back of your hand, then look at the back of my hand. What is the difference you see?” I looked at the back of my hand, then I looked at the back of his hand. The only difference I could see is that the back of my hand was white and the back of his hand was non-white. I remember now that I went to the High School for an event one time and we were the only white people that were there. The school administrator that we talked to was non-white. The counseling service administrator that we talked to was non-white. It is all coming together for me now.

 

The reason that the boys picked my stepdaughter to rape and not someone else was because of "white privilege.” The reason that she received the magical protection at school was because of "white privilege.” The reason that she received magical counseling was because of "white privilege.” The reason that she received the magical justice was because of "white privilege.” The reason she received a magical High School diploma that is invisible was because of ‘white privilege.” The reason that her job at Subway is magically better that anyone else’s job at Subway is because of "white privilege.” Now I see how well “white privilege” works.

 

I have to admit though, one thing my white dad and white grandfather left me with was this: The teaching to not think of or respect a man for bad or good because of his race or his religion or what he has or what he has not; and to only judge him in respect to my own dealings with him.