Check My White Privilege

Check My White Privilege
© Surazeus
2018 08 19

Dim sunlight flickers through dirt-smudged windows
to illuminate the large factory floor
where two men work together assembling cars.

The white man turns to look at the black man.
"You accusing me of white privilege
makes me laugh when I think about my life,
because I grew up poor, struggling to survive,
with no more opportunities to gain
employment as powerful executive
than you, so we started on equal footing,
working hard to earn all that we obtain.
We both work in this same car factory."

The black man chuckles and crosses his arms.
"White privilege does not mean that your life
was easy or that you did not work hard.
Rather it means that people with skin color
darker than yours in your same situation
must work harder just to keep up with you,
are more likely to be stopped by police
and accused of crimes we did not commit,
and are more likely to be shot to death
if we even dare to claim innocence."

The white man spreads his hands and looks around.
"I hope you all forgive me for neglect
because I just realized with chagrin
that I forgot to oppress you today.
Yet I do not have to do anything
because the very fact that I exist
as the white male with social privilege,
accorded to my status from my birth,
means I have only to exist in flesh,
doing nothing more than breathing and being,
to oppress everyone who is not me."

The black man flips a monkey wrench and laughs.
"The fact that you can use sarcastic wit
to mock our concern about being oppressed
reveals your status of white privilege.
You do oppress us by your plain existence
because vast social system of this nation
accords you status of authority
to control the process of how we live
by virtue of your gender and your race.
You occupy the center of the game
and push us to the margins of acceptance
just by the virtue of being what you are,
thus by your existence you do oppress us."

The white man ponders as he nods his head.
"My ancestors came to this lush continent,
and established what they hoped would become
new social system more equal and fair
for everyone who would participate,
because they were oppressed in the old country.
Like Jews escaping slaughter of the Nazis
became Nazis and oppress Palestinians,
forming apartheid for their privilege,
so my ancestors escaped oppressive systems
to become oppressors of our new system,
for humans always form legalized gangs
we call government to control the game
which decides who will eat and copulate."

The black man shakes his head in grim frustration.
"I have to work four times as hard as you
to achieve the same level of success.
If we are both stopped by the same police
they would not hesitate to shoot me dead
while they would take you for burger and fries
before locking you in some clean jail cell.
The black president was an honest man
who treated his sweet wife and children well,
and performed his role with elegant grace,
making our country a far better place,
yet he was falsely accused of being evil.
The white president is a cheating liar
who treated all three wives with vile contempt,
and performs his role with arrogant greed,
trashing our country to a much worse place,
yet he is falsely praised as being a saint.
The black president was treated with hate
based only on the color of his skin
though he is an honest, hard-working man."

The white man shakes his head with weird insight.
"If I were to proceed to your home country
where your people are the majority
I would be marginalized and oppressed,
for the sad fact is that people form tribes
to advance their own right to reproduce
at the expense of every other tribe.
America must rise above tribalism
and become a shining city on a hill
that sets an example for all the world
where every person, regardless of race,
has equal opportunities to live well,
and is treated the same by our fair laws."

The black man laughs and pats him on the shoulder.
"I share your vision of a better world,
pleased to see you grow beyond privilege.
Become my ally, not my enemy."

The white man reaches out to shake his hand.
"We want to change the American system
so it transcends all tribal politics,
and reform the function of its game rules
so every person who participates
has equal chance at opportunities
to earn a fair living wage through hard work
and live safe in any community
that welcomes every person of our world
who interacts with honesty of love.
Thus I can appreciate how you feel,
and I vow to help change our social system
so we have equal opportunities,
and are treated by law with equal justice.
I will always check my white privilege."

The black man shakes his hand with amused smile.
"I think we can work together to change
social system that operates our nation
so every person with desire to work,
regardless of their gender or their race,
can work together for the benefit
of every soul who shares this continent.
Common people like us working together
can transform process of our social system
so everyone is equal in the law."

After working all day assembling cars,
they go to a bar for burgers and beer
and cheer rival football teams with sly wit.