So I hope this entry doesn't get too prickly, but it's something I still want to address.
Many entries back I talked briefly about some of my reasons for leaving my potential job as a teacher in Philadelphia. Specifically I mentioned my argument with The New Teacher Project personnel over an assignment about white, male privilege.
I was upset at them for their claim that all white males were privileged and all minorities and women were not. More specifically, I was upset at the notion that I was supposed to feel guilty about this situation and about the idea that society treats me differently. Society certainly does treat me differently, but I'll get to that in a bit.
So I've been thinking about this argument I had for quite a while now, and I decided to do a bit more research on the subject.
Long story short, I discovered that while maybe I was correct about it not being true in all cases it's far too true in the overwhelming majority of cases. I also learned that the 'not-all-men' argument is used by both racists and misogynists to try to sweep the problem under the rug. I don't want that, so I'm officially going on record as saying that both racial and sexual discrimination is a huge problem that deserves both time, effort, and attention (and lots of all three).
To bring it back to my own (perhaps mild) experiences, I think I have a pretty good example that sums up how I feel. Call it a small metaphor for a greater problem:
Being white didn't make my trip physically easier. It didn't make the miles any less long, the hills any less steep, or the wind and snow any less cold. Being white sure as hell didn't peddle the bike for me.
However, every time I stopped or was stopped, whether it was to grab a bite in a cafe or whether it was to answer the questions of a curious law enforcement agent, I was treated, at minimum, with dignity. I'd like to think that this was because the people who greeted me were just genuinely good people, and I don't want in any way to belittle the kindness I received. The point I'm trying to make is that I didn't have a SINGLE negative encounter with any officer or with any patron or place of business. From what I've read and what I've seen, this would never have happened if I had been a young black man traveling alone.
So I feel angry that other fellows, no worse than me, would be at a much greater personal risk on such a trip just because of a national attitude and a different skin color. I feel angry that many women would feel equally threatened, not by the elements that they might choose to pit themselves against, but by the people they might meet.
And maybe I'm still missing something. I still can't quite reach the feeling of guilt I've been told I should feel over all of this. I still want to look at receiving basic human dignity as a right that should be given to all but has been unfairly denied to so many. I keep hearing instead that even such a minimum of respect is a privilege that has been unfairly granted to only a few, myself included. I'm having trouble bending my mind around the concept that dignity is a privilege, i.e. something that should be denied until earned, regardless of race or gender. I am clinging desperately to the idea that dignity is a right that should be assumed and granted, regardless of race or gender.
I always thought anger was for when I see other people treating someone poorly and that guilt was for when I have treated someone poorly, myself. Perhaps I'm wrong, or, even worse, perhaps I am part of the problem, myself, in some way I don't see yet.
Maybe someone can help clarify these things for me. There has to still be an angle I'm not seeing the subject from. So this is me trying to be all ears and trying to have an open mind.
Peace, I had done.
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