To My Fellow White American Men,
If you haven’t been formally welcomed – I would like to extend an invitation to you that is reserved specifically, and only for you. I would like to welcome you to the land of privilege. But not just any privilege – I’m talking about white American male privilege.
Look all around you – it’s in the very air you breath and the water that you drink. When you go to work, go for a jog, turn on the TV, tie your shoes, or even take a shit, you are benefitting from a deliberate and insidious form of power that likely no group of people have experienced in human history. And despite how it may seem or feel to us as individuals, our identity as white American males, and the privilege that entails, exudes from our very being – on display for all others to see.
Our not-so-distant European male ancestors endured a few generations of “ritual hazing” in order to join this elite fraternity. And while they may not have become full-fledged members themselves, we, as their successors, are guaranteed automatic entry for three simple reasons: The lack of melanin in our skin, our gender, and our place at the helm of Western imperialism. These three ingredients have ultimately provided us with an unmerited, all-access pass to the most privileged society on the planet.
Whether we are Christian, Jewish, or Pagan, Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative, or love NPR versus NASCAR – all of us benefit from this unmerited status. We not only get to collectively be in charge of the nation, but to write our own, as well as other peoples’ history – shaping it in our image… and in our best interests.
Despite how educated in “diversity” or progressive we believe ourselves to be, every single one of us – myself included – are sorely lacking a complete understanding of how much our privilege serves us. But as the cliché goes: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Therefore, it is our moral duty to become well educated about not only how, but why, we inherited our status in the first place. Without doing so, we unwittingly partake in an ongoing system of oppression and subjugation that benefits us, whether or not we are willing to acknowledge it.
Privilege is a powerful weapon that was designed – yes, designed – to keep us in charge, by ensuring that others are not given any of the power that we have hoarded amongst ourselves. But most of us don’t fully grasp how powerful the “weapon” of privilege can actually be. And many of is flat out deny it and become defensive when it is pointed out to us.
So, my fellow white American men – it is time for us to fully acknowledge the simple fact that we are not only the recipients of unmerited privilege, but the very embodiment of privilege itself. Our society is a bed of oppression on which we lie comfortably upon. Until each of us are are willing to own that painful truth, we will continue to be a part of the problem.
