In part, white privilege does not exist for whites.
Male privilege does not exist for males either.
However, if you are black and or female, only then you can see it. The white male cannot.
As a white male, I can drive all over and never get stopped by the police. The man, Philando Castile, had been stopped something like 31 times and hit with 63 traffic charges in the last 14 years. Total number of times I have been stopped? (Knock on wood) Zero. See no privilege for me. I will just assume that I am a drive better than any African American… But the absence of gains (not being stopped) does not in any way show up when each stop takes 30 minutes to an hour of their time. Yet unless I see beyond my lofty position, that is only privileged from an outsider prospective, I cannot see imagine having any advantage. Cops look at the skin color of the driver. “Oh he is white, so he may be a lawyer, or a judge or he maybe someone important.” But when they see black, that is all they see. There are reports on this guy’s life, that he was a role model for his students, praised as a local hero to get kids off on the right start. He was always there, always working for his student, his colleges and all that, a stand up guy considered a pillar in his community. Even if only half of that is true, he was more than an asset to his community and the communities at large. He was some needed in every community. All that the cops saw was black. In my case, I doubt very much if I would be so praise, coming anywhere near this guy’s involvement. But I am white and thus giving a road pass. The absence of evidence is the evidence of absences that is the evidence itself need, in this case of showing white privilege. A NY city cop recorded his bosses giving him advice. (Paraphrased) Why did he only stop 2 black men? He replied that he stopped the same number of people as he was supposed to but he was lower in the “pop” rate; those people who are wanted on warrants, wanted or whatever, to be detained, arrested or put back in jail. People stopped are said to “pop” when their name is entered and they have issues with law enforcement. The cop goes on to explain that he stops everyone equally regardless of race, or color. He stops those he has legal probable cause to stop. The boss goes; (paraphrased) “Stop the blacks. They pop more. They commit the crimes. More pops means more arrests which in turn mean better performance reviews.” Of course that means for the rest of the black males who are not going to pop they will be stopped more often. And who cares if that is a violation of their civil liberties? No one cares because they are black… Not like as if they were white… who might be someone… This is the attitude of cops to blacks. In Canada it would be more of cops to aboriginal thing in most of the country and to a lesser extent to minorities in the cities. Same basic perception from aboriginals here as Americans have in their racial problem with African Americans, only it is just a different ethnic minority sub class of society in Canada, with the same role, same function and stereotypical behavior along with the same poor treatment. We, in Quebec, however, have a standard of decency for our police. A level of expected behavior that is enforceable and controlled by a body that does not have to work with police like Crown prosecutors have to on a daily basis. The Police Ethics commission; they don’t judge based on race or familiarity or any other such consideration but on facts as they can ascertain and the ideal of behavior expected of a cop and from police. Should be and where they find fault, the cop is publicly humiliated for having failed to live up to the standard expected of being a police officer. Essentially saying they have been judged wanting of their duties and failed to live to their oath of office. The best part is this; you only have to fill out a paper forum to make a complaint. No need for a lawyer or costs upon the complaint. The Police Ethics Commission take’s over and investigate your complain. Including a follow up visits or calls, so that if your complaint is deemed insufficient they will call you or visit to ask for more information; i.e. you say a cop stopped you? Well, what cop? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Badge number? Name? Car number? Every detail they can find so that they can investigate your complaint. Best of all? It is run by civilians who do this full time. Not cop on cop but civvies on cop, bureaucrats on cops. They also do not have any conflict of interest as the prosecutors have when they need to have the cooperation of police to get their cases convicted in court. The Ethic commissions are fair, honest and they have the grudging respect of both sides. So in part, because we have such a body, and I fear I have never heard of one anywhere in the United States, our cops are better behaved and more respectful if only cause they have big brother watching over them, peering across the blue wall. I should add we have such stops in Canada and in Quebec, where a number of black men were pulled over for the crime of driving while black. The number of stops was in one case like 3-8 times before this citizen filed a complaint and won a judgement against the officers because they, the police, were in the wrong. If American cops where more focused on crime prevention and deterrence rather than lock’em up in corporate prisons and throw away the key they might be better at their job.
American blacks and minorities vote Democrat. Nixon and the Republican’s “South First” strategy was designed to stop blacks from voting, by first criminalizing them, then depriving them of their right to vote. (In Canada the Supreme Court rules that all citizens must be allowed to vote and that the government must allow voting from prisons.)Thus began the war on crime and the war on drugs. Where white American are convicted of powder cocaine use at the same rate as blacks with crack cocaine use, white will get diverted into treatment with no criminal record, whereas blacks will go to jail, losing their right to vote and forever must stigmatise themselves with having to admit to a criminal record. A white male in Stanford, Brock Allen Turner, raped a woman and got 6 month in jail because it will mess up his life. A Latino man, for a similar crime got 3 years. It was the same judge, Aaron Persky.
Ok I could go on and on…
The point is this;
There is no such thing as white privilege so long as you are a white male. That is the bottom line and is absolute fact. If you are black or other minority and or female, you can spot the difference if only in the absence of the same sort of treatment that a white male takes for granted. “What do you mean white males are treated differently?” of course not on they will say. Others see the difference because there is the absence of similar treatment (That blacks are subjected to frequently) does not mean it does not exist. Just they cannot see it. Until they do… things won’t change.
In North Miami, a black man with his hands up in surrender, lying on his back, in the street, is shot three times by a SWAT officer who was trying to hit a stationary man who was a sitting target. There are so many thing wrong here. 1) Three shots is not an accident discharge. 2) SWAT are trained to shot, he hit what he was aiming for. 3) Why was he shooting in the first place? The man was telling the police he was a mental health professional with a client in distress. No gun was involved. No one was in any danger until the police showed up. At the republican Convention, a sheriff, David A. Clarke Jr. of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, boldly asserted that Blue Lives Matter. Well that is true. All lives matter. So why did this man’s life not matter? The main point here for black lives matter is this, One is too many, period. So instead of bemoaning the existence of Black Lives Matter, instead of trying to shift blame on to blacks, black culture or anyone else, assume and accept that the blame rest squarely on the shoulders of law enforcement. And then do something about. The point is not merely to enumerate the problem. The point of leadership is to find lasting, effective solutions to these problems. And when you put a challenge to the leadership, you have to put forward your own solutions. That is a responsibility under taken when one criticise the police, the question is well what is “your” answer. Well here is mine.
Every cop needs a body camera. Ever squad car does too. Police need Federal guidelines and standards that ensure police receive de-escalation training and effective familiarization with minority communities and the mentally handicapped or special needs. Finally, all states need a police Ethics commission run independently of police, having no other association with the police and their behavior or with the courts, other than to adjudicate the actions of police against their own guidelines. With a budget that allows them to investigate and either to exonerate or convict police of wrong doing, imposing penalties of fines, suspensions and termination of employment. That is where we will see that there is no need for protest movements. Efforts to bring cops to heel will be first the recordings, then what is in the cameras in the cars. Then they review of federal Guidelines by an impartial body that will run, yes this was justified or it was not. Period. Final word. Until then we can expect escalation and more violence on the part of protesters who are clearly not getting their message heard and this will continue to inevitable lead to more death and more shooting as police feel even more embattled and even more isolated from the communities they patrol.

In order to understand the trouble that vexes the United States with recent events, it is important to understand elements of their socio-economic class and racial structure: White Privilege and Black lives.

It is very hard to explain what white privilege is to a white person. Just as it is hard to explain to a male what male privilege is from a female perspective. For in both cases, they say what privilege? They do see the problem walking anywhere, at anytime, wearing anything they want. Whites simply do not interact with police, so what privilege is that? Never seeing that based on being white the police will not stop them for any reason other than the colour or lack of colour in their skin. However for someone black, they do interact in absurd amounts with police compared to the whites. Diamond Reynolds calmly recorded her boyfriend dying in the seat next to her after he was brutally shot by one nervous cop. Being that she, as a black female, was so often stopped by police for no reason, getting upset would not change anything, let alone prevent anything from happening. Male privilege means they don’t have to be as weary of the next corner because if preyed upon it would be for their wallet not what was under their clothing. So they too can calmly walk through a storm that would leave other who are not used to such behavior completely affected with fear and dread.

The concept of privilege is one that can only be seen from the perspective of one who does not have it. Just as entitlement is alien to whoever is so privileged and has the rights to be entitled. From the pauper view however, it is very different. They can see up, the privileged must be challenged to see down. There is a national best seller, but clearly 50 or more years old called “Black Like me” by John Howard Griffin (published 1961) where a white man walks in the shoes of being black in the south. Changes his race to cross the colour barrier and see what life is like on the other side of the coin. This book tells the tales from his journey. You can see the way he is treated what privilege is. Or in a more humorist vein Eddie Murphy does a skit on Saturday Night Live about being white; where he dons white makeup to look like a white person. While very funny, it is also very telling too. Clever humour does indeed transcend beyond me laughs into a deep social commentary.

As a white male, I am never suspected of being a criminal just because I am white

As a male I am never looked at as “Asking for it,” no matter what I am wearing.

It is only when I look at the reality of people of colour or of women do I see the privilege of my existence.

It is only when other people begin to look at the world from the eyes of the “other” that they see the charmed existence we who have the privilege have compared to others.

Three dead cops in Baton Rouge and three injured… by a gunman, details are unclear at this time, but I suspect it will soon be linked to black lives matters as well. For all crime against police comes from Black Lives Matter. And if that makes no sense to you, so what? Anything to discredit that movement will be found and used against them. For nothing is more dangerous than a good idea. Only the privileged need not be bothers to look or to see that. Martin Luther King jr was subject to black mail over illegal tapes; such as being ordered to commit suicide and other horrible things. And his crime was? Leading a movement to bring equality to all people.

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

Martin Luther King Jr

As much as the SC shooter, wrapped in the Southern battle flag murdering people in a black church, Dallas and Baton Rouge were both acts of mad men. But armed with military weapons and free access to purchase as many as they can carry or could carry… This is the inevitable result. Where blacks armed themselves and confronted police in the streets of California, Ronald Reagan, as governor signed some of the harshest carry laws in the USA with the full support of the NRA. Carrying guns is a right only to the privilege and being black with a gun is seemingly an executable offense in Minnesota or it was for Philando Castile.

The cause is always the same, injustice, videotaped injustice, which is now finally making its appearance on TV and the internet that will force politicians and police to demand better answers. If all cops had cameras, and all the stops where recorded, then the often heard cry of abuse, racial profiling and racism would be there to be seen and view and best of all, reviewed. Accountability would have to kick in. Most cops are good people. The bad apples are the ones they need to be found and removed from office. Let them work in sanitation and be as hateful as they want to be. They give all police, a bad name. In Dallas, while the crowds were running from the violence. The men and women in blue were running towards it. When Shetamia Taylor was shot by the sniper in Dallas, she and her son that she was shielding, were, in turn, shielded by police officers. There to serve and protect, they served her by protecting her and getting her to a hospital in a vehicle shot up by the sniper. She is black, they were white.  To then look at this issue as only a black and white thing, is to miss the point. It is not colour but of power that is often reflected in a white on black thing. But similar tales are found in all white communities where the white police pick on lower socio-economical privileged whites. It’s not the skin, it’s the power.

Sadly, I do suspect that what has started in Dallas and now Baton Rouge will accelerate and continue as more and more cops will be ambushed in the coming days. But without a resolution, or solution in sight this will be just another story soon forgotten as more and more are killed. Cops are focused on their weapons and military tactics to deal with type of event on average of 180 hours of training and practise. Yet any possible solution would be found in de-escalation and non lethal force. How much training would they get in that on average? Only 24 hours. 180 hours to kill, 24 hours to control and de-escalate… Seems we have one clearly visible, low hanging fruit to pick off with ease.

American cops taken to a target range with a simulated battle field exercise; they walk around an obstacle course only with the chances to shot. They are then faced with various pop ups of either criminals and or civilians and have to decide to shot or hold fire. The fastest time win. Scientists using this for controlled experiments where they are secretly measuring the reaction time in the decision to shot or to hold fire. Studies show that they take half as long to decide to shot a black face than a white face. This is not a training issue. This is cultural issue. If your head is filled with the insulting stereotypes that refer to the “other” as dangerous predators (Ask Hilary Clinton about that one…). You approach the “Other” like wild, dangerous animals. Shoot first out of fear to protect yourself.  26% of all shooting victims by police are black. Yet blacks make up only 15% of the population. The only way to break that barrier down is to familiarize white cops with black families and brown and Asian and everything else until they see those “others,” are not “others” at all but the same as you are, people not predators. Humans with hopes and dreams who also want to go home at the end of their encounter with police.

The Dallas police chief encouraged disenfranchised black youth to join the police force so they can patrol and protect their own communities. To help build a better tomorrow by showing positive role models in their home communities and create sorely needed bridges from the police to the minorities that allow both sides a better tomorrow.

While I applaud that very idea, there is one problem. Who is the one class of people who cannot become police? Criminals. What is the one thing most black males all have in common? They have been arrested, charged and convicted of a crime in some places greater than 50% of the male population over 18 years of age. So just who amongst those new bridge builders can they, the police, reach out to for this help, when they have already been precluded from their helping? Vicious circle. No black community members to help so the white cops are an alien invasion force that act like lord high sheriff to the lowly villagers who are in turn regularly abused by those with their police power in the mere fact they are in the community but not a part of it. White cops in Ferguson don’t live in Ferguson. That’s where the blacks live. They moved out long ago to more white areas. But they surely come back to keep the people in line. Just ask Mike Brown how that worked out for him. I was going to use the word citizens instead of villagers but can that even be said when being treated as a second class citizen would be a step or two up?

For better or for worse, there is a problem. Point fingers at one side of the other will not help. Nor can we be expected to demand from people to be less criminal or get themselves to a position of more power, better income less poverty. What we can do is make sure police are giving the best possible training, and that has to include socio economic field work with minority communities, de-escalation training like they do in Europe where the use of police violence is near unheard of and lastly camera both in car and on cops. When citizen journalists do observe the scene of police interaction, they should be welcome and embraced as being there to keep all sides honest. That won’t cure the problem until gun control comes in to remove some of the 300 million firearms around the country from the hands of unstable people who suffer mental health problems. But it will be a start, whose time is overdue.

I have known about the consultation for the future of Canada Post for a while now. I felt; “Why should I speak, I had nothing to say, the union had said it all: Return to home to home delivery, postal expansion into more areas of delivery like groceries and the much hyped postal banking.” I had nothing to add to that. That is, until now. So the question being, what do you foresee as the future of Canada Post? I reply with my own question; will there even be a future for Canada Post?

To wit, let us exam this issue. The Minister, Judy Foote has asked Canada Post to explore service expansion. The union is more than willing to do that including pushing for the return of postal banking, and yet the corporation does nothing. Thus leaving what could be a large new area for the future and future business left wanting. So I ask why?

The union want to negotiate a new contract. The government wants this matter settled as well! Yet the corporation refuses to come to the negotiation table. Giving one and only one offer then saying they are done. This is not negotiating under anyone definition. “Take it or leave it;” is not an opening gambit for a resolution. The result is for customer business to lose confidence in the corporation, seek other providers and general hurt the business all around by their own action or inaction on senior management. Again I must ask why?

Why would a business deny expansion when it can easily do so.?

Why would it sabotage its already existing business?

Why would it alienate a work force that is nothing but professional?

Why indeed?

When the Conservative Government took over under Brian Mulroney, they expect that the public servants, so long working for the previous liberal governments would hesitate to bring in conservative legislation or fulfill their goals. So to make sure their policies were respected, they created a number of positions staffed by hand pick conservatives to watch over the process and make sure the government will was respected. In the end, it was found they were not needed. The public servants of Canada respected the will of the people and followed through on the government will. Yet the present day, clear government will, to expand postal services and settle this contract, is not being respected? I again ask why? By what right or obligation would public servants disobey in spirit if not in action their role to follow government directives? What outside Ideology or influence is so powerful that it would call them to their higher authority then their oath of office?  And that is where it hit me.

The Neo Conservatives in the USA have their own right wing. The right wing has a right wing making it even more right wing than normal. They call themselves the Tea Party. Their philosophy is that all government is bad, and anything that is good for business interests is good. No matter if it hurts the interest of the working class.

If we put this all together we can begin to see a pattern.

Expanding the government is verboten; opening up postal banking would hurt private banks, and pay day loans, also Forbidden. Having a happy productive work force is not necessary. In fact, the more unhappy, the more likely people are to quit and thus one less person on the government workforce, making government that much smaller. In sum, Canada Post is acting as if under the control of a group of right wing ideologies with Tea Party sympathies, if not outright allegiances. Their goal is to ruin Canada Post for future generation by destroying it from the inside at every step.

The solution, radical for North America perhaps, but also tried and true for Europe is a new direction must be called for and this includes new blood in the executive suit. Many European countries have created corporation laws where the union is not the enemy but on the board itself. Called Codetermination, it is in part the law in such countries as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. By including the workers and their representatives, there is less strife and more harmony. Both sides work together to make the company the best it can be.

If there is to be a future for Canada Post, it needs to enter the 21 century with a new governing body to oversee the place, made up with progressive thinkers and including the union in the same way they do it in Europe. This body would be in charge of oversight on the day to day running of Canada Post. And most importantly, it would be able to explore a growing future for change that includes all stakeholders. Rather than the stagnant, Tea Party, out for destruction, unwilling to change body we have now in upper management. If there is to be a future of Canada post, we need to secure it now, with the right sort of people inside the institution able to foster change but also willing to be a part of change as well.