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.