Sandy Hook. Stoneman Douglas. Pulse Nightclub. All of these places are where people lost their lives to a shooter whose privilege allowed them to create a dangerous situation.
There is an ongoing debate about whether or not privilege exists and how it can be used to do harm instead of good. This privilege exists and it allows criminals to get away with committing crimes and paying the minimum price.
We pretend that there isn't a difference between how we treat one person versus another but the truth is we do treat people differently depending on how they represent themselves and what our personal values are. If someone identifies as a white nationalist they will almost certainly be white and hold prejudice against those that they perceive as inferior to them.
Your personal values determine how you treat others and if you are privileged you can afford to express your values more than others.
We live in a world where because a person is white, we can't call them a terrorist but if they wear a headdress and the color of their skin is brown we automatically assume that they pose a danger to a large group of people. The definition of a terrorist is a person that uses unlawful violence against innocents, especially in the pursuit of political aims. These shooters all had an ultimate goal and used people that did not deserve to die to further their agenda.
One would assume that because a person took a life unlawfully that they would be punished to the fullest extent of the law and treated like a criminal in the eyes of the public. This did not always happen. The media brings up the criminals past with mental illness or states that they had no friends and that's why they took innocent lives. Their privilege allows them the right to be framed as anything but a common criminal.
Privilege exists and it allows people that should be seen as monsters to be framed in a way that says it wasn't their fault. If you have privilege you need to begin to use it for good instead of allowing people to use it for their own personal gain. Do not stand by and allow others to be treated differently because they are not as privileged as you.
