If I waited for my friend at Starbucks, I would not be arrested.

That's a statement you can agree with if you take a look at me. I'm a 5'5" white girl with pretty hipster-looking glasses; honestly, I blend right into the place. But when someone enters that space who is stereotypically deemed "threatening" because of hyped up, racist conversations around them, they'll probably get a few glaring glances and elongated, intense stares.

In cases like these, they might even get the police called on them, ending in their arrest.

In Philadelphia, the police came to arrest two black men at a local Starbucks. Their crime? Attempting to use the bathroom before they placed their orders while they waited for a friend to show up. I really don't think anyone would call 911 if I tried to do that. I don't "appear" threatening, nor do I have negative stereotypes around me that would enforce a fearful view of who I am and what I'm "capable of."

That's the issue at hand. It's that I know for a fact I—and the same is likely for any other white person who was dressed like or looked like me—would not have the police called on me. I have so much privilege I don't even know what to do with it. Walking into a coffee shop and waiting for a friend would not inspire a sense of panic or worry in me because, unless I seriously caused a disruptive scene or performed any behavior not permitted or normalized within that space and didn't stop, the police would have no business going near me, and they had no business apprehending these men.

Let's not pretend we don't see what's happening here.

Let's speak out against the treatment of innocent people because of the color of their skin and existing fears of and stereotypes against them. My dream is to live in a racism-free world, and the only way we can achieve that is if we stand up for strangers to whom wrong has been done.