This past week, during a conversation in my school’s dining hall, I was informed that RAs had walked into a room of freshmen earlier in the week, and found them with white bags over their head, chanting "KKK!" I was shocked. I could not comprehend why some kids, aware of the current racial tension in the United States, would willingly, in their right minds do what they did. I am all for free will and expressing yourself in the way that you want. I am for stating your beliefs and not backing down from your convictions, as long as you do it respectfully. What I am not for is people intentionally laughing at the face of evil or mocking evil.
To the freshmen who were doing this, was it funny to you? Did you get a kick out of it? Or were you actually chanting out the name of an organization that is known for being blatantly racist to the extent of involving violence to eliminate a race that God created and called good when he created them?
The problem with what occurred is not only just the scene of white students shouting "KKK," it is the fact that it was done openly enough for others to hear them. The problem is that regardless of this, most people in the school will never hear of it. The problem is that this situation will be most likely be swept under the rug as quickly as possibly to protect the image of the school or the image of those kids. And that kind of not dealing with a situation in the way that it needs to be dealt with is white privilege. Doing things and thinking that you can get away with it. It does not just come in the form of freshmen chanting a racially upsetting group name, but in the form of many white men believing that the rules do not apply to them. It comes in the form of many students in my school knowing that the fraternity will never be shut down because the alumni gives so much money to keep it open. White privilege comes in the form of a teacher sending for the police to arrest a kid who just brought a clock to school. White privilege is when many African Americans die within the span of a year due to police brutality and most of those white officers are not convicted of their crimes.
Before this current school year began, a quote that I heard from one of my co-workers captured my attention. She said someone told her that it was not until they got to the U.S. that they became black. That’s because in the U.S., unlike many African countries, the color of your skin is written across your forehead. You get treated better for being lighter. Some people won’t date you if you have a dark skin tone. Jobs are offered to others, consciously or unconsciously, because of their skin tones. The U.S. makes one aware of skin color. Or should I say, if you are black, you are more aware, for the most part, of your skin color than if you are white (although I am sure many will disagree). This is another form of white privilege.
I am not saying that “white privilege” is the cause of all the problems concerning the racial tensions in this country. I am not saying that white people should be ashamed of the way God made them, or should be sorry. I am not even writing this to put them any person or because I think that white people should feel the way Black people feel. I am writing this because awareness is key. I write this for those who are confused as to what Black people such as those for the #Blacklivesmatter movement around the nation are fighting for. They, or should I say we (Black People), are fighting so that the privilege given to one group of people to stop. We are fighting for equality. Because when God made us all, he did not specify between races but grouped everyone together. He loved us all, so we should extend that love to each other in an equal manner.
Genesis 1.31: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”
