It seems today that our country is dividing and stereotyping to get through. There's Republican vs. Democrat, Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter, RIP Harambe vs. "It was to protect a child," everything we do now is divided. When people look at me they think: young, female, Ugg boots wearing, Starbucks drinking, white privilege girl with not a care in the world except what color she's going to paint her nails. Mommy and daddy will pay for everything, doesn't she have it nice? You haven't even met me but I'm already stereotyped in a little box in the back of your head and that's who I am to you. I'm not here to say white privilege doesn't exist, I'm saying it's just not me; and you stereotyping me as that is just as bad.
Widowed and divorced, struggling with a brain tumor, my single mother of three children worked extensive hours as I was growing up to be able to take care of us. My brother and sister both had jobs so while they were too busy working to take care of me, my grandparents stepped up to babysit. The day I turned fifteen I applied for a job at a local deli that was opening up. A little over a year later I picked up another job at another local restaurant and worked the both of them for a few months. Eventually, I had to leave the first job and decided to pick up more shifts at the second. I worked four nights a week for month along with nannying positions on the side, all while still attending school full time taking all advanced placement courses. I'm no stranger to the workforce, believe me it has been my friend for three years now.
After I got a job, I started paying for myself. If I wanted to go out to eat, I paid. If I wanted to go on vacation, I bought the plane ticket. I've had people look at my travel history and tell me, "Wow, I wish my biggest problem in life was trying to find a good plane ticket to Washington, DC," or "It must be nice to be able to just go to New York City for New Years Eve." It is nice. It's nice because I saved up for it and I paid for it myself. It's nice because I worked hard to earn the money to treat myself and strapped myself financially for months just to be able to go on these trips and use this as a learning experience. It's very nice, thank you. They see I have a new car and think, "mommy got her that one, how spoiled." I didn't get a car when I turned sixteen, I used my mom's or my granddad's. For a year, I drove around a van older than me. I named it Bertha and we had some great times together, I actually cried when it died on me. Only then did I get a new car, which I paid the down payment for and gas and upkeep.
See people don't want to remember the times driving without a radio, breaking down every ten minutes. They only want to think of the new fancy car. They don't want to think of the money I save and spend to travel, they only want to look at the pictures from my trip. They don't want to acknowledge how hard I work for scholarships and grades that keep me at an out of state school, they only want to acknowledge that I'm paying out of state tuition. No one wants to believe that I have struggles but trust me I'm a mess, too.
When people look at me they think: young, female, Ugg boots wearing, Starbucks drinking, white privilege girl with not a care in the world except what color she's going to paint her nails. Mommy and daddy will pay for everything, doesn't she have it nice? Well, mommy helps when she can and daddy isn't around, so it's on me, the way it should be. Surprise, I can't paint my nails without painting my entire hand. If I'm drinking Starbucks it's because I like hot chocolate not because I'm a basic white girl. If I'm wearing Uggs it's because it's cold. I'm sorry that we live in a world where this stereotype has developed, but it's not me. Brock Turner is an example of white privilege, Hillary Clinton is an example of white privilege, I'm not.
