Privilege is being able to run through a neighborhood without fearing for your life. Privilege is feeling oppressed by state at home orders in the middle of a pandemic. Privilege is having access to healthcare if you do get sick. Privilege is having WiFi at home so you can continue to work in your pajamas. Privilege is having a home computer or laptop so your child can still learn from their teacher over the internet. Privilege is going to the supermarket without getting dirty looks or called racial slurs because of your skin. Privilege is going to a public park and getting handed a face mask by the police instead of a $300 fine. Privilege is receiving a stimulus check from the government while your neighbor didn't get one because she's married to an undocumented immigrant. Privilege is staying safe inside while not having to worry about how you're going to pay for your next meal. Privilege is being accused of sexual assault and still being allowed to run for President of the United States.
Have I said enough or would you like me to go beyond the past month?
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Each and every day, the world seems to get dimmer and dimmer. I'm trying to remain hopeful, but there always is something that reminds that we live in a hellish nightmare of a society that thinks it's at the top of the world when really, we just have a lot of privilege and blind patriotism. What exactly am I made about?
Am I about the racist murder of Ahmaud Aubrey, a young man who was running through a neighborhood and cornered by two white supremacists who shot him in cold blood and have still not been arrested? Am I mad about the countless stories of black men and women in America murdered for being Black with no actual systematic changes? Am I mad that schools don't do a good enough job of teaching about racism throughout the history of the United States and don't do enough to combat early racist and white supremacist views in students most likely spewing things they've overheard their parents ranting about behind closed doors? Or am I mad about the botched roll out of testing for covid-19 in America that allowed the spread of the virus across the US? Am I mad that even though the virus continues to kill thousands of innocent lives a day and that the curve is not flattening, state and federal governments continue to reopen parts of society that should not be open if we want to stop the spread? Am I mad that thousands of people who have never been oppressed in their entire lives rush to protest their right to go out working because they don't have an ounce of sympathy? Or maybe I'm just continually mad that the Democrats and Republicans have both chosen two accused rapists to be their ticket for president in November, two candidates with little to no regard for human lives and absolutely no ambition to combat the deep problems in America that are going to continue to plague American's for decades to come? Or maybe I'm mad that the government continues to bail out large corporations while individuals and small businesses are the ones that are going to feel the effects of this recession for a long time? Or that the Environmental Protection Agency, which by name is supposed to, you know, protect the environment, has attempted to roll back 100 different guidelines from previous presidents? Or maybe I'm just mad about everything all the time. I was lucky to be born a white, straight, cisgender male who benefits from no matter who is in charge. But, I am so mad about everyone else who feels the effects of centuries of a government that was built to favor rich, white people. I would love for America to come out of this pandemic stronger, with more regard for human life and with a propensity to make real changes to prevent the oppressed from being oppressed in the future. We won't get there without a lot of work. |
Rob EnglishJust a kid from Pittsburgh trying to figure out my place in the world and write some things along the way. Archives
February 2024
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