The ignorance of privilege

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am privileged. I know this, accept it for what it is, because I cannot change it. And to pretend otherwise would be ignorant on my part, not to mention dishonest.

What makes me privileged? I am a decently well educated white woman. While there are limits based upon gender and others who are more educated than I,

I still have options open to me based upon gender, or color. I have seen others treated abominably just because of their race, sexual preference and even their preferred faith or lack of it. And while I can empathize and yell with righteous indignation, I cannot truly relate to how they feel because of my status of privilege.

And yet I see many who reach out in their ignorance and pretend to do just that. They play the “I’m not racist” card all the while sitting up on their pedestal feeling all superior and demanding a pat on the back for being so sincere in their offers of “help”. “Oh honey, let me give you a hand up because I never want you to feel like you are a second class citizen ever again”. Nice in its premise that one can change someone else’s emotions and their perspective of the situation, but in actuality its bullshit. How one sees the situation is their opinion and you cannot change the way they feel about it. It’s theirs to own. You also cannot change others who treat people with a lack of respect both in their actions and words. If one could do so, it would make living in this world a whole lot nicer to live in. To speak and act as if by waving your magic wand you could will it is just ignorant. So you have familial issues, have friends of color, have a sexuality that suits you…does any of that make you a spokesperson for all those oppressed? Not by a long shot. You still can walk away. Go back to your life that has afforded you privileges others cannot help but wish they could obtain.

And those who feel the need to say, well I may not agree with your choice of lifestyle, faith etc…just take a look in the mirror and be brutally honest with yourself. You too fall within the realm of that racism tag. It may be a passive aggressive form, but its still there. So you have a friend who is gay,straight,black, white,Hispanic,pagan,catholic,agnostic,christian. If you still make jokes at their expense out of earshot, you still have issues that need cleared up. You m’dear are a bigot. You cannot say or act one way to their face and then speak or act differently when they cannot see you. Know what a true test of character is? It’s how you speak, act even when nobody is paying attention. Giving even when not looking for an attaboy. So don’t think that the little sanctimonious speech you give someone trying to prove how different you are than the offenders changes what you truly are inside. You are nothing more than a pharisee who stands before god saying “see how good I am..much better than my neighbor”. Here today, I am calling bullshit. Check that mirror, accept your faults and work harder on making yourself into a better person. If we all work on our own limitations, then we won’t have time to worry about how different someone else is. It’s a small step, but I’ve heard it said that the journey begins with such a task. Imagine that..the true experience of life is in the small details.