Dear anyone of color (please read):
I am a white girl who is privileged. I never knew what that word really meant until these past few days because people that I trust, that I have built my social circle around have gave me a new perspective and I am very thankful for. The word “white privilege” doesn’t just stem from your social-economical background, it stems from your skin, white skin. All of my life I have thought of this word negatively... we have been programmed and taught in school only one definition of this term “white privilege”: having a high status socio-economic background. White people are born with the privilege of protection and security—something that is not granted to a POC.
I can’t fathom what it is like to be a POC... and I have the privilege to say that. I have the privilege to use my skin as a shield against judgement.
I have gone through adversity that would make me understand what it is like to live in fear, uncertainty, and misery that POC experience on a daily basis—but my experiences do not match up to those of a POC. We live entirely different lives, different worlds. My father was a drug addict, my mother was my abuser, my brother was my bully. I did worry about where my next days worth of food would come from, I did lack resources for succeeding academically. But I am white, living in a white community, living amongst white kids who do come from wealthy backgrounds. I will NEVER know what it is like to be a POC because I have lived in a white world my whole life. And that is unfortunate.
I will never know what it is like to step outside of my house into a world of fear, into a world of pure judgment—dangerous judgment. I will never know what it is like to feel oppressed by another race, or be in a situation where my skin color is the main contributing factor that leads to my death. George Floyd’s death has ignited the fire that was burned out in the 60s—or so we (while people) people thought. That fire was never burned out, it has always existed and the saddest part is that I have just realized that, and that right there is white privilege.
To whomever is reading this, I want you to know that I feel for you. Even though I may not be of the same skin color, part of me just wants to hug you and hold you and tell you that I am terribly sorry that I haven’t recognized this sooner—that it has taken me this long to realize the pain, discrimination, racism, danger you have been dragged through. No matter the neighborhood you come from, the people you are living with, the God you believe in, you are a person of color and that is enough to call you a warrior, a survivor.
What will I do to make sure that the pain you have gone through doesn’t get lost? I will educate other people and I will use my given privilege to promote anti-racism. Every man, woman, child, and person, needs to feel human but how is that possible when we live in a society like this? In a corrupt society of people, majority white people, of privilege that aren’t willing to acknowledge, educate, and contribute? You have my prayers, voice, and love. I will fight with you until everyone person of color has the freedom to feel human.
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I am addressing this anonymously because I want my family information to stay confidential
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