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White Privilege: Why To Use It To Help People Of Color

Ever since I started writing for Affinity, my eyes have been opened much more to the amount of injustice and prejudice that is present in our world. As a black female, growing up in a world like ours, it’s already obvious to me that I’m going to have to work harder that others will. *ahem* white cisgender males *ahem*.

And it’s not because I have less or worse qualifications than they do.

Oh no, it’s just because my skin is loaded with melanin and I have a vagina rather than a penis.

This isn’t just a thing I’ve invented in my head but it’s actually something so prevalent in society that people like me chose to be ignorant about when we should be more vocal about it. This gift that some people are just born with is known as white privilege.

White privilege is a term for societal privileges that benefit people identified as white beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances.

What that basically mean is that white people get to go through life with far fewer obstacles in their way purely because of the color of their skin.

I think my point is better described through the use of this picture above.

Yes, they are indeed traveling the same distance and a disclaimer, I’m not saying that white people don’t face any obstacles, I’m just saying that it’s pretty damn clear that she is going through at lot more simply because she is black and is female.

So as a white person what can you do?

Well, it would be beneficial to numerous people of color out there if you used your privilege to the advantage of situations that aids people of color everywhere. I remember reading a story of a woman who stayed with a black man who had been stopped by the police to ensure that he wasn’t shot and killed.

I remember reading a story of a woman who stayed with a black man who had been stopped by the police to ensure that he wasn’t shot and killed. Just yesterday a white lady stopped and confronted a racist sales assistant who sold her items and allowed her to pay by check without checking to see if it was faulty but then doing all these checks on a black lady right after he has served the white lady.

It is so clear that this privilege, this elephant in the room that no one talks about is so present in society.

As a black seventeen-year-old girl growing up in London, my aspirations are set high for what I want to achieve from life. I don’t want to merely survive but I want to live and I don’t want to have to lower my expectations from life simply because I’m black and I’m a girl.

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