Here are just some random thoughts -
I am me. I didn't get to choose to be me. I didn't get to choose my parents and therefore I didn't get to choose:
- My ethnic background
- My place of birth or national origin
- My native language or culture
Most would say I am white. Since I haven't been given a choice by those who play the game because those who do insist I play, I am not white - I am Germanic American. The same group who, during WWII, had over 11,000 of their own imprisoned in American internment camps. Not as much as the 66,000 Japanese Americans, but more than the 3,000 Italian Americans.
Those who play the game insist I have privilege because I am Germanic American meaning I do not have as much melanin as those deemed as non-white or "persons of color". Since I have been denied access to higher levels of melanin genetically I somehow automatically have an easier life. I somehow do not have to worry about police brutality, getting a job, getting an education, etc.
I cannot change my skin color, so I assume this means my alleged privilege follows me wherever I go...or does it?
If I were to move to Beijing, China would my white privilege follow me? In a nation of over a billion Chinese ethnic decent, most definitely not. Just ask those of African decent living in China...
https://qz.com/945053/china-has-an-irrational-fear-of-a-black-invasion-bringing-drugs-crime-and-interracial-marriage/
So, my alleged privilege is not because of my lack of melanin. My alleged privilege is due to the fact that I live in a part of the Earth where 76.5% of the other people who live here also have a melanin deficiency. 13.5% of the U.S. population have the most melanin and, as such, "feel" they are treated worse than the majority.
I wonder what my privilege would look like in a part of the world where only 7.8% of the population has my same melanin deficency?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48264941Since the dawn of man's history mankind has mistreated his fellow man. Often this came in the form of war, which usually ended in land being seized and slaves taken by the victors. Often these wars were between different cultures and people of different ethnic backgrounds. I really don't know of a single ethnic group who didn't get involve in this. In fact, slavery is alive today:
https://qz.com/africa/1333946/global-slavery-index-africa-has-the-highest-rate-of-modern-day-slavery-in-the-world/
All forms of bigotry are ethically wrong. That includes racial or ethnic bigotry. However, I cannot think of any place on the Earth that people can live where in spite of racism (which is everywhere) you can live a great life other than the United States of America. If things are so rotten in the US why are so many people literally risking their lives to get here?
The main problem is we have a culture of victimhood. Being a victim is very empowering and that becomes intoxicating. Martin Luther King Jr spent his life trying to get all people, from all backgrounds, to work together to make our nation great. Today, we have weak leaders who just say "You're wrong and privileged. You fix it!"
The reason Black Lives Matter will fail is because it draws a line in the sand and excludes themselves from the problem solving. We live in a time that white people are suffering en mass, too. Not because they are white, but suffer the same. They face police brutality, but not because they are white. The face poverty, but not because they are white. They face being denied access to decent education, but not because they are white.
