Continuing my train of thought today. I suddenly found myself considering the label "Woke Privilege". I can't say I have particularly benefitted in any way for my skin color. This is as it should be. Yet there have been plenty of people pushing the narrative for years now that I have some magical privilege.
I have the privilege of not getting a month dedicated to me based around my skin color, or my sexual preference...
I have the privilege of being okay to be targeted and attacked based upon skin color but that is somehow no longer considered discrimination, hate speech, or racism...
I have the privilege of being considered an oppressor...
I have the privilege of not being one of those people automatically assume should be given reparations for things that did not occur to any living person...
I have the privilege of being the target of magical thinking that somehow seems to think I have some great benefits...
...
The reality. I lived in tents, trailers, on and off food stamps through my child hood. I wore my pants until the knees always had big ripped holes. Later on in life I liked jeans like that yet it also was not an option for me.
I would joke my pants were "air conditioned".
I had the privilege of my parents selling some of my things in yard sales when it was a struggle to get by. Some of those things are worth quite a lot of money today.
I had the privilege of walking around town from age 10 - 15 or so from bar to bar to find which one my parents were in so I'd find out what I was supposed to eat.
I loved Ramen Noodles for awhile... I ate so much of it that I can't stand to eat it today...
I didn't get some wonderful scholarship.
I got debt. It took me decades to pay it off which I only managed to do by refinancing my house (which after a long time I finally had a mortgage for) to pay off the loans... I took on more debt tied to my house to pay off the school debt.
To me my story sounds similar to that of many people... It doesn't have anything to do with skin color.
If I try to defend myself... That is "Hate Speech".
If I try to defend myself... I am a racist, I am a white supremacist, I am a white nationalist, etc.
If I try to defend myself... I am an outlier. I am an exception. I am not seeing what these people are trying to say...
I am not seeing...
I am not seeing the "Black Voices" movie and tv selection choices almost everywhere I go these days. I am not seeing "pride month" when it occurs... I must be blind then. I am not seeing Historically Black Colleges... they must not exist. I am not seeing Black Lives Matter all over the place...
I am not seeing people talking about cultural appropriation if anyone remotely "looks" like me...
Yet my looks can be deceiving. You see I have a lot of "Native American" heritage in me. I have Chickasaw, and Cherokee by genetics and birth. My ancestors walked the "Trail of Tears". I also have Choctaw by adoption (Step father adopted me). Yet I am very much white to look at. I've had some bad sunburns in my life...
Oh yeah... that is another "white privilege". The privilege of nasty sun burns...
I am racist. I am a homophobe. I am (insert word here)phobe.
Whatever makes you feel justified and good about attacking me and assuming that I shouldn't have the same rights that you do.
The Truth
Yet the truth is we are ALL being played for fools. We are being played against each other. We are being encouraged to self segregate. We are being encouraged to identify as groups so we can then see other groups as NOT US. It is more of that same US versus THEM false dichotomy. We should be doing what civil rights was about... ending discrimination, and ending segregation.
The truth is I don't care what color your skin is. I don't care who you have sex with and are attracted to. I don't care what you identify as.
I do care about what you say and your ideas.
If I disagree with your ideas I am going to speak up. I am going to challenge them. If I do it will be because of what YOU said, or your ideas. It will have absolutely nothing to do with your skin color, sexual preference, or identity.
Now I know in this day and age some of you have what I am calling "Woke Privilege"...
You can say what you want and as long as it fits the narrative it isn't hate speech, it isn't racist, it isn't any kind of phobic. It is "social justice"...
Yet it isn't justice at all... it is "Just Us". It is deciding what you want is okay. Anyone that wants something different is evil and should be crushed.