Random Thoughts

"black privilege" does not exist

when I was still conservative, white privilege was a concept I heavily denied being a thing so I believed that it was "Black privilege" that existed instead.

Now that I am no longer conservative, it took me a while to deconstruct my idea of white privilege and think back on why I was wrong about black privilege existing and that is why I made this chapter.

Many of us have a form of privilege in one way of another and it doesn't make us bad people. Think of white privilege as this: being right-handed. Of course, not a lot of us asked to be right-banded but it doesn't lessen the fact that we're more likely to have things catered towards us than left-handed people.

We're not seen as evil people for being right-handed*; most seats in schools have their tables on their right side to accommodate right-handed students, even guitars are more easier to play if you are right handed (which I had the misfortune of encountering when I was trying to teach a left-handed friend how to play the guitar).

What I am saying is that while a lot of us didn't ask for the "benefits" of having a socially acceptable dominant hand, it doesn't erase the fact that we have these benefits. Having a tough childhood or being poor doesn't erase those privileges either.

Now, how does it tie to my main topic here? As a counter argument for white privilege, conservatives created the term "black privilege" and their major arguments to support it are:

- being allowed to say the n-word: being allowed to reclaim a term used to specifically degrade you is not a privilege in any way and it is more telling when some white people and conservatives put this on the same level as (let's say) having a lower rate of maternal mortality. but maybe it is just me though.

- HBCUs, also known as Historically Black Colleges/Universities: due to the fact that black students were excluded from universities and a limited number of black students could enter some universities, HBCUs were created as spaces for Black students due to discrimination. Having to create your own space when you are being excluded is not a privilege! What makes this even funnier is the fact that unlike mainstream universities that excluded or limited Black students, HBCUs have none of that and you can study at a HBCU even if you are not Black.

- BET: same point as above. Black people were rarely allowed in the entertainment industry unless it was to play racist caricatures so Black people created media for themselves. as repeated above, having to create your own space because you have been excluded from other spaces is not a privilege!

- Black History Month: Black History Month was created to celebrate the impacts and efforts of Black people in the USA as the history being taught in many schools are whitewashed and the only times they featured Black people was when it centered slavery. Even then, only MLK Jnr, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman were featured and their stories were mostly the whitewashed versions.

- Fenty, NARS etc: I sound like a broken record but having to create your own products after being discriminated against is not a privilege. Beauty industries rarely created makeup for Black people and if they did, it was mostly in three to five shades which excluded dark-skinned people. Beauty brands like Fenty and NARS created shades that included and centered Black people. it's funny that these two companies are seen as "Black privilege" when they create makeup for even white people which they didn't need to do in the first place but they still chose to do it.

- affirmative action: this was created to give Black students an equal opportunity in tertiary institutions and while it is imperfect and has its issues, this is not a privilege especially when it's entire existence was to give marginalized communities an equal opportunity. even more ironic that it is brought up as a privilege when white women are most likely to benefit from affirmative action.

- "but you live in the United States, that is a privilege in itself": pause it right there. if anyone is reading this particular line, this was written two months after I drafted this chapter. for a while I used to believe and espouse this line but as time moved on, I started to realize how much of a crock of bullshit this line is. living in the US does not erase the fact that systemic racism against Black people still exist. Black women are 3x to 4x as likely to die from maternal/childbirth complications than white women are. living in the US did not erase the fact that affirmative action was struck down just last month in June. living in the US certainly doesn't erase the fact that the stacks are still against Black people especially with the history they have had living in the country.

let us even take away being Black. the US is a country where parents cannot go on paid parental leave, where affordable healthcare is seen as a slippery slope to communism and people are living from hand to mouth because politicians would rather suck up to the 1% than actually care for their constituents. tell me again, how exactly is this a 'privilege'?

now that I am no longer a conservative (I am a left-leaning independent who is politically homeless), I have realized that if there is one place black privilege exists in, it is in the imagination of whomever is using this as a counter argument for white privilege. to those who have lived a privilege life, other people having equal rights seems like oppression. black privilege is a nonexistent concept.

* fun fact, the word sinister has its roots in Latin meaning on the left side!!!