By Phil Jones
As White people in America, we believe in America’s ideals. We believe in freedom of speech and freedom of movement. We believe in equal protection under the law. We believe in the dignity and worth of every individual human being.
As White Americans, this is the country we experience. We go about our daily life and work with freedom of speech and movement, with no fear for our personal safety or the safety of our families or our White friends. When we encounter the police in a traffic stop or other minor situation, we may feel annoyed, inconvenienced, or even angry. But we rarely are afraid for our lives. That is our privilege as White people.
We want to believe that in our beloved country, everybody is treated the same way, and everyone enjoys the same freedom. We want to believe that the Civil Rights laws of the 1960s corrected all the racial problems. We want to believe that the election of a Black president proves that racism is no longer a problem. We don’t see what more we can do.
We want to believe this because it is a beautiful dream. We want to believe this because through all the long ages of human history, few other nations, if any, have achieved this. We want to believe it because it makes us proud to be Americans.
So we are reluctant to acknowledge that Americans of color, and Black Americans especially, do not experience the same reality. We cannot fathom being afraid for our children’s safety every time they walk out the door. We cannot fathom being in fear for our lives when the police pull us over for minor infractions.
We are sure nothing like that would ever happen to us, and we believe in America’s beautiful principles. So if these things happen, we seek to explain them away. It must have been the victim’s fault, we say. The victim had a criminal record, or this or the other personal fault, or failed to do everything exactly perfectly (as we ourselves don’t have to do). Or yes, maybe the system broke down, but it was an isolated occurrence in an imperfect world. We honor the police for the exceedingly difficult and dangerous and vital work they really do. That way, we can go on with our blissful existence, enjoying our movies and ballgames and restaurants and the thousand other pleasures our fabulous country offers. An existence in which America’s ideals, by and large, are our reality.
We don’t want to believe that a young woman can be stopped for failure to signal a lane change, then arrested for smoking a cigarette in her own car, falsely charged with a felony, and dead in jail three days later. Or that a young man stopped for a broken tail light could be shot dead while complying with the routine requirement of reaching for his license and registration.
We wouldn’t believe it, if it weren’t captured on video and made public for the whole world to see. Even then, we don’t want to believe it. So a lot of us don’t. And some never will.
But while we may not yet know what to do about it, it is time for us to simply face the truth that as White Americans, we are privileged. The freedom and safety we enjoy as American citizens is simply not a reality yet for Black Americans.
I’m not saying that all or even most police are racist or their jobs are easy. They’re not. Nor that people of all races do not sometimes tragically lose their lives, or their loved ones’ lives, in police encounters. They do. And I’m not saying that the lives of White people, or people of any color, are easy. They’re not. I’m only saying it’s time to acknowledge the simple fact that being Black in America is far more difficult and dangerous than being White in America. Facing up to the truth, and acknowledging the problem, is the first step on the road to recovery, to making our beautiful ideals reality for all of our citizens.
Phil Jones is a local columnist who makes his living teaching math to kids with “learning disabilities”, especially dyslexia and ADHD. He writes original songs through the nonprofit Sunrise Ministries.
djones2032@austin.rr.com