This post was another viral video inspired post I found over hiatus. A popular video on Facebook spread by a guy named “Amiri King” and in the video he said what I’ve heard from most white people about modern race relations.
There’s no White Privilege because white people are poor too, you have the White House, now quit whining.
Amiri King’s argument is that he is an ex-con who really screwed up his life and through hard work he has made it out and now lives a good life in the suburbs. From the looks of his video, I think he owns a business, most likely construction or home repair. In any case, his point is that he was able to work hard and be successful despite his criminal record and poverty-based background. While I agree with him at some level and can look to plenty of important black people who have walked the same journey, just because someone works and is successful doesn’t mean that there aren’t institutional forces at work in their favor and against others. Keeping in mind, this isn’t a new thing either.
Poor whites have had a bone to pick with blacks for awhile and it has to do with the origins of slavery. To some greater or lesser degree, poor whites could look at the condition of slaves or even free blacks and say, “At least I’m not black.” It’s always easier to feel better about your own impoverished position if you have someone else (an other!) to look down upon. In American society, the convenient scapegoat comes in the forms of immigrants and African-Americans.  Many immigrant groups, after a few generations have been able to lift themselves up into the highest reaches of American society but for African-Americans, the struggle continues. Despite a War on Poverty, projects, housing, initiatives, programs, and more, African-Americans are not much better off today than they were 50 years ago in real terms. Black wealth is still lower than average white wealth. Black families of a higher income are more likely to live in neighborhoods with lower average incomes and Black unemployment is still double the average for whites at 9.5%.
This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show post...
This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co., shows the blackface transformation from white to “black”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These facts in mind, why is there the continued denial of white privilege? The fact that someone like “Amiri King” was able to live a life like he has and then make it out and be  upwardly mobile is a privilege on this planet (considering poverty in many countries) and is a privilege in this country considering the 50% black, male incarceration rate and the recidivism rate that accompanies it. Yes, there are cultural problems within the black community and years of poverty, failing schools, and slave mentality is not helping the situation. But denying the fact that due to a certain color of skin you get certain privileges in this country is something that in my mind, is so subtle that it’s undeniable.

Sorry Mr. King, the whining will continue long after Mr. Obama has returned to Chicago.

 Amiri King Videos:

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