White Privilege In America!

Mary Hall-Rayford
6 min readOct 29, 2017

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When I first heard this term, I admit it didn’t make sense for it to have a negative connotation considering who has access to White Privilege. I still don’t understand the angst that White people have against those who either seldom or never had — access to what they’ve always had. If anyone should be angry, it’s people of color who have been denied, denied, denied — access to equal education, housing, and use of necessary facilities, hotels and restaurants. Before anyone gets fired up by what I just said — keep reading. If you’ve ever experienced what is said, please feel free to comment. If you haven’t — try walking in our shoes before complaining about what you don’t have, when you’ve had it all along.

Does anyone remember when white people in America were held in bondage — shackled and forbidden to travel from place to place without a note from their “master?”

Does anyone remember when white people in America were forced to work in unbearable heat, whipped, beaten and killed if they looked a white man/woman in the eyes?

Does anyone remember when white people in America had their babies yanked from their arms and sold into slavery?

Does anyone remember when white people in America where denied the opportunity to learn to read and if they did, were beaten for the attempt?

Does anyone remember when white people in America were kept segregated in cities and denied home-ownership or land ownership?

Does anyone remember when white people in America were kept from receiving a quality education in public schools — having to use — discarded used textbooks?

Does anyone remember when white people in America when traveling, had to take their own food and drinks with them and use “nature” for a bathroom because they weren’t allowed to use the facilities?

Does anyone remember when white people in America could entertain in local establishments but couldn’t sleep in the hotel where they were entertaining?

Does anyone remember when white people in America could only be buried in certain cemeteries because of the color of their skin?

Does anyone remember when white people in America were dragged out of their houses and lynched or tarred and feathered because of lies told by others?

Does anyone remember when white people in America were spit on, set on fire, or had to stand in line in a store and just wait — until someone decided to serve them?

Does anyone remember when white people in America had a local store where they could only buy rotten, spoiled meat and didn’t dare complain about it?

Does anyone remember when white people in America were only expected to clean for others and barely earn a living wage?

Does anyone remember when white people in America were denied a college education when it was affordable and they proved themselves worth it?

Does anyone remember when white people in America had to fight for the right to be considered human beings and treated as such?

Does anyone remember when white people in America couldn’t walk on the sidewalks if a person of color was walking down the same sidewalk?

Does anyone remember when white people in America couldn’t look at a person of color without being beaten and arrested for doing so?

Does anyone remember when white people in America had to sit in the back of the bus, couldn’t eat in the dining car of a train, and didn’t dare sit if a person of color was standing?

Does anyone remember when white people in America had to train their sons to not look at a police officer if stopped while driving white?

Does anyone remember when white people in America had to warn their daughters about the hazards of life while living white?

Does anyone remember when white people in America had their sons shot down like dogs and accused of doing all manner of illegal activity — especially if they were wearing a hoodie?

This list could go on and on, but the point is clear — White People in America — no matter what their background — have always had access to all things Black people did not from the beginning. And now, since Black people have proven themselves worthy and capable and doing all things they were denied or kept from doing, while Black; the White folks who didn’t take advantage of everything they had access to are crying foul and seem think that Black folks are infringing upon their White Privilege.

All the haters in the “White Lives Matter” movement which are really racists bigots — need to get over themselves. If you are not where you wanted to be in life — it’s because you didn’t want to do what was needed to get there. Stop blaming Black People for your insecurities, lack of education, or poverty. You are your own worst enemies. You had more opportunity than most will ever have, but you chose to squander the opportunity just to have a chance to complain and blame.

Don’t get me wrong — I have nothing against White People any more than I do against Black People — I can’t stand stupid no matter what color it comes in. What I hate is people blaming others for their inability to see what is right in front of them. Life may not be fair (and hasn’t been for most Black families), but it is what we make it.

So stop blaming the Black folks, White Lives Matter and realize you haven’t gotten anywhere because you didn’t want to go anywhere. You had open doors of access while most Black folks had to build the wall in which to place the door and prove they were worthy to walk through it.

If you’d rather march and complain and blame — that’s your business. What you should have been doing from the time you could was to go to school and learn something other than hate. It’s not our fault your ignorance rises above your heads every time you open your mouths. The fault is not ours that we know how to protest racial injustice and we can document it all, yet move on and become “the people you want to become” but are afraid of making the effort. It’s so much easier to hate and blame than try and achieve — we get it. Now you get this — you can scream blood and soil until your vocal cords dry up; you can think deportation until the mountains fall into the seas, but you’ll never be able to understand what it means to say, “I’m Black and I’m Proud” and we’re not going anywhere.

After all, if anyone should leave the shores of America, it should be those who came here from Europe, killed off the Native Inhabitants who helped them to survive here, and then were too lazy to cultivate the land and too cheap to pay for the labor, so they went to Africa (we didn’t come on our own) and bought slaves, forced them to work the land and bear the babies of the slave masters who wanted to increase their slaves without paying for more, and now have the nerve to be angry with us!

The haters claim they want a pure white race? Their ancestors should have thought about that before raping their black slaves. The “impurity” is all on them! I’d suggest that everyone involved in “White Lives Matter” have their DNA checked. They just might be surprised by the DNA they carry within and having carried all this hate against themselves.

As long as there are people who think they are superior to others, everyone in America will have problems getting along with one another, but that can change and it should change now. None of us is superior — we all bleed red when sliced open and we all belong to the same race — the human race! Now, how about that — for privilege!

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Mary Hall-Rayford

Unfolding life perspectives as an educator, wife, mother, grandmother, political activist and community advocate- mary.hallrayford@gmail.com