WHITE PRIVILEGE

uly 20, 2015

My white privilege

By Lewis Dovland

The latest progressive topic making news, white privilege, has caused me to stop and consider my own situation as a white man.  What privilege have I had that has produced a middle-class success for me?  Was it white privilege?

Let's see.  I was born to two parents who not only were the only people they were ever married to, but also stayed together in that marriage until death parted them, as did their parents.  They instilled in me a sense of social right and wrong and a respect for the law, and they saw to it that I was in church on a very regular basis.  They set the example for my siblings and me by actually walking the talk in every facet of life.  They were involved in my life. 

My upbringing would be called lower-middle-class by today's standard, to the point that my mother went to work in the 1960s and '70s because our family needed the extra income to make ends meet.  I still remember her reconstituting powdered milk and pouring it into the milk jug to stretch the large amount of milk that four growing children needed.

Based on their example, training, and oversight, I worked to get good grades in high school and graduated with a diploma.  While I was fortunate enough to attend college (not a requirement for success, by the way), I had to work a full-time job to pay for the last two years of my degree. 

I then married 33 years ago to the one and only person I've ever been married to, as has she, and after getting married, we bore and raised two daughters, both of whom are self-supporting adults.  We tried to instill in them the same foundational beliefs and actions that both our parents did in us.

When I first entered the workforce in about 1975, affirmative action programs were in place to ensure that minorities were not overlooked for employment.  This actually had morphed into a positive action to hire minorities, which caused the job market to tighten for non-minority workers.  So in some sense, my ability to find employment was more difficult during those years, and being white actually hurt, not helped.

And the amazing thing is that when we look at black Americans, we see that those who followed the steps above have a family income within five percent of the norm, including whites.  In studying all people, regardless of race, we find that those who follow those simple rules benefit from "privilege."  We see strong examples in the Indian and Asian communities and in legacy Hispanic/Latin households that exceed the economic gains of whites, primarily because of the items listed, with an emphasis on parental involvement. 

This is not white privilege, but the privilege of following the American culture, so let's call it "American privilege."  Anyone who has that can be a winner.  Go against that, and almost certainly failure will pursue you. 

So no, I didn't benefit from white privilege or from racism to succeed; I benefited from "American privilege."  I benefited from two solid parents who raised me well, and who raised me to participate in the American culture.  The same culture that for 200+ years build this shining city on a hill that is a beacon to the world, and the place to which so many people want to come.  And it is open to all who wish to partake.

That is my privilege.

Quit trashing Obama's accomplishments. He has done more than any
other President before him. Here is a list of his impressive accomplishments:

1. First President to be photographed smoking a joint.

2. First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he
was a foreigner.

3. First President to have a social security number from a state he has never
lived in.

4. First President to preside over a cut to the credit-rating of the United
States.

5. First President to violate the War Powers Act.

6. First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing
oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

7. First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third
party.

8. First President to spend a trillion dollars on "shovel-ready" jobs
when there was no such thing as "shovel-ready" jobs.

9. First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies
to his union supporters.

10. First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through
executive fiat.

11. First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the
deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S., including those with
criminal convictions.

12. First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his
political appointees.

13. First President to tell a CEO of a major corporation (Chrysler) to resign.

14. First President to terminate America’s ability to put a man in space.

15. First President to cancel the National Day of Prayer and to say that
America is no longer a Christian nation.

16. First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.

17. First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and
refuse to enforce it.

18. First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly spoke out
on the reasons for their rate increases.

19. First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state it is
allowed to locate a factory.

20. First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to
protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN).

21. First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly
issued years ago.

22. First President to actively try to bankrupt an American industry (coal).

23. First President to fire an inspector general of AmeriCorps for catching one
of his friends in a corruption case.

24. First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials in his
office.

25. First President to surround himself with radical left wing anarchists.

26. First President to golf more than 150 separate times in his five years in
office.

27. First President to hide his birth, medical, educational and travel records.

28. First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.

29. First President to go on multiple "global apology tours" and
concurrent "insult our friends" tours.

30. First President to go on over 17 lavish vacations, in addition to date
nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends paid for by
the taxpayers.

31. First President to have personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.

32. First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000 a year at
taxpayer expense.

33. First President to fly in a personal trainer from Chicago at least once a
week at taxpayer expense.

34. First President to repeat the Quran and tell us the early morning call of
the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.

35. First President to side with a foreign nation over one of the American 50
states (Mexico vs Arizona).

36. First President to tell the military men and women that they should pay for
their own private insurance because they "volunteered to go to war and
knew the consequences."

37. Then he was the First President to tell the members of the military that
THEY were UNPATRIOTIC for balking at the last suggestion.

THE FINAL INSPECTION

The Soldier stood and faced God,

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shining,

Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, Soldier,

How shall I deal with you?

Have you always turned the other cheek?

To My Church have you been true?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,

'no, Lord, I guess I ain't.

Because those of us who carry guns,

Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,

And at times my talk was tough.

And sometimes I've been violent,

Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,

That wasn't mine to keep.

Though I worked a lot of overtime,

When the bills just got too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,

Though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God, forgive me,

I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,

Among the people here.

They never wanted me around,

Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,

It needn't be so grand.

I never expected or had too much,

But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,

Where the saints had often trod.

As the Soldier waited quietly,

For the judgment of his God.

'Step forward now, you Soldier,

You've borne your burdens well.

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,

You've done your time in Hell.'

~Author Unknown~

It's the Soldier,

not the reporter

Who has given us the freedom of the press.

It's the Soldier,

not the poet,

Who has given us the freedom of speech.

It's the Soldier,

not the politicians that ensures

Our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

It's the Soldier

who salutes the flag,

who serves beneath the flag,

and whose coffin is draped by the flag.