THE "WHITE PRIVILEGE" THING

Lately, many in the "woke" or "cancel culture" crowd are using "white privilege" as a negative term against white people. However, privilege as defined in the Oxford American Dictionary is a " 1. right, advantage, or immunity 2. a special benefit or honor."  The definition assigns no race or ethnic group to the rights, advantages, immunity, benefit or honor in it's official definition. However, the political left uses the word like the overused term "racist" to link white people with slavery or to scare, or slam the door on any reasoned discussion of racial differences.  

In my opinion, privilege is something people of all colors and ethnicities earn during their lives as responsible citizens in their work, military, community or church services. Privilege, unlike royalty, is something individuals acquire by using their hands or minds to earn a living, raise a family and comfortably enjoy their retirement years. America has millions of white, black, oriental, and Hispanic privileged people. Both native born and legal immigrants earn privileges by living lives full of meaningful and responsible activities.  

Those who believe or are lead to believe their lives are unprivileged should perhaps examine the lives of successful people of color.  Few were born into families of royalty, great wealth or privilege. Also, they might want to damn the devils and race pimps who preach the negative sermons of inequality and segregation. America remains the freest and richest major nation in the world and highly accomplished individuals of all races happen every day and earn the privileges of their efforts.  

Just as no living black person in Africa maintains any special privilege because their ancestors sold slaves, no living white person maintains any special privileges because their ancestors owned slaves many decades ago. 

I believe every human alive today could trace their ancestry to a long ago time when their ancestors were treated inhumanely as serfs, slaves, caste members, indentured servants, chattel, captives, or forced laborers. Every tribe, clan or nation of people in history has suffered past injustices because of their religions, social status, skin color or economic situation. Those who earn privileges in life most often strive for a better world and endeavor not to repeat a history of bad old days. 

By a long shot and centuries, American white people didn't invent slavery. Many of those who composed the US Constitution knew it was an evil practice and a horrific Civil War officially ended slavery. No individual or nation can claim a past without skeletons, but can only strive to do better in the future. Revising history, tearing down monuments and allowing reparations won't change history and may lead to future errors. 

I'm proud of the privileges I've earned over the last seventy five years and refuse to be scared by leftists improperly twisting words to fit their narrow agendas.