Editor’s note: This commentary is by Alis Headlam, of Rutland, who is a member of the NAACP and Project VISION in Rutland and a retired public school teacher with a focus on literacy and racial justice.
White privilege makes it possible for many people to turn a blind eye to the plight of Tabitha Moore from Wallingford who has found it necessary to leave her home out of fear for herself and her family. Her situation is not unlike what happened a while ago to Kiah Morris from Bennington who eventually resigned from her position in the Vermont Legislature. Both are prominent women of color with strong voices and positions of leadership. Both of these women have worked hard to fight the essence of racism in Vermont. Both of them are pioneers and heroines.
When white privilege is in place, everyone loses out. No one benefits because of the lost possibilities that people of color could make when they are included and allowed to contribute to their highest potential. Who knows how many leaders, scientists, teachers and engineers have been lost because their potential was not realized?
So, what is white privilege and why is it so difficult for people to acknowledge? The main reason is that people who grow up with privilege tend not to see it. I grew up in a white middle class community. Nowhere was I ever directly confronted with racism. Except for television and a few localized incidents in my youth, I did not see or hear about it.
The system that I grew up in promoted privilege as a right, an entitlement. We were encouraged to work hard and we believed that we would be rewarded with success. It never occurred to me that the playing field was not even for people of color or people who grew up with economic insecurity. The society around me had no reason to focus on inequality or discrimination. I was well protected by my family, my schooling and my opportunities for advancement. I was taught that in America everyone was rewarded for a steady effort. The system supported me even if I stumbled with adolescent missteps.
I never saw nor understood that there was a significance to the privilege of living in neighborhoods that offered better equipped schools, good health care and safety from localized crime. When doors opened for me, I thought it was because I deserved the opportunities given me. I did not realize that others were not given the same chances in life. I believed in the “American dream.” Belief in the dream permeated every step, every opportunity, every benefit I encountered.
As I look around the country and I listen to the rhetoric that is evident in so many media sources, I see that many people continue to live in darkness or ignorance, but the events of 2020 should awaken and enlighten them. If people choose to deny their privilege, it is most often out of fear, greed or something more ominous that lies deep in their hearts.
As a society, we will never heal the divisions that perpetuate disunity and inequality until the idea of white privilege is thoroughly examined and understood. It is a way forward to end the anger and mistrust that keeps us imbalanced and divided.
