I remember attending prayer service on Wednesday nights with my late grandmother. She always referred to it as "prayer meeting." And sure enough, there were quite a few fervent prayers, singing, scripture, and some powerful testimonies. In other words, it was a condensed version of Sunday service.
In addition to being a condensed version of the Sunday service, prayer meeting also had a condensed crowd, usually comprised of church officials (pastor, deacons, mothers), the unemployed and retirees (because they held service so long (forgive me Jesus!), and those who just wanted a midweek spiritual pick me up!
Imagine my shock and horror, when I found out via Twitter (Because mainstream media is not worth a damn in delivering news) about the tragedy in Charleston, SC, where Dylan Storm Roof opened fire on a group of attendees (this is after he worshiped with them for an hour), killing nine.
This case as brutal and horrific as it is, it teaches us everything about white privilege and the state of race relations in this country (Go ahead and stop reading now, roll your eyes for good measure, label me a racist, feel better?). Now read on, so you can become educated on this very real thing, called "white privilege."
White privilege is before you are even positively identified, the media falls over themselves trying to diagnose your psychosis, and talk about how quiet and sweet you were as a young child (Remember Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown were horrible students and thugs from minute one, after their deaths, even though they were the victims).
White privilege is the police arresting you (while you are armed), but not before supplying you with a bulletproof vest and no handcuffs). This man viciously murdered nine people, is armed, and still police fall over themselves to protect him (ie, the bulletproof vest). I still don't know why he wasn't handcuffed.
White privilege is being arrested for drug possession in March, and your parents purchasing a gun for you in April (This is what Dylan's parents did for him).
White privilege is brutally murdering nine people, and the media refusing to label you as a "terrorist". Remember the Boston Marathon bombers murdered less, and they were labeled as terrorists.
White privilege is alluding the police for over 12 hours after you have brutally murdered nine people. (You can't tell me that in over 12 hours and after crossing over another state, that the florist is the only person who recognized him!) He is a scrawny white boy with a Beatles' era haircut. I don't run across many of those on a daily basis!
White privilege is your roommate knowing about your plans for your alleged crime for over six months, and not only wanting to be roommates with you, but deciding to keep quiet, and remains free at the same time. (Name one black person who can have knowledge of a crime, the media reports this knowledge, and that individual is walking around free....I rest my case).
White privilege is being a mass murderer and nobody blaming your parents or questioning their parental abilities (even though they bought you the gun used in the crime). Remember people have said all kinds of hateful and disgusting things about Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown's mothers!
White privilege is brandishing a real gun, and cops take you alive. (Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun, and murdered in just two seconds).
White privilege is having the Confederate flag hanging on all of your government buildings in 2015. This is the case in our neighboring state of South Carolina, and nobody questions it.
Still believe white privilege is imagined? I have just given you several concrete, factual examples that it does indeed exist.
The question now becomes, what are we going to do about it?
Until next time.....
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