Apples and Oranges

Dear Person with A White Body,

Many of you appear

to take pride and comfort

in denying white privilege.

 

You say the struggles 

you have experienced prove

you have not benefitted

from having a white body

in this society. 

 

As the old saying goes,

you are speaking 

of apples and oranges.

Personal struggles and 

white body privilege

are not mutually exclusive.

 

The concept of white privilege

does not mean that you

have not experienced hard times.

It means the systems and structures

of our society were crafted 

to benefit people with white bodies.

 

To be honest,

they were created

by a few “white” men

to benefit some “white” men

as with the initial intention

of voting being exercised

only by white men

who owned land.

 

It did not apply

to people considered 

to be "property" including

the women they married and

the people they enslaved.

 

Denying this reality

shows your inability

to think critically

about our nation's history, 

an absence of the curiosity 

to question the existence

of disparities and inequities 

in our society, and 

limited relationships of depth

with people of color.

You can continue

to live 400-year old lies

or you can choose

to emancipate yourself

one step at a time.