Racism in America

Over the past several weeks, our class has covered the full spectrum in the topic of racism, and it was truly an eye-opening adventure we took on together. I never knew about cultural appropriation, or militarization of police, or the magnitude of white privilege and just how much it affects my everyday life, for better or for worst. But two topics I really do wanna rant about are militarization of police, and white privilege. First off, militarization of police. This is just fucking insane. Excuse my French. But seriously, what is the need for military grade equipment for domestic defense. The government is just giving out all this special military grade equipment to any police station that puts in a request for it, and for what reason? I couldn't tell you. But this equipment isn't just going to the local police, it's also going to the SWAT teams, and let me tell you, there is quite an abundance of them. For example, the Dallas Independent School District has their own SWAT team. But for what? What terrible things happen in Texas? Given there are many schools in this district, I believe that the local police force would be enough to suffice.

Also, the magnitude of equipment they are given is absolutely mind blowing. After watching one show during class and learning that a small Georgia town had received a TANK, just because they thought they'd need one. I had to laugh at that because there is absolutely no need for it. i understand times aren't like they used to be, and that drug cartels are prevalent or whatever, but seriously, this is just uncalled for. Also, during the one "Nightly Show" episode we watched during class, Bill Burr (I think he was the one to bring this up) said something that still saddens me, and this was that whenever protests seem to breakout, the police are always there to stop it, as if protesting is illegal now or something. Not only do they show up, but they SHOW UP, guns blazing, and even tanks blazing depending on where you're from.

Next, I'd like to get into white privilege. It really makes me mad how whenever a person of color isn't as successful as they'd like to be, they just blame it on white privilege. Now, not all of them do this, but people at Northern have told me, "oh, you're only passing this class with an A because you're white, the teacher likes you because you're white." Let me first define this term in order to make it easier to give my opinion on. According to this website "https://www.mtholyoke.edu/org/wsar/intro.htm", white privilege is a set of advantages and/or immunities that white people benefit from beyond those common to all others, With this being said, I really couldn't tell you if my life differs any different from any colored persons, because whether I am actually receiving these privileges without even noticing it, I haven't had any experiences where I felt like I wasn't being treated as an unequal, so I couldn't tell you.

Wrapping up on the white privilege topic, I'd just like to say that these so called "advantages or immunities" aren't so significant that they can help us to end up as self-made millionaires. No. Anyone could end up a self-made man or woman if they have ambition and a goal to reach. No matter your background, race, color, ethnicity, gender, non-gender, whatever, I truly believe everyone  on this Earth is created equal. The goals you make and the path you choose in life will make or break you in today's society, "advantages and privileges" aside.