I have more to learn than I can ever learn. In the last couple years I have learned that white privilege, white advantage if you prefer, is a fact not an opinion. I didn’t grow up rich, but my whiteness gave me a 400-year leg up on persons of color.
Two of my favorite examples are the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush and post-WWII GI Bill.
Only whites were eligible for the land rush! GI loans were rigged so only 100 of the first 67,000 mortgages were awarded to African Americans! Those advantages generated great wealth handed down from generation to generation, with interest. And that’s just two examples that are minor compared to slavery and Jim Crow.
Please let me put in a plug in for education; you can learn more with Racial Equity Rowan and for the Racial Justice Network. If you are interested, email me at tgoins@LSCarolinas.net for contact information.