Racial Tensions with Police, Privilege, and Perspective:  Thirteen “Assets” in My Life

As a white, middle class male who lives in a suburb of Baltimore, I enjoy what Peggy McIntosh refers to as “an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day.”  My interaction with my students, who are predominantly African-American, lower class, female, and residents of Baltimore, make these assets more visible to me than they would be otherwise.  Perhaps this contrast is most apparent when we talk about our experiences with police and the criminal justice system.

Too often, we limit discussions of unearned privilege to just race.  And yet we know that unearned assets stem from a variety of interlocking variables.  For example, in my daily life, I can count on a number of assets due to a variety of factors, including my race, socioeconomic status, place of residence, appearance, and age:

1. I can choose to ignore or maintain a certain degree of social and emotional distance from the killings of Michael Brown, Erik Garner, and many others.
2. I can choose to analyze and intellectualize events such as these, and leave it at that.
3. I can choose to focus on individuals and assume if a crime was committed, it was the work of a ”few bad apples.”
4. I can claim to be objective in writing this list.
5. I can view what happened in Ferguson, New York City, and elsewhere as “news.”
6. I don’t have to concern myself with “survival tips” if I have an encounter with police.
7. I don’t need to have “that talk” with my children or grandchildren.
8. As more and more cases of questionable police conduct come to light, I can easily choose to disengage and avoid the psychological wear and tear that Ellis Cose describes as “coping fatigue.”
9. I can choose to acknowledge, and even converse about racial tensions and racism, and think that I have done my part to address these issues.
10. I can easily avoid those feelings of vulnerability and fear that engulf some of my students.
11. I can choose to view all protestors who wear “I Can’t Breathe” tee shirts as misguided and misinformed.
12. I can write this blog, without people assuming that my race is distorting my perspective.
13. I can safely assume that no one is going to judge all middle-class White males by what I write in this blog.

What are your unearned assets, and how might they color your thinking about Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Erik Garner, and others?