As a member of the three least-oppressed groups in American history (heterosexual, white and male), it is difficult to complain about my situation. There are few things I have to worry about on a day-to-day basis – something that cannot be said for many groups in today’s society.
But just because I don’t have to worry about things happening to me does not mean that I have an excuse to stand back and witness others being oppressed. It is my duty to be an active ally with oppressed communities and voice my support for those that are disregarded for who they are.
I’ve witnessed blatant denials of privilege from multiple people I know throughout the years, and it is often difficult to describe to them what it means to be privileged. Many people get angry and begin yelling or become uncomfortable and refuse to engage in a conversation. However, privilege really isn’t a difficult concept to grasp.
Here are three indisputable situations that someone sharing my characteristics do not have to worry about on a daily basis:
As a straight, white male, I don’t have to worry about walking with headphones in at night.
As a straight, white male, I don’t have to worry about the repercussions for being attracted to someone.
As a straight, white male, I don’t have to worry about being killed for my skin color.
That is privilege.
Women constantly have to worry about being victims of sexual assault, as one out of every six women will be a victim of a sexual assault or rape in their lifetime. Whether it be in the workplace, walking on the street or literally anywhere else, women have to worry about being victims of sexual assault.
These heinous crimes are committed by white men around 57 percent of the time, with the next largest group being Black men at around 27 percent. These statistics are indisputable: White men must acknowledge that they are the root of the problem.
Men also experience sexual assault, but on a much smaller scale. According to studies by RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network), only one out of every 10 rape victims is male, and only three percent of males have been a victim of a sexual assault or rape in their life. It is wrong to disregard the fact that males can also be victims of sexual assault, but it still holds true that, as a male, sexual assault is not something that I have to be constantly worried about.
As a straight male, my privilege is even more pronounced.
Being a teenager is difficult enough, but members of the LGBTQIA+ community must face unprecedented challenges. According to Mental Health America, they are more than twice as likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol, two and a half times more likely to harm themselves and four times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual counterparts. No matter your religion or ideology, people should support saving the lives of teenagers, regardless of sexual orientation.
According to an analysis of Federal Investigation Bureau data by The New York Times, LGBTQIA+ people are most likely to be targets of hate crimes out of all minority groups. These are just some recent victims of violence due to their sexual orientation, including one man who was murdered with steel-toed boots and a mother and daughter who were found burned in their home: Steven Nelson, Rae’Lynn Thomas, Danielle Smith and Teresa Jackson, George and Chris Zander, Mark Carson, and Larry and Daniel Lennox-Choate.
It is no secret that people are frequently murdered in the US for their skin color as well. According to the FBI’s 2012 homicide report, 31 percent of people killed by police in 2012 were Black, while 52 percent were white. Black people made up 13 percent of the population. White people made up 63 percent.
These statistics are indisputable and outrageous.
The report came out in 2012, as noted. That is the same year that Trayvon Martin was gunned down by George Zimmerman in Florida. Recently, a young Black man was shot 25 times in four seconds by six police officers. Has much changed?
These racist, violent actions may have occurred across the country, but the University of Massachusetts is also at risk of such violence. The fall semester of 2018 proved ominous with multiple hate incidents littering campus, most notably the racial slur graffiti in Melville, which no one was punished for.
You don’t have to be female to back the #MeToo movement. You don’t have to be a member of the LGBTQIA+ community to attend a pride parade. You don’t have to be Black to support Black Lives Matter. Empathy is the only qualification for supporting movements that may not directly impact you. These movements aren’t about politics, they’re about being a decent human and fighting for one another.
Please, use your privilege to be a voice for change. The only way to make this country, and even UMass, safe is for everyone to come together and actively work to eradicate hatred.
Matt Berg is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at [email protected].
Northern Sentinel • Mar 26, 2019 at 7:47 am
“Trayvon Martin was gunned down by George Zimmerman in Florida”,
while straddling GZ on the ground and brutally assaulting him.
NITZAKHON • Mar 25, 2019 at 2:45 pm
This is the kind of shoddy background-researching that really frustrates me as a former school newspaper columnist.
If you seriously believe that you can walk with headphones and not be harassed, you’re an idiot – and I’m glad your genes are at risk.
If you seriously believe that you can safely be attracted to anyone, just look at all those “privileged” men falsely accused of rape.
If you seriously think that you aren’t at risk of being killed because you’re white, you need – desperately – to have someone “polar bear” hunt you to play the knock-out game.
Democrats destroyed the black family; the catastrophic effects of that on children being raised without a father are well-studied. So well-studied you didn’t bother considering them.
I could go on, but I don’t have the time or crayons to paint it for you. But I will note this: Saint Trayvon of the Holy Hoodie was shot in legitimate self-defense when he had George Zimmerman – a latin man – on the ground and was pounding his head into the concrete sidewalk.
But congratulations. I see a great future in store for you as a soyboy propagandist on the Very Fake News Network.
Lewis Larsen • Mar 25, 2019 at 2:31 pm
White men are 70% of the male population and commit 57% of rapes. Black men are 13% of male population and commit 27%. This means a black man is roughly 3x as likely to rape someone compared to a white man. Truth hurts, doesn’t it?
Kyle Seville • Mar 25, 2019 at 2:10 pm
“These heinous crimes (sexual assault and rape) are committed by white men around 57 percent of the time, with the next largest group being Black men at around 27 percent. These statistics are indisputable: White men must acknowledge that they are the root of the problem.”
Black men make up 14% of the male population while white men make up 60%. White men are committing rape at rates lower than their population size, while black men are committing rape at double their population size. Clearly you understand statistics after all you did factor in population size at
“It is no secret that people are frequently murdered in the US for their skin color as well. According to the FBI’s 2012 homicide report, 31 percent of people killed by police in 2012 were Black, while 52 percent were white. Black people made up 13 percent of the population. White people made up 63 percent.”
This so so dishonest it’s sickening. Progressives like you are sickening.
amy • Mar 25, 2019 at 1:06 pm
Statistically there are more poor white people than any other demographic, this idea of ‘white privilege’ is nonsense. All it does is divide people’s difficulties along racial lines and also the argument is dishonest.
The top racial group in america is not white people, it’s actually Asians. Highest income, lowest crime rate. Also jews have higher income and cuban-americans. Yet where is the attacks on them? There is none, because this attack on ‘white privilege’ is just racism disguised.
He goes on to include misleading statistics, the reason black people are probably killed by the police more is… they commit more violent crime. They make up 13 percent of population, commit 30 percent and 50 percent of murder.
The reality is that black people, Hispanics, muslims and other minorities in america need white people and white men. They need them for the country they built, for their assistance, charities, colleges, etc. The reality is that white people do far more for minorities, than minorities do for them. If white people decided to stop helping minorities and to stop being so nice to them, then their well being would dramatically diminish.
If anything white people go out of their way to help minorities so it’s really sickening to see these sort of racist attacks and blathering about ” white privilege ” And I say this as an asian female, who loves white people, who loves america and who loves everything this country offers! I would say to the author, if america is so bad and white people are so terrible why don’t you move out?
Joe • Mar 25, 2019 at 10:37 am
This article reeks of white male guilt.