RACISM + EQUALITY

Here’s 3 Freedoms White People Covet For Themselves

As long as they hoard liberties for themselves, they will never understand lived experiences of others

Have you ever watched that show called Hoarders? Like many of you, I tuned in a few times. I felt curious about their lived experiences and if, with help, they could overcome the illness. But then, I noticed a pattern. Those willing to accept help from well-meaning family members and professionals did well. But, those who dug their heels in failed to make substantial change, leaving their homes and lives in utter disarray.

It dawned on me that people can hoard more than objects; they can hoard freedom itself. White people benefit from the privileges afforded to them through generational wealth and racist policies. So, their reluctance to spread the wealth of freedom seems like a clear case of hoarding disorder. If white people accepted guidance, they could overcome this. But, without willingness, any attempt at remediation would surely fail.

White Americans had to write Black people’s rights into The Constitution, like an afterthought in the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, the 14th Amendment, which granted Black people citizenship, and the 15th Amendment, which provided Black men the right to vote. Thus, from the very beginning, white people coveted freedoms for themselves.

The question of D.C. Statehood illuminates the struggle:

In the face of this influx of negro population from the surrounding States, [Congress] … found it necessary to disenfranchise every man in the District of Columbia … in order thereby to get rid of this load of negro suffrage that was flooded in upon them. That is the true statement. History cannot be reversed. No man can misunderstand it (Washington Post, 2021).

White Americans understand the value of freedom. But, they have systematically denied those freedoms to others. It’s as if they won the game of Monopoly but only because they started off owning Park Place and the Boardwalk. Many rather keep those structural advantages rather than play fair and square.

As many white conservatives and moderates fight to limit citizens' voting rights in mostly Black, urban areas, it has become abundantly clear that the rights won through the “good trouble” of past generations remain under constant siege by those who rather hoard than heal.

Mediocrity

White people have the freedom of mediocrity. According to Ijeoma Oluo, white, mediocre men have substantial power simply because of the construct of whiteness. They do not have to reach a level of excellence to find social acceptance and even power.

We can see the impact of white mediocrity in various settings. In school, Black students are much more likely to endure harsh punishments for the same behaviors white students engage in. These disparities follow students out of the classroom and into the workforce. According to the Washington Post, white high-school dropouts are just as likely to land a job as a college-educated Black person.

Mediocrity also protects white people from making mistakes without consequence, a privilege Black people do not have. A few months back, some white college students flipped cars and wreaked havoc on a nearby community. What started as a party turned into an unequivocal riot, which led to the destruction of property.

When the police came, officers refused to arrest anyone. Those white students faced zero consequences from law enforcement or their university. This even occurred as many white people condemned Black Lives Matter Protests, falsely accusing peaceful protesters of using violence.

You see, white college kids do not have to be “good,” they just have to be “okay.” So even if they tear up a neighborhood, it’s all good. Boys will be boys. White people covet the freedom of mediocrity because it protects white supremacy.

Without protected mediocrity, white students and professionals would have to compete with Black and Brown people in earnest. And competition would mean that mediocrity wouldn’t be enough to skate through life with.

Dominance

Whether white people ask for it or not, they have a dominant position within our global community. So how does the saying go — absolute power corrupts absolutely?

White people covet dominance because they fear becoming subordinates. Once I became a manager, I ran into a white man who worked under me. When the restaurant closed, I needed him to help sweep, mop, pick up the tables and place them inside. However, he refused to sweep and mop, calling it a woman’s job. I didn’t take this type of defiance lying down.

I asked, “Can you please help?” He refused to, insisting that sweeping and moping were “unimportant.” Ask any restaurant owner whether or not cleanliness is important to them, and I’m sure they would give you a different answer. He did not want to take any instructions from me, his manager. So, I had to do all the work myself as he sat there drinking with the cooks.

The next day he came late, and I confronted him. “When you come late, you make more work for everyone else. We already have customers. Can you please come on time tommorrow?” He grimaced and replied, “No. I get here when I get here.” I felt fed up.

All the excitement that came with the position just flew out the window. I realized that this white man would not let me, a Black woman, manage him. When I confronted my boss, he said, “I hope you two can work it out.” Instead of putting him in his place, he let his white male mediocrity win the day.

I threatened to fire him, and the owner said that I couldn’t because he “liked his personality.”White dominance is not something white people give up easily, even when the rules dictate. My old boss would rather keep a dirty restaurant running poorly if it kept mediocre white employees happy.

Complacency

White people have the freedom of complacency. They can call racial issues “divisive” and ignore the injustices that Black and Brown people experience. That’s why Biden and moderate democrats are trying to push out infrastructure bills while putting off the fight for voting rights, criminal justice reform, and climate change.

The word white privilege gets thrown around a lot, but we hardly discuss her counterpart — white complacency. The Black Lives Matter protests died down, and the white ally fire, which used to burn so brightly in 2020, has been blown out. But, unfortunately, black people do not have the freedom of complacency. Too much is riding on us to make progress. When you do not need cultural advancement, you can easily become complacent to those who desperately need it.

The status quo in the United States is racism, DiAngelo says, and “it is comfortable for me, as a white person, to live in a racist society (NPR).”

In closing

Even well-meaning white people covet mediocrity, dominance, and complacency. They do so by failing to foster equality, diversity, and inclusion in their personal and professional lives. I’ve argued before that most white people will never get sick and tired of racism because they benefit. I do not make this statement lightly or gleefully. I really wish white people would value egalitarian values more than the benefits they receive from whiteness. But with any hoarder, I’ve learned, the choice is entirely up to them. Change comes from within. Values cannot be forced onto someone, they must be embraced.

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