The Disillusionment of Straight White America

If there’s one silver lining to this COVID pandemic, forcing straight white America to slow down, listen, and contemplate the true ramifications of our apathy would have to be it. I mean, we clearly have a government that doesn’t work for everyone, which means our government doesn’t work. Honestly, if the make, model, and year of your current ride were revealed to have a fatal flaw, would you continue driving around as if it weren’t a ticking timebomb? No, so why is that our default when it comes to the United States Government? The problem we seem to be facing is how to go about fixing it? Do we defund the police? Do we dismantle the police? Do we pass sweeping legislation that will in no way fix the issues we have chosen so long to ignore? Personally, I think we need to dig a bit deeper.

Step one is to realize it takes time, patience, and an openness to admit…just maybe…that we could be on the wrong side of this one. What makes this even more difficult is that consciously deciding to correct negative prejudicial tendencies does not make someone instantly tolerant, a terrible choice of words to represent acceptance by the way. To me, the word tolerance represents putting up with things you would prefer never to encounter in the first place, but that’s beside the point. Correcting negative prejudicial tendencies doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process, like cleaning out the trunk of your car. You don’t just empty everything into a garbage bag. You sort through it, separate the treasures from the trash. If such an insignificant chore receives that level of dedication, does our country’s collective consciousness deserve any less? It’s about time straight white America takes a long hard look in the mirror, but we need to prepare ourselves because we might not like what we see.

The second step is coming to terms with an appalling historical fact we prefer to ignore. The wealth and power controlled by straight white America were built on a foundation of genocide by generations of slavery. It’s not just Native Americans and black people either. We tend to do this to every diverse group we come across. Chinese immigrants were “hired” to build our transcontinental railroad in the 1800s. We threw Japanese Americans into internment camps during WW2. Our government intentionally left the LGBTQ community to die as AIDS, previously referred to as GRID (Gay-Related Immunodeficiency Disease), ran rampant in the 80s. And if you’re thinking “but wait, that was so long ago”, don’t forget that right now we reap the rewards of cheap Mexican labor, then have the audacity to throw those same people in cages…along with their children. I emphasize the words our and we because we as white America are complicit by not demanding change for people persecuted by the very privileges we take for granted every single day.

I guess the real question is…why haven’t we done anything about it? I mean, it seems blatantly obvious that being straight and white makes life a hell of a lot easier, not to mention safer. For instance, years ago I was pulled over well past midnight because my car resembled another reported stolen earlier the same night. The police officer approached my driver’s side window rather politely. He checked my license, but not my registration. And when I offered to step out of my vehicle so he could verify it hadn’t been broken into, he said it wasn’t necessary and sent me on my way. Guess what happened next? Aside from the general paranoia that accompanies any interaction with law enforcement, I didn’t think twice about it. Now I do. What if I were black? Would I have been treated differently? Would I be writing this from prison? Would I be alive to write this at all? I don’t know, and the fact that I don’t know breaks my heart.

Admitting straight white America has a clear-cut advantage in our country because we were “blessed” with the “proper” skin tone and sexual orientation is nothing to be ashamed of. However, remaining silent while this continues to be our country’s status quo is. Take a moment to think about it. Would any of you who fall into those two categories, straight and white, opt-out under any circumstances? I know I wouldn’t, and that’s based solely on what I’ve seen and read in the news. I can only imagine what people who don’t look like me go through behind the scenes. I just don’t understand why straight white America acts like this is some sort of false narrative pushed by everyone but us, and I certainly don’t understand how we continually overlook the root cause of our ignorance. But before I get into that, I feel compelled to make something very clear to the demographic these words are intended for. Today’s straight white America is not responsible for the atrocities committed by our forefathers. I repeat, today’s straight white America is not responsible for the atrocities committed by our forefathers. However, we are responsible for our inherent unwillingness to learn from them, as well as our refusal to actively seek change.

So, how do we remedy something like this, considering our education system seems content with erasing the only real history capable of teaching us in times like these? Because whether due to embarrassment, denial, or outright racism, we allow our children to learn from textbooks purposefully designed to hide the darkest moments of our past. In fact, judging by how we shelter them from anything remotely real in this world, we seem to prefer it that way. Instead, we force-feed a watered-down version of black history one month a year and are somehow shocked half the country is populated by ignorant bigots. As far as I’m concerned, there’s only American history, and it’s unfortunately soaked in the blood, sweat, and tears of anyone different from us. Unless our schools begin teaching that, we doom future generations to repeat our most heinous mistakes. And I don’t know about you, but mistakes are how I navigate life. More importantly, they help me become a better human being. Ask yourself what path your life might have taken if all your mistakes were conveniently forgotten. What kind of person would you have become? Subsequently, how is straight white America supposed to learn and grow towards the betterment of all if our mistakes are constantly brushed aside like they never existed?

And if that’s not self-destructive enough, consider the subliminal messaging every one of us has been subjected to throughout modern American history. Personally, my entire childhood was filled with movies and television shows where most on-screen minorities were portrayed as stereotypical “deviants” like criminals, drug addicts, and prostitutes. How can we be so blind not to see the impact that has on who we become as people? Perhaps it’s because that impact is spread out across our entire lives, and happens so subtly we don’t even notice it taking place.

Now I’m far from perfect, but I am confident I no longer have conscious prejudicial thoughts. That doesn’t mean I don’t have subconscious ones floating out of the dark recesses of my mind from time to time. The difference is, I don’t run from them or turn them away shamefully. Instead, I study them, figure out where they came from and why they’re still bouncing around in my head. Then, after learning everything I can, I discard them. Anything less does a disservice to those who have suffered from centuries of systemic racism and prejudice we ourselves are responsible for perpetuating, and I can think of no better way to dishonor the sacrifice forced upon so many for our historical enrichment.

Look, I realize it sounds like I’m only addressing white people here, and that’s probably because I am. After all, I haven’t the slightest clue how black people, or gay people, or transgender people recover psychologically from the damage we have caused throughout American history. What I can do is offer some heterosexual Caucasian insight on how we go about making amends, and I use the word amends because nothing we do today can repair the damage done yesterday, let alone to generations long past. But that doesn’t mean we can’t prevent the same from happening tomorrow. There’s only one viable path forward that I can see, and that’s uncomfortable self-reflection on who we were, who we are, and who we wish to become. Only by acknowledging the awful transgressions of those who came before us can we hope to build a future as bright for everyone else as it has been for us. And for those of you who see me as some far-left liberal snowflake, I can’t necessarily blame you. But ask yourselves, how many straight white men have you seen brutalized in the streets? Take your time, I’ll wait…now consider this. How far could America go, how far would America already be, if we treated everyone the way we treat straight white America?