(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Musings for Friday - White Privilege, The Normalcy of It All Was Disturbed in Louisville, Kentucky [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-05-17 Nine years ago I started writing an article on the normalcy of White Privilege and how as a white man in America I don’t even know when I’m experiencing White Privilege. I never finished or published what I had written. According to reports coming out of Louisville this morning, pro golfer Scottie Scheffler experienced white privilege on several levels this morning. And considering that we’re talking about the Louisville PD, he’s lucky he survived his experience. x A lot of folks on Twitter who wanted to see BLM and Palestine protestors buried under the jail, are now calling to defund the police. https://t.co/WpIGNfUjg0 — Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) May 17, 2024 After Scottie was booked, he received a police escort back to the site of the golf tournament. Talk about privilege... Part of what I wrote nine years ago is below. Even what I wrote was a bit naive. 17 August 2015 Part I Knock knock! "Who the hell is knocking on my door at 10:30 on a Saturday night?" As I flip on the light and open the door I see the Cornelius PD patrol car before I see the face of the young officer standing in my doorway. He immediately apologizes for disturbing us this late. He explains our neighbor has called to complain our woofer vibrations are disturbing his tranquility. Earlier in the week VeloVixen was riding with a colleague in Statesville, NC and had a completely different experience with law enforcement. VV's colleague happened to have been a young black man. The interaction of the NC State Trooper wasn't quite as deferential. VV came away from the experience at first frightened and later enraged. Part II Also this past Saturday VV and I went to a Smoothie King to get a smoothie. As we walk in the door a young man is standing looking at the menu board. He looks at us and tells us to go ahead while he is studying his options, so we do. The shop is busy so we're all standing and waiting for our drinks. As we were waiting VV and I always engage those around us, usually mundane comments etc. While talking with this young man we found out he was a recent graduate of UNC-CH and a former member of the UNC Football team. Needless to say the conversation centered around UNC and football after that. After paying for our drinks we all continued to chat as we worked our way to the door trying to stay out of others path to the door. As we parted ways the young man made a comment that later struck VV as just a bit odd. The young man stated it was nice to talk with nice people. VV was curious as to why he made the statement at all. I told her that without asking him directly I could only surmise that his usual reaction in public may be a little less friendly due to him being a young black male as well as being a fit young black male. I asked her if she had not noticed the light in his eyes as we engaged him in conversation? Just asking if he lived close by and continuing to engage him his eyes brightened with each sentence until we got to UNC and football when you could see his shoulders relax and then his whole body. Conclusion Consider your privilege every day. In the small things you do and the small way you’re treated. If you were Black or Hispanic, how would it be different? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/17/2241159/-Musings-for-Friday-White-Privilege-The-Normalcy-of-It-All-Was-Disturbed-in-Louisville-Kentucky?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/