Today I spent about an hour on the phone explaining to my dad why the recent event in the Starbucks in Philadelphia was racist.
If you have not seen the video of two Black men being handcuffed and taken out of a Starbucks because they were waiting for their friend before they bought their drinks—go watch it now. And watch it again. This has become a bit of a regular occurrence with my dad since he retired. He’ll call me up or we’ll be checking in on life in general when he brings up a current event. Maybe I should start a blog series called “Conversations with My Father…” These conversations sometimes end with us agreeing to disagree (although we always try to come back to something positive and an affirmation of our relationship); I frequently find myself flabbergasted and frustrated; we often need to differentiate between “opinions” and “facts.” Nevertheless, I value these conversations immensely. I know my father cares deeply about what is going on in the world. He is intelligent, and curious, and compassionate. And he is trying to make sense of his own experiences as a working class White man in a country talking about racism. With a wife and daughter whose entire work (and frankly personal) lives revolve around social justice. What my father wanted to know was why the men didn’t either 1) buy something or 2) leave when asked. And the thing is, my dad wasn’t asking this in a hypothetical “I can’t imagine ever being asked to leave somewhere” kind of way. In some ways, he can relate to this experience. My father worked for over 40 years for the gas company in Utah, driving a truck around the city to fix people’s furnaces, or shut off the gas in a building on fire, or check on a reported gas leak. He often needed to visit public places to use the restroom or get coffee and warm up between jobs. He and his friends had a few places where they became regulars, because it was easier. Because they got fewer questions. Because they felt welcome. My dad has been asked to “buy something or leave.” There were places he was not welcome as a customer when he was in his work uniform. His uniform marked his as a blue collar worker and he often got dirty; crawling behind furnaces to make sure families had heat in the winter, and climbing ladders to the top of burning buildings to get to gas valves and prevent an explosion. As a kid, when my dad would meet us somewhere for dinner coming directly from work in his truck he always brought a change of clothes—usually a button up shirt. To my dad, this is a story about social class. And his take on it was that the men should have done what he often did when questioned. Buy something or leave. And my dad is not wrong. This is a story about social class. Would this have played out in the same way if the two Black men had been wearing business suits?? Maybe. Maybe not. While I absolutely REFUSE to play oppression Olympics, I tried to explain to my father that he cannot compare his social context as a working class White man to the context of these two Black men. My father’s White privilege (and mine, and every other White person’s privilege) grants him access to a world where if you follow the rules (e.g. purchase something) then things will generally be pretty fair. At the very least, you are not going to be handcuffed and removed from a Starbucks. Or arrested for having a broken taillight Or suspended from school for being “defiant.” Or followed around a store. Or stopped and frisked. Or shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop. It’s not just Starbucks. It’s everywhere. These United States of America are built on a system that is DESIGNED to give White people access to power and resources. Certainly those resources and power are not evenly distributed amongst White people—women, LGBTQ individuals, people with disabilities, the homeless and working class—are all acutely aware of this. And yet, so many White people believe that this system is fair. That if you just “follow the rules” things will generally go ok. So many White people do not believe Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) when they talk about their experiences of discrimination. Half a dozen police officers showed up to remove two Black men in handcuffs. According to their attorney they were held for NINE HOURS before being released. Because they asked to use the bathroom. In a Starbucks. THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN TO MY WHITE FATHER. Sure. There are rules. And laws. And it is probably a good idea to follow them much of the time. But the fact is that BIPOC are systematically subjected to these rules in ways that White people are not. And punished when they don’t follow them. And accused of breaking the rules, even when they are not.
Yes, I am angry at Starbucks and hope they do follow up with implicit bias training for their managers as promised by the Starbucks CEO. But I refuse to make this about that Starbucks, or that manager. I refuse to play the “a few bad seeds” game. All White people are responsible for the system of White supremacy in this country and it is on all of us to do the work to dismantle it. We need to listen to and believe BIPOC. We need to talk to White people about White privilege. We need to speak up and intervene when we witness racism. We need to acknowledge, apologize, and work to make reparations when we engage in racism. Because it's not just Starbucks. It's everywhere. It's all of us. And we need to do better. Britney G Brinkman, Ph.D. Comments are closed.
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AboutEMPOWERTAINMENT aims to take a critical look at media in regards to how gender and women/girls are portrayed. From popular articles, videos, and websites, to original submissions, we want to not only examine the media and its relation to gender, but help shift it. Archives
November 2017
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