A Head Start
The fix is in
by Will Turner
Let’s say you are running the Boston Marathon,
And without making a big deal of it they give you and others like you,
a head start, maybe 15 or 30 minutes shorter than everyone else.
Or maybe you are in the NBA playoffs and the league gives you
Different rules than the other team. Let’s say your shot clock is 40 seconds long
Each possession and not only that but you are spotted
25 points at the start of each game.
I have come to realize that as a white, straight, Christian, male in the United States,
That is what advantage feels like to those unprivileged
Women, People of color, non-Christian religions and LGBTQ+ people.
When I was younger, I never felt like I had an advantage
Being working class with limited money resources, especially with seven siblings
And being the seventh child.
Basic needs were hard to come by, often I had to hunt for clothes in storage leftover
From my siblings. I remember wearing a rope for a belt more than once.
Or putting folded newspapers in my worn-out sneakers because
The bottoms had a hole in them.
As a heterosexual man I could publicly show affection
And display my interest in opposite sex others without harassment.
Being male allowed me Consideration as being smarter, stronger, competent, and capable and given opportunities over my opposite gender friends.
I grew up a white male and afforded privileges for being a white, straight, male, and Christian.
Today I am a white, straight, male, Catholic (culturally), retired from a 50-year career of a master’s in social work Counselor, with my wife in a home that is fully paid for.
Even though I didn’t start out with much, I now have a life of relative comfort.
It took me awhile to realize that even though I grew up a working-class straight male in the United States I still had access to white, straight, male, Christian privileges. Privileges that I had at birth, but I was unaware of any advantage until I reached my 20’s. As a disadvantaged young person I did not think I was more advantaged that others.
I do not feel “bad” about being a white, straight, Catholic, man at all. I have pride in the person, culture, career, life I have had, and I have pride in being a raised working class, Irish Catholic, man.
I do resent the head start that I was given over others.
Some others have more advantages than I do, however, too many others have less advantages.
Do I really need to have such a head start over others (claiming then it is my gender, religion, sexual orientation, and race’s right to have this advantage?).
My answer is no. Let us give up the head start and let trust, kindness, compassion and humanness be our guiding principles.
I prefer a system in which all are afforded the same considerations. Like everyone had the same start in the Boston Marathon.
Equal access to advantages for everyone, support as needed for everyone, let our love and connection to humanity be our compass.
Let us all look around a be honest about the head start some are allowed and agree to Equal advantage from the start.
On your mark, get set………….