It isn’t Just White Privilege, it’s Right Wing Privilege As Well.
Political affiliation plays a significant role in how organizations and individuals are treated and portrayed.
As the coronavirus continues to spread and impact the livelihoods of millions of people throughout the country, naturally a sense of restlessness and anger has continued to intensify along with it while millions of people are stuck at home. Perhaps one of the most intense recent examples was a demonstration in Michigan’s state capital, where armed protestors entered the building and attempted to intimidate the lawmakers working in the room below them while they deliberated about re-opening the state for business. In the days since this protest took place, I can’t help wondering what would have happened if they were left wing protestors as opposed to right wing.
Of course, particularly when it comes to demonstrations like this, it’s fairly obvious to point out that if these protestors had been black or brown, they probably would not have been allowed in to the building let alone getting away with yelling in the security guard’s faces and brandishing their weapons while lawmakers attempted to do their job. That being said, even their whiteness probably would not have allowed them to escape at least some level of consequence for their actions if they had been protesting an oil pipeline, climate change, or corporate greed. Watching what these protestors were able to get away with, there’s no denying that right wing privilege is a concept worthy of addressing.
Almost since the nation’s inception, our government has been as afraid of a people’s uprising as they were of the tyranny of a king. The constitution alone and the very system of government it put in place is indicative of the fact that our nation has always feared what the people could be capable of if their will ultimately prevailed. For years it was only white, wealthy property owners that our government deemed worthy of voting, and the Senate itself was inherently designed to suppress majority rule. The left has been consistently correlated with not just change, but with the will of the working class at large and thus is seen as a threat to the power structures in place.
