You ever think, really think, about what kind of privilege you’re carrying around? I didn’t, until I read this book from my (Facebook) friend Christopher Cunningham:
I’m an old white guy. If I get pulled over by the cops? I might get defensive, or even lose my cool and threaten the poor guy or gal just doing their job. It’s a minor annoyance.
But black people? They get scared, even though they’re innocent. I’m talking shaking, pulse-pounding terrified.
And THAT’S what privilege is, to me anyway. An assumption about status and what privileges you have and what expectations you carry around. You see for me, getting pulled over means maybe another speeding ticket. But for black people, it means maybe another police brutality story.
Which is where “Imma Gonna Call My Lawyer” came from. Think of it as a refrain that us privileged white people use every day when we might be inconvenienced or irritated. We whip it out like a six shooter and wave it around until we get what we want.