Black. Lives. Matter.

I am white.

I am privileged.

Not better. Smarter. Braver. Fitter.

Just privileged.

Privileged because I have never endured prejudice because of the colour of my skin.

It’s disgusting, isn’t it? I hate seeing those words written down let alone acknowledging the unjust truth that surrounds them. But now more then ever, it needs to be heard. Heard, accepted and changed.

Hmmmm. That sounds too nice. Basically, we need to wake the fuck up and stop ignorantly thinking that what we look like has anything to do with who we are as human beings.

There we go.

If I go to Spain for a week and come back a different shade of white, would you all of a sudden treat me differently, just because my skin is darker?

I don’t think you would Karen.

In fact, you’d compliment me. Food for thought, isn’t it?

Skin colour is not something I have ever really thought about, simply because I have grown up believing that regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion; we are all equal. To me it’s always just been a given. Not something I ever thought I’d need to discuss with anyone, naivley assuming that these prejudces were a thing of the past.

I’ll judge you on your actions and nothing else. I always thought that this was respect and human decency at its simplest form. But it’s only since the BLM movement, that I can see that this, in itself, is a part of the problem. I have come to realise that the reason I have never had to think about skin colour is because my skin is white and therefore, I have been privalged all my life.

Because. My. Skin. Is. White. I. Have. Been. Privileged. All. My. life.

Yes. The truth is absurd. And let’s just note that this is literally down to a difference in pigment within our skin.

Right.

When I was ten years old, my mum and I went to a party at her collegue’s house. I remember being excited at the food buffet I was about to stuff my face with and playing with the other girls noisly on the landing. I also remember it as the first time I had a tiny glimpse into what it feels like to feel different because of the colour of your skin.

As my mum and I walked into the back garden I remember a little girl running over to tell her mum that two white people had arrived. She of course was not judging us, but simply stating the obvious, as children do.

I remeber in that moment feeling slightly unwelcome, as though because we were the only white people there we were the odd ones out. We were not treated this way, but being a ten year old child, her words confused me a little.

This 5 second experience had zero effect on the rest of my life, let alone the rest of the night. Of course, I was yet to learn of the horrors and struggles of the history of slavery and racism. Yet to learn that this one isolated moment of feeling the odd one out is how some people feel everyday of their lives.

I look back and start to think, imagine being born into inequality that has nothing to do with who you are as a human being? I cannot begin to understand how it feels and know that this is because I am lucky. Not lucky to be white, lucky to be born with a skin colour that has no discriminatory prejudices attached with it.

I keep seeing on social media people writing about how it shouldn’t be black lives matter but all lives matter. But the whole point is that we want all lives to matter but this will not be the case until BLACK LIVES MATTER.

It’s not enough anymore to just not be racist. I thought it was. Racism shouldn’t even be a fucking word, it shouldn’t exist in any possible form. BUT IT DOES. And the only way this will ever change is if white people acknowledge their privilege and stop blowing everything under the carpet.

GROWTH IS UNCOMFORTABLE. CHANGE IS UNCOMFORTABLE. BUT IT IS NECESSARY. IT IS THE ONLY WAY THAT WE CAN STRIVE FOR A BETTER FUTURE.

When a friend tells me they’ve lost a loved one, I dont need to have experienced grief to empathise with how they’re feeling. Pain is pain. When a friend tells me they’re gay, I don’t need to also be gay to know what’s going on in they’re head. Love is love. When a black man is murdered by the people who are supposed to protect him, because of his skin color, I dont need to be black to see the injustice. Injustice is injustice. It’s not enough anymore to not want to get involved because you’re not black and not racist. This is everyone’s battle.

The BLM movement isn’t about black vs white. It’s about recognising the inequalities that have been hushed up for far too long. It’s about educating ourselves and opening up our eyes to the blatent discrimination of people like George Floyd, who are treated differently because they are black.

Treated. Differently. Because. They. Are. Black.

I don’t have the power to single handedly make a change. But I have a voice and know that I have to acknowledge my white privilege in order to be a part of ending this absurd inequality and evil. I will NEVER UNDERSTAND how it feels to be discriminated because of the colour of my skin. But I WILL STAND against this injustice.

I am privileged because I am white. But I don’t want to be. Together we can and must make a change.

#BLACKLIVESMATTER