The term White Privilege is often misunderstood by white people, leading them to think that they are being called racist when they are, in fact, not racist. However, this word is not to call them racist but to make them realize the different treatment they receive as opposed to people of colour. Jeremy Dowsett, author of the article “What riding my bike has taught me about white privilege”, used the analogy of bike to educate the white people about the term white privilege. This essay will summarize the article, focusing on the primary discussion.
Dowsett writes that as a white person, he was always faced with confusion whenever he was called privileged; however, he understood the meaning behind this term when he started to commute to work on his bike. A bike rider has the right to ride on the roads, but Dowsett found himself faced with aggressive drivers who yelled at him to use the sidewalk. When he used the sidewalk, the pedestrians yelled at him to ride on the road. It was at this moment that he realized that his bike represented the people of colour and the cars were the white people. It was not that all the cars (white people) were bad, but quite the opposite. The regulations of the law were conducted poorly, and the infrastructure was built around the cars. A semi-truck driver was not aware of the potholes and gravel on the road, as he could drive over them with ease, but a bike rider had to manoeuvre them carefully so an accident could be avoided.
Similarly, the majority of white people are not aware of the potholes and gravel that people of colour have to manoeuvre in their lives. That does not mean that the white people are bad or racist. They were not posed with such inconveniences in their lives as the law was built around them. In this world, people of colour are the bikes that have the right to ride on the roads but cannot do so as the law is made solely for the cars, i.e., the white people (Dowsett, 2014).
References
Dowsett, J. (2014, August 29). What riding my bike has taught me about white privilege. Quartz. https://qz.com/257474/what-riding-my-bike-has-taught-me-about-white-privilege/
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