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 the people of color. 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 that yelled at him to use the sidewalk. When he used the sidewalk he was yelled at by the pedestrians to ride on the road. It was at this moment that he realized that his bike represented the people of color and the cars were the white people. It was not that all the cars (white people) were bad but quite the opposite. The regulation of law was 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 has to carefully maneuver them so an accident can be avoided.
Similarly, the majority of the white people are not aware of the potholes and gravel that the people of color have to maneuver 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, the people of color 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/
