White Privilege Time

Yes, White Privilege is a thing

Happy Friday the 13th. Everybody watch out for black cats.

I was asked fairly recently by a White woman if I believe I’d be where I am today if I wasn’t White. That’s basically how she asked it and I specifically recall she didn’t use the term “White Privilege,” so I did.

I’ve gotten to know this person and she’s very intelligent and a highly educated liberal (Republicans will tell you there’s something wrong with that) who cares deeply about the direction of this nation (she canvassed for Kamala Harris). When she asked the question, she seemed to be bracing herself for my response which is probably why she avoided the term “White Privilege.” A lot of times when the subject of White privilege comes up, White people, like Megyn Kelly, get upset.

I said to her, “You’re talking about White Privilege and yes, I have benefited from it.” Would I be where I am today as a political cartoonist if I was black? Probably not. I will note that one of my sisters and an ex-girlfriend (these are two different people. I was trying to fix how that reads) have accused me of being entitled, which is something I try to keep in mind when I want to complain about something, like having to pay a baggage fee twice at an airline (fuck you, Play).

I grew up poor and was last in line in a line that didn’t include any Black people. I got demoted from working in the produce section to unloading trucks at a grocery store when I was a kid so a rich kid could have my job as soon as he walked through the door the first time, and nobody cared. The produce section was like the cushiest job there if you didn’t mind waking up at 4 a.m., and I did. Of course, the rich kid who took my job was White (it also happened because my boss was doing his mom, but I was the one who got fucked). They even had to frame me for a reason to demote me, and they did it by claiming I didn’t water some plants, which I had watered. It was a lame reason and they would have had a better one if they had only known about all the shit I’d done that I did deserve a demotion for (I ate so many grapes). If you asked me then if I had any privilege, I would have said no. But I understand society a little better now. While I lost that job without any fault of my own, I never got shot in the back seven times while being unarmed by a cop during a traffic stop.

And while I’m not the biggest name among political cartoonists and I haven’t been given a Pulitzer Prize, I have received opportunities others couldn’t get. I can only think of two Black and two Latino political cartoonists off the top of my head, and they’re four of the best in the business. If you’re a non-white political cartoonist, you wouldn’t have a good career unless you’re phenomenal, and three of these four are some of the best in the business. Let’s use my friend Lalo Alcaraz as an example because he won’t mind. If Lalo was only as good as Steve Kelley, Dana Summers, or Gary Varvel, his work wouldn’t appear anywhere. Lalo can’t phone it in. He has to kick ass.

A White conservative cartoonist doesn’t have to understand hypocrisy, irony, or humor. A White conservative cartoonist can lie. A White conservative cartoonist doesn’t have to know what he’s talking about. A White conservative cartoonist can be openly racist. A White conservative cartoonist doesn’t even have to know how to write a cartoon. A White conservative cartoonist doesn’t have to understand the pulse of the nation, just the pulse of Fox News. A liberal cartoonist, especially if he or she is non-White, has to know how to do their job. By the way, there are also very few women doing this, and the ones who are are amazing…except for Lisa Benson. She’s a White conservative.

Political cartooning has always been a tough business to crack in to but back when newspapers had money and spent it, several White cartoonists were hired right out of college despite them not being ready for the big time yet. I’m not going to name names because most of these guys developed into great cartoonists.

I started my career by knocking on a newspaper’s door in Mississippi and I was given a chance. I built my first self-syndication by knocking on every newspaper’s door in the state. I wonder how that would have worked out if I wasn’t White. Would my editorial page editor at The Free Lance-Star have hired me if I wasn’t White? I’m not saying he was racist, but I have to wonder (the editor and publisher would NOT have cared what race I was). The Honolulu Star-Bulletin definitely wouldn’t have cared. Good luck having an all-Haole newsroom in Hawaii.

Oddly enough, the people who don’t understand White Privilege are White people. They’ll argue that nobody gave them anything and that White Privilege doesn’t exist. White Privilege isn’t as much about a White Person being given stuff as much as it’s about not having the same obstacles as a non-White person.

Megyn Kelly definitely doesn’t understand it, but Caitlin Clark does.

Caitlin Clark is Time Magazine’s Athlete of the Year and in the accompanying interview, she said, “I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege. A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important.”

Obviously, she’s right. There’s nothing wrong with what she said, which is why conservatives were outraged.

Megyn Kelly, who once got fired up about there being a Black Santa Claus, was livid. She tweeted, “Look at this. She’s on the knee all but apologizing for being white and getting attention. The self-flagellation. The ‘Oh pls pay attention to the black players who are REALY the ones you want to celebrate.’ Condescending. Fake. Transparent. Sad.”

Again, Clark didn’t say anything that wasn’t correct, and she didn’t “apologize” for being white. If anything, she should be commended for being aware (but don’t say “woke). At the very least, you could say it’s her opinion. So why did it upset Megyn Kelly so much? Kelly was so upset that she couldn’t provide any context beyond, “fake,” “transparent,” and “sad,” proving that if she can’t dig deeper, then she’s probably only where she is today because of White Privilege (the blonde hair helped too). She used as much context as right-wing political cartoonist Tom Stiglich did when he went after former U.S. rep. Jamal Bowman for writing, '“Dear White People," and asking them to help end white supremacy. Stiggy drew Santa putting Bowman on the “naughty list” for wanting to end White supremacy. The only people who should be upset about that are white supremacists. Naturally, Tom didn’t add context as to why ending white supremacy is a bad thing.

I think it’s good to question why Megyn Kelly and Tom Stiglich are so upset.

Since so many White people are struggling to understand what White Privilege is, I’m going to offer a few examples. I invite you to offer your own in the comments as well.

Not being shot by a cop after being pulled over and not doing anything wrong is White Privilege.

Not having cops storm into your house and shoot you while in your bed is White Privilege.

Being able to take a walk through a White neighborhood at night without cops showing up asking if they can “help” you is White Privilege.

Not having the cops arrest you while trying to get inside your unlocked house is White Privilege.

Being elected president despite having five kids with three different women is White Privilege.

Being elected president without anyone asking for your birth certificate is White Privilege.

Being elected president over a highly-qualified Black woman despite being a 34-count felon is White Privilege.

Not going to prison after killing a guy on a New York City subway by placing him in a chokehold for over six minutes is White Privilege.

Not being stopped by Kenosha cops while walking past them with an exposed assault rifle after shooting three people is White Privilege.

White Privilege is being able to display a political stance in sports and not get blackballed out of your career by the entire league.

Not being told to “shut up and dribble” when an athlete has a political opinion is White Privilege.

Having a high-profile job while claiming there is no such thing as White Privilege is White Privilege.

White Privilege is everywhere, not just in hiring and promoting. It affects who gets housing and where, loans, the justice system, and even sports.

Not having to tell your son how to act when cops pull him over for no apparent reason is White Privilege.

The most common refrain you hear from White People who reject the existence of White Privilege is that they had to earn everything they have. What they don’t understand is that White Privilege is why they were given opportunities to earn everything they have.

I’m not apologizing for being White. I can’t help it. But I do think it’s important that a guy like me, who fits the Trumper demographic (I’m a 58-year-old White guy who was mostly raised in the South, and Lalo has teased me about looking like a Trumper), and is a beneficiary of White privilege speaks out.

Just as I want my son to have a better life and better opportunities than I had, I want the same for the children in my family whose skin isn’t white. Why should that make people so angry?

If you can’t recognize a problem, then you’re not going to fix it. Another problem is that the MAGAts don’t want to fix it. They still believe equal rights is like pie.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

Timelapse:

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon at Claytoonz is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can also take Venmo and my account there is clay-jones-87.

Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are currently eight copies and you can order yours signed by me, for $45.00. You can pay through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Knee-Deep In Mississippi: There are only eight copies left of my first book, published in 1997. These can be purchased for $40.00

Tip Jar: If you want to support the cartoonist, please donate through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com, Venmo to clay-jones-87, or snail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402