This blog is going to be one of those tough blogs. The ones where my white readers will question why they continue to read and follow. Some of you who I consider friends, allies, or more will not be happy.  That’s too bad. Get ready. It’s. About. To. Go Down.

What exactly is Critical Race Theory (CRT)? According to the UCLA School of Public Affairs:

CRT recognizes that racism is engrained in the fabric and system of the American society. The individual racist need not exist to note that institutional racism is pervasive in the dominant culture. This is the analytical lens that CRT uses in examining existing power structures. CRT identifies that these power structures are based on white privilege and white supremacy, which perpetuates the marginalization of people of color. CRT also rejects the traditions of liberalism and meritocracy. (link)

You may be white. You may be reading this and say this is malarky. Black people have affirmative action (which benefits white women the most), or perhaps people should just get over race. After all, when is enough enough? Well here is a question for you:

Reading, and this question came up. White people, this is for you –

What amount of compensation would you seek if you were forced to become black?

Can’t wait to hear these responses! pic.twitter.com/clbY2c1Sx7

— Val Brown (@ValeriaBrownEdu) June 8, 2018

There is the question. What amount of compensation would you seek if you were forced to become black?

I will walk you down my thought process here. My first thought is would it cost money for me to willingly turn black? The answer is yes. Yes, it would. How much would it take to worry about driving, get the police called for BBQ in a park, or walk through a department store and be accused of stealing your own clothes? You get the idea. I have a ton of privilege. I feel relatively safe in America. (Jews are third or fourth on the you are destroying America go back to your country list I believe)

Once I realized that being black would definitely require that I receive compensation, the guilt set in. I didn’t dwell on it cause not only is guilt a useless emotion it didn’t further me learning or reflecting. I recognized it and moved on.

After I moved on I decided on $500,000-$750,000. I arrived at this number because I wanted a house and cars that would be paid off. I wanted loot for my kids to go to college. The money would make sure that if I didn’t get hired or promoted at the job I deserved because of my skin color I would still get by working at a lower paying job. It would also ensure that the neighborhood I lived in would be safe and hopefully, I could be active in the neighborhood without having the cops called on me.

UPDATE: One thing I did not address is the life expectancy of  blacks vs whites. “Blacks now have a life expectancy of 75.6 years, and whites can expect to live on average for 79 years.” (Link) The reasons for this are too many for me address at this time.

My next thoughts were how much harm was I going to do to the black people in my social media networks? How must they feel that it would take an enormous amount of money to be like them? To give up my privilege of safety and security? The feeling was and still is, awful.

I get to this one part and write WTF in my annotations. I was dumbfounded. I will type this out so you can read it. 4/ pic.twitter.com/LK12ed6bWF

— Val Brown (@ValeriaBrownEdu) June 9, 2018

And this is the crux of the issue. White people will deny that racism exists. White people will use the bootstrap theory that black people should just educate themselves (which society has gone to great lengths to avoid allocating reaources to doing well). Maybe you believe the idea that if black people had a work ethic and didn’t rely on welfare maybe they would get ahead (which is false white people receive more welfare than any other group). All that gets thrown out the window when it is time for us to be in that position. Wouldn’t you work hard? Wouldn’t you educate ourselves? Yet why would it take millions for you to be black? It would take millions because we have privilege! That is the point of this blog. Recognizing that any amount of money you would require shows how you and society values being white over being black.

Personally, the amount you would demand is immaterial. The fact that there is any price you would demand shows how much we value white skin in America. Next time someone denies there is white privilege, or explains to you all the ways that black people are better off now ask them this simple question. What amount of compensation would you seek if you were forced to become black?

Watch them stutter. They will try to circle around the answer. Try to turn the question on its head. Don’t give them the leeway. Press them. They will give you a number. That number shows how we have a problem in America.

My question to you is how much would it take for you to be black? Be honest with yourself. Share with me if you want. Keep it to yourself if you want. The important part to recognize is that if you chose any amount of money you understand that there is a problem with being black in America. Now ask yourself what are you doing to combat that problem?

PS follow @theL0rdByr0n he is doing the work