The Responsibility of Privilege.
When I go for a jog early in the morning and a police car slows down behind me, I assume they are either being courteous or looking out for my safety.
That's white privilege.
When I check into a hotel in a strange city, I never worry about who gets in the elevator with me or who walks down the hallway behind me.
That's male privilege.
Guess what?
Depending on who you are, you may or may not enjoy some of these privileges as well.
Of course you don't have to agree with me.
And I don't have to care.
That's democratic privilege.
In the 15 years that I've written this blog, I've only ever discussed political issues one other time.
It happened when I announced that I would no longer appear on the Fox Business channel. That's because of their support of President Trump's program to separate immigrant children from their families.
When I wrote that blog, I received a lot of hate mail and a lot worse. I lost subscribers, friends, and the very lucrative marketing opportunity of appearing on national television up to three times every week.
But because I was so heartbroken over the government's policy, it was worth it.
That's MY privilege.
Today I am heartbroken again.
This time it's over the murder of George Floyd and so many other African Americans in our country who have been senselessly and callously killed. And I'm heartbroken over the incendiary response by the president and the lemming-like party apparatchiks going off the cliff with him.
Even worse, I am heartbroken over the racist response of so many of the people I consider “my fellow Americans.”
When I was a little boy at Leroy D. Fienberg elementary school on Miami Beach, we recited the Pledge of Allegiance every single morning. And every single morning it ended with the same line:
“…one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
If you grew up in the United States, my guess is you recited these lines every day too. Ironically, so did all the people who support systemic racist activities and racist policies.
The Pledge of Allegiance doesn't say, “with liberty and justice for some.
It says, “with liberty and justice for all.”
“With liberty and justice for all” was certainly not the way our country was founded, but in the last 240 years it's been a goal we've been slowly but inexorably moving towards. As I see it, that leaves nothing left for debate. Nothing to be discussed. And nothing to question. “Liberty and justice for all” means just that: Liberty and justice FOR ALL.
Because that's AMERICAN privilege.
Thanks sharing your story and the simple message Bruce.
Thank you Jim.
Bruce,
Thank you. I see you. I appreciate you.
With Integrity as my first core value, I love that you took the stance you did.
For what does it profit a man….
There may be those that are willing to sell their souls.
You have made it clear, you are not one of those people.
And I honor and respect you for that.
Kevin
Thank you Kevin.
Such poignant and beautiful words, Bruce. Your succinct message creates a brilliant vehicle to drive the points home – to make them understandable and salient for those that don’t get it but need to. The question is, what’s next. If it’s “All About Them,” who really is the “Them” and how do we market Liberty and Justice for ALL to this group or subgroups (i.e., individuals, organizations, institutions)? There are certainly lower hanging fruit and higher hanging ones here. Happy to brainstorm this with you if you’re interested in taking this further.
Thank you for sharing Bruce and thank you for expressing your anger regarding the death of George Floyd! As an African American woman , community leader, mother of three black boys and wife of a strong black man; my heart aches with so much pain and fear. The pain of having of having to explain why they can’t do the same things as their white friends or why they can’t make the same mistakes or why they can’t act or behave the same as some of their white friends. The pain of knowing that the are seen as different and the pain of knowing that they will be judged and punished differently because of the color of their skin. The pain of knowing that we live in a country where it is NOT liberty and Justice for ALL….. This is our reality and my heart is broken because up until a decade ago, pre-live videos on social media, pre- 45 and pre-recently published documentaries on racial injustices; I was naively disillusioned on how far I thought we’ve come..
Today I am in fear for my family, my community and the children I serve on a daily basis.
Bruce that nearly moved mt to tears…so eloquently and blatantly stated. It truly is that simple…there is no debate as to what the founding fathers intended…
Love ya dude-
Mark
Well said Bruce.
Thank you.
je
This is profound.
“’…one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’
If you grew up in the United States, my guess is you recited these lines every day too. Ironically, so did all the people who support systemic racist activities and racist policies.
The Pledge of Allegiance doesn’t say, ‘with liberty and justice for some.’ It says, ‘with liberty and justice for all.’”
This is a gut-check.
Thank you, Bruce.
Bruce, your new blog on integration and these crazy times we live in now….were right on and very enlightening. You nailed it at a time our country needs positive thinkers/writers like you not all this negative stuff by those Trump haters.
The only words that come to mind are “Right on!” Thanks for putting these words to paper. I’m also glad that you noted that you’d only addressed politics one other time. In the course of 900-odd YouTube videos, I’ve only addressed politics a handful of times. I took a LOT of heat for one particular video entitled “All of my people are immigrants.” I lost a few subscribers, too. I have no regrets.
Those of us who I think of as the cooler heads, those who think things through and lag a little behind the beat–in my case, intentionally–have a specific role to play at this sort of moment. People who know us and who know that we DON’T just rant and rave are forced, when we finally step forward in a decisive way, to take us seriously. We haven’t squandered our moral capital. We’ve scrimped and saved.
This the right moment to spend some of it. Thanks for doing that. You’ve earned the right.
Thank you Bruce for expressing how I feel. I love this Country. But I know it hasn’t attained it’s lofty goals yet like liberty and justice for all. It’s a marathon not a sprint to reach those goals but we can do it as long as don’t give in to fear and hate.
Peace to OUR Beautiful Country.
Your friend, Kevin Hurley
Good post Bruce. Way to talk to hypocrites. Need leaders now.
It’s great to know that behind the marketing machine, there is a man. A man who has empathy and the wisdom to say what most of us are thinking. Thank you for using your forum as a platform to cry, “Justice for All.”
Thanks for stepping out again Bruce. Your message is one of the reasons that I knew I’d be a follower from the first time I heard you speak at Vistage.
We are living in very different times. But why has it changed so much?
I think we’ve had 40 years of somewhat peace.
I think it’s Trump. He is a racist, dictator, and of the privileged class.
He does what he wants to do with no repercussions.
I think he’s using the virus and unrest to feed his reelection.
we went to Cocoa Beach for the launch and it is definitely Trump country.
Masks are not for them.
Be safe and be well
Well said my friend. So many of my Minority friends have been treated different my entire life. When I was younger I was criticized for playing tennis with my black friend a few days a week by some. Will never forget the unfairness of these people, who I disassociated almost 40 years ago. The current verbal silence by our President is disgraceful. I think his Coined Phrase “Make American Great Again” has a new meaning today. I say “God Bless the USA!”
Bruce, a very heartfelt and pointed post. You have a true north, and I admire your willingness to put it out there.
I was recently exposed to the work of Benedict Anderson, and his treatise on why the concept of a nation is so powerful. Let me share a short bit of his thinking: A nation is a community because,regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship. Ultimately it is this fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries, for so many millions of people, not so much to kill, as willingly to die for such limited imaginings.
That makes me think that the least we can do as Americans who have bought into this imagining of horizontal comradeship, is to acknowledge and respect the daily sacrifices of the African-American community (and other disenfranchised and lacking privilege) as they go on about their business of also being American. They carry a heavy burden, and we, in our individual actions and words can at least try to share it.
In less than 4 years Trump and the GOP has undone all that was accomplished in the ’60’s and ’70’s…Civil Rights, the Clean Air Act, Voter Registration, etc…And now we’re back to what happened at Kent State….
Bruce
Your ideas of privilege are so well expressed. More than that, they carry a heavy truth. A sad, sobering, shocking wake-up call for America.
When will all people, whether they grew up reciting the pledge of allegiance or not, embrace true democracy, respect, and justice for all?
Thanks for speaking out.
Barbara
I just love this post. THANK YOU for BEING YOU! It is MY PRIVILEGE to be your friend and colleague…
Me gusto mucho tu blog de hoy, muy bien dicho.
Well said!
Thanks, Bruce! With very few words, you have made a powerful point, and I’m grateful you became a “political commentator” again.
It has struck me that there is an unfathomable difference in the response of Trump and his supporters to a black man who put his knee on a football field and a white man who put his knee on the neck of a black man for nine minutes!
Thank you – thank you – thank you
So well said. So many of us are heartbroken. And now more worried than ever.
We did a meditation/intention in my little group of 5 this morning. It was our way.
This will spark many more groups quietly meditating together on line for peace, for justice
And for what we believe to truly be the American Way.
Many blessings to you for speaking your mind. Your clarity is stunning.
With much gratitude,
JoAnna
I commented to you in an email that I appreciate your email. We all need to do our share and CARE. The ugly statistics are endless, the number of human lives lost due to racism is unacceptable. if your’e white, that means being aware of the privilege you are born into.
ANTI-RACISM IS A COMMITMENT TO FIGHT RACISM WHEREVER YOU FIND IT. INCLUDING IN YOURSELF.
Do we know why people are racist? We think it is some sort of character flaw. It might be, but that is not the whole story. The non-racists are not listening to the cry of the racist people. Donald Trump is listening and knows exactly how to motivate them. The non-racists are simply preaching to the racists. I like to use the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence when I preach to them. However, this is not going to work. We are just patting ourselves on the back for being smarter, better and having more character.
There are some basic human emotions fueling racism. Those include fear, pride and financial insecurity. There are obviously more, but these are big for me. We should find out what they are afraid of. We will need to redirect their pride. Finally, we have to make sure they have hope.
So let’s be as smart as Donald Trump and listen. Once we know what the underlying emotional problems are, then we can address them. The preaching has not worked.
Your latest blog post was excellent. Thanks. I’m feeling much the same. My comment is, “Why is the Pledge of Allegiance no longer said in our schools?” The strife we are seeing nationwide is cultural. We have gradually lost track of the idea of what America, with all its many faults and especially its racial disparities, is supposed to be. The finger pointing for this goes in all directions.
If all is rotten, then the house should be torn down and rebuilt. But be careful what you wish for is my caution to both the right and the left, to Republicans and Democrats alike. Watch “Dr. Zhivago” again to see if revolution is a desirable outcome. I never thought another Civil War was even a remote possibility until now, with November’s election just months away.
I am still optimistic though. Our Founding Fathers gave us a blueprint for the better angels of our nature to prevail. However, it may be a close race this time.
Best regards,
Andy Parrish
Bravo, Bruce! These recent events have saddened our family, too. I appreciate your inspiration and validation that all of us are created equal. We all have beauty, purpose, and importance, You have my family’s support in you very articulate words Justice for ALL!
Well written, moving article which summarizes and mirrors my own beliefs. Thank you for modeling what I wish we all were capable of doing consistently: Speaking your truth with respect.
I’m heartbroken too. Over yet another senseless death. And over the utter devastation of my neighborhood by protesters.
How can we condemn the incendiary remarks of politicians without condemning the incendiary actions of those who burned and looted our cities? Here in Richmond, protesters set fire to an apartment building, then blocked firefighters from accessing the building. Thankfully, the police were able to go in and rescue the tenants, including a six-year-old child.
My neighborhood was hit hard. The bank directly across the street is destroyed.
Where’s the outrage? My neighbors, black and white, are incensed. But the blogosphere? No so much.
If we’re only looking to point fingers at the “other” side, no one will listen to us. And they shouldn’t.
Our definition of “All” should include the thousands of innocent people and businesses targeted by vandals.
The silence is deafening.
BRAVO!!!! And thank you!
Succinct and to the point. Thanks for standing up and being a voice of reason, Bruce.
It’s amazing that there was so much resistance to integration in our country. Glad we had people like the Freedom Riders and Turkels to fight the good fight. The riots that we are witnessing this week are indications that the fight is not over yet.
Beautifully said by one of my favorite bloggers, thinkers, and communicators. Captures exactly what I’m feeling and thinking, and what I’ve shared in my own way and audience! Thank you Bruce for what you do and how you show up.
Very Well said…..And worth saying !
If only everyone thought that way
simply…Bravo
I commend you and embrace your sentiments. Your posting is an aspiration I pray that my fellow humans and citizens embody.
I’ve had the utmost respect for you and your late father and you just presented another reason why.
Peace,