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When I came in the Army, I came from working class family. I commuted to a small state school bc that’s all I could afford. Spent a good part of childhood in poverty, even homeless for a short time. Started working at age 14. Drove unsafe cars I could barely afford to 1/6 https://twitter.com/brennanrandel/status/1362146809917763587
gas up. I regularly scrounged up change from under the seats to buy gas. I once bought .39 of gas just to get home. Fast forward - I became a platoon leader in a platoon that was 50% POC. Like most officers, I was viewed w/ suspicion & my soldiers assumed I was raised w/ a 2/6
Silver spoon in my mouth. My driver even said as such. I had soldiers who came from much better beginnings than I did. I chafed at the idea that I was privileged. I had a bootstrap story. Insisting I wasn’t some spoiled rich white kid got me laughed at. I was resentful. 3/6
It took me an embarrassingly long time to understand that racial privilege =/= economic privilege. I had no economic privilege but I had white privilege. I have the color skin that society prefers. My soldiers got pulled over a shocking number of times a year and I can count 4/6
on one hand how many times in my LIFE I’ve been pulled over. I wasn’t taught to keep my hands on the 10 and 2 lest I be murdered on the side of the road. My white parents gave me tips on how to talk my way out of ticket. Yikes y’all. My education continued for the next couple5/6
of years. Anyway, I’m grateful to those soldiers 23 years ago who showed endless patience with yet another oblivious white officer who prided herself on “color blindness.” (That’s not a thing.) They made me a better person and I hope they know it. 6/6
