Coming to understand privilege and what we can do about it

It was a dark and stormy night.

When I returned home from Walmart there was a man in my driveway. I assumed it was my husband, except that he was shorter, stockier, and wore a plaid flannel shirt, which my husband was not in the habit of wearing. When I reached the garage the man walked over to the driver’s side of my minivan and motioned for me to lower the window. At that point, I started honking the horn repeatedly. He ran off. I called the police. In short order, I was giving a description of the trespasser to the cop who responded to the call. He called for backup, sending additional cars to the street behind our home. I went inside to watch TV with my family. An hour or so later, the police station called. They had arrested the trespasser. They told me he was drunk, disoriented, and they were booking him in jail for the next few days to recover.

A few days later I was talking to one of my fellow professors at JBU, an African-American. She told me that when she first moved to Siloam, her house was vandalized. She called the police. When they arrived, they asked her for her driver’s license. Why? So they could run a background check. They also looked at her grandmother and mother and asked who lives here. They too were suspects. Instead of welcoming her to the community and empathizing with her as a crime victim, they treated her as a potential suspect.

Hearing her story, I saw my own experience in a new light. I realized that on the basis of my testimony alone, backup was called and a man was arrested and booked in jail.

I was believed.

And I realized that I am used to being believed, because that has been my life experience. But for my African-American colleague, and so many others like her, she is quite used to not being believed.

That was when I first began to understand about privilege.

My colleague’s sad experience is not due to a “bad apple” in the police department; it is due to systemic racism in our criminal justice system as well as nearly every sector of society. This systemic racism is not confined to big cities such as Minneapolis or Little Rock, or other urban places far from us geographically and experientially; rather, racism is found in communities big and small, and even in a small town like ours.

In this moment of national reckoning, now might be a good time for Siloam Springs to have a reckoning of its own. Now might be the time to move past examining our own hearts for racism (a test we tend to always pass) and examine our systems for racism. I suggest three areas.

First, we should look at our history. Now might be the time to relook at (and repent of) our history as a Sundown town. We might want to examine the experiences racial minorities have had here in the past (such as during Hurricane Katrina) and in the present, and see if they have truly been welcomed. We might need to carefully go through the history of John Brown University.

Second, we should look at our education systems. Siloam is blessed to have large Hispanic and Hmong communities among us, as well as other minorities. However, the college matriculation rate of minority students at our local high school is substantially lower than that of white students. Further, while our school district is 29% Hispanic, Advanced Placement (AP) classes, which prepare students for college, have far lower minority participation. This bears consideration, because every child in our school system should be given an equal chance to thrive. Could implicit bias be playing a role here?

Finally, we should examine our systems of governance. A quick look at the city board of directors, the board at Siloam Springs Regional Hospital, the Chamber of Commerce board of directors, and the school board show little to no minority participation. Given our demographics, we should ask ourselves why this is so, and not accept simple (or selfserving) answers.

As we mourn the death of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, and honor their lives, now might be the time for us to look not just at ourselves, but at our systems. Let us make sure that Siloam Springs is not only welcome to all, but gives everyone an equal chance and a seat at the table.

Aminta Arrington is assistant professor of Intercultural Studies at John Brown University. The opinions expressed are those of the author.