As I am well into my 58th orbit around the Sun I am still perplexed at the mythos of the white male here in the United States/Planet Earth.  I have never understood why white men are so desperate to hang onto power and wealth at the expense of everyone else around them.  This mythos never made any sense to me when I was a child.  It makes even less sense to me as an adult.  How is the recognition of one’s privilege and accepting a supporting role behind a person of more diverse circumstances demeaning to one’s masculinity?  Or whiteness?  Or control over one’s own circumstances… Why is there this desire to control everyone around you??? I dissent with this mind set… I hope the Vice President reads this.

Maybe I was built differently.  Maybe my work in music taught me the role of complete democracy.  We musicians need others to make our collective voices heard.  Our collaboration as musicians enable us to create things of great beauty whereas our individual performance within this beauty may not be beautiful by itself.  We need the community of the whole to make a difference for those that join us in the act of musicing.  This act of community participation is a part of my thought process. It is a part of my community of self.  I’m just a partner here…  My white male identity is not more important than anyone else’s identity when I/we are creating (music) something greater than oneself.  I tend to keep this thought process as I live outside my profession.

Have I benefitted from being a white male in the United States?  Yes, I am sure of it.  I received opportunities in athletics based on some bias.  I received a large financial sum for college, because I happened to be a tuba player.  I’m sure my race, gender, and size all participated in that decision unconsciously.  I have received opportunities in public service that may have benefitted from my race, gender, and age.  I’m not sure if that is an actual case or not, but the privilege to be ignorant of these facts is all too present.  I did work hard for these things, but was someone of a different race, gender, or sexuality passed over for my benefit?  Possibly! It would be arrogant to think otherwise.

I have zero issue if I were passed over for a job or an award. If that employer or staff wanted someone different for said job or honor, how or why should I to argue?  There are many competent people that can fill those roles better than or equal to me.  I have no jealous quarrel with any of them.  Jealousy is a waste of time.  Envy is also a waste of time.  I learned in my thirties that it is better to be happy for others’ success than to yearn for their awards without doing the equivalent work.  Just as I am happy for my friends that have retired, received appointments to fantastic jobs, or awards for excellence finally being noticed. I am happy for them all.

Is my conscience clear of any wrongdoing?  No?  I know in my personal history there are transgressions where I allowed my arrogance as a white male to exercise privilege that was not earned.  In my teens and early 20’s are a time of great embarrassment for me.  My mistakes have the 20/20 hindsight shining a bright flashlight on those faux pas.  I feel the guilt of these moments everyday as I work to correct them moving forward.  Knowing you have a problem is the first step towards fixing said problem.  As I matured, I could never understand why other white males haven’t felt the same pangs of guilt.  Is it arrogance, pride, bias, all of the above? This is part of the mythos I do not understand… dismissal of behavior because boys will be boys…

As I age and mature there are some things that have become clear to me.  My country needs fewer people that look like me in political power.  Our ilk has had the power for millenia.  We haven’t made the world a better place.  We’ve made it harder for others to have the same privileges we have enjoyed.  I’m content personally to support anyone who doesn’t look like me to move up to make the world a better place.  My logic:  If it is a better place for them, it will be a better place for me.  How is that a bad thing?  White men had their chance…  We failed…  big time…  What we have now is even worse…  

A second thing, I will gladly accept less, so others have more.  I’ve worked hard in my career, and achieved things I never imagined I would accomplish. Some awards and recognition have come my way as well. I am earning more money today than I ever thought was possible 30 years ago.  How can I use this to help others?  Tax me more?  OK, I can deal with that.  How about using my experience to facilitate opportunities for a younger generation?  This would include helping develop student teachers into professionals and providing emotional and practical experience to help younger teaching professionals gain a footing within their first jobs.  If I can help them become the best version of themselves as educators and their work explodes with honors and their students become legends!!! I would be happy to do all of that.  I will gladly take less, so they could have more.  This is the natural order of things as I see it.  What would jealousy or envy accomplish here?  Life is not an NFL Coaching tree.

Third, There are professions in this world that need more diversity, or need to be led by more diversity to find the greatest amount of success.  I’ve worked in education for a long time.  The bosses that I have had that are women are so much better than some of the bosses that I have had who were white men.   This is subjective on my part.  I have zero data to back it up.  I’ve just watched these schools prosper under the guidance of a woman rather than a man.  The same is true of educators that identify in the LGBTQ spectrum.  These people have an empathy and an emotional sense that dwarf mine.  The ability for them to connect with their students opens doors to excellence.  The same is true when you see a Black/Hispanic/Asian teacher work with a Black/Hispanic/Asian student.  The identity of self within the teaching relationship changes the equation for the positive.  We need more diversity in all of our fields of employment.  It will make a vast difference on the development of future generations.  We need the human connection more than we need artificial intelligence.

Finally, It is time and it is okay for the white male to step aside.  We haven’t done a good job for this world.  We’ve created a lot of chaos and destruction with our primitive emotions and selfish banter.  Our arrogance and sense of superiority is based in a mythos of two dimensional characters and bias.  Our lack of empathy and emotional depth separates us from the realities of the world.  If we truly want to survive as a species on this planet then white men need to support rather than lead.  There is plenty of data out there to support that.  Just turn on the news…  

…so it goes……