I was born lucky.
I’m white.
Male.
British.
Straight.
I have a stable, loving family.
I have neither physical nor mental disability.
In global terms, my income is top 1%.
I did absolutely nothing to earn those privileges. Through blind luck, I have not faced a day – not even a single moment – of discrimination in my entire life.
In his 1963 ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’, Martin Luther King wrote:
“Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
I have unquestionably been guilty of both “shallow understanding” and “lukewarm acceptance” – at times, I still am.
For those of my friends who have faced discrimination, whether that has been through race, gender, sexuality, or something else, I’m not going to pretend to understand what that feels like.
But I see you.
Please know that I am listening.
And I am learning.
