Opinion > September 27, 2007

By Robyn Showers | Old Gold & Black columnist

Craning my nine-year-old neck to see above the end-of-the-school-day crowd, I easily spotted my younger sister coming from all the way down the hall – a beacon of blonde hair in a sea of brown and black.

Growing up in Alexandria, Va., my sister and I were two of the very few “rich white kids” in a predominantly minority school. In fact, the first time someone told me I was in the racial majority, I’m pretty sure I laughed at them. My life certainly didn’t reflect that fact. Imagine, if you will, a cultural negative of life at Wake Forest and you have my elementary school.

While growing up in such a diversely charged environment often proved complicated, I’m so grateful for the insights it offered. I experienced my fair share of prejudice in situations with children whose parents had blamed their problems on white people. Kids absorb stuff like that like sponges, so is it really the kids’ fault that they then came to school and took their parents’ anger out on me?

The funny thing is, while racial and socioeconomic conflicts held a dominating influence over what should have been an otherwise carefree time of life, I’m really not angry about any of it in the least. On the contrary; my experiences of reverse racism taught me that there are larger social injustices in the world that create tremendous ripples in our everyday lives. Simply wagging our finger at this unfortunate fact proves nothing except the silliness of the finger-wagger; only education through listening can begin the tenuous process of working through social problems with much longer histories than our own.

My experiences of elementary school bullying were in no way comparable to the very real struggles of my peers’ minority parents in a system that has often worked against them. While these parents might have been wrong in inadvertently pinning their issues on me, they were not wrong about the existence of an often-unfair system, whether a society hostile to new members, or one entrenched in socioeconomic and personal remnants of old injustices. What my interactions often taught me was how to listen when the problem is so much bigger than me – a skill that sophomore Matt Brumit could stand to learn (“‘Rich, white guy’ label a burden,” Sept. 6).

We realize that Brumit has eyes, but does he have ears? He himself admits no personal experience with the anonymous social issues to which he alludes. Yet he then claims to have acquired your right to an opinion through 19 years of “walking down streets and through grocery stores” – his own experiences, only his, unlike those of the “critics” he bashes, seem to be mostly unrelated to the issues at hand. Perhaps those critics’ basis for discrediting his opinions stems not from the quantity of melanoma in his skin, but from the quality (or lack thereof) of the uninformed opinion by which he firmly stands. The inability to listen past the din of his own voice renders his opinion moot; he is advocating a lecture starring you rather than an actual discourse.

Rather than freeing him from the “rich white guy” stereotype, Brumit’s article instead affirms that generalization through a lack of compassionate understanding. Without even really getting into the confusion of the terms “subjective” and “objective” (although, for the record, all opinions are subjective – even those of “rich white guys”), this article reflects a lack of understanding and compassion on the part of the author. The venom in Brumit’s tone when he vows to “reveal (his critics’) ignorance” after insincerely acknowledging his own reveals his lack of respect for “their” opinions. Respect tends to be a mutually reciprocal game; if you don’t give it, don’t expect to receive it.

Finally, Brumit fails to realize that, like it or not, direct experience with a social issue does add some weight to that person’s opinion. As one who claims to value the making of observations, Brumit should acknowledge the value of those firsthand observations, rather than always drowning them out with his own “cognitive abilities.” One’s right to an opinion goes hand in hand with an obligation to create opinions based on thorough research and consideration of the facts. They say that humans have two ears and only one mouth for a reason – so next time he has something to say, at least consider shutting his mouth long enough to open your ears and your mind.

Robyn Showers is a senior English major from Ashburn, Va.