To Those Who Think White Privilege Doesn't Exist

by Caitlin Martin

I imagine "future" becomes a loaded word
when it isn't guaranteed,
when there's a possibility you could be staring down
the barrel of something else.
Saying goodbye to all your hopes and plans,
at the hands of a white man. 

And therein lies my privilege:
I say "imagine" because I don't actually know,
I don't have to know,
I haven't been forced to know.

Privilege exists
and I am privileged
because I get to imagine,
I get to wonder.

Privilege exists
and I am privileged
because my future has been more promised to me
more than others'.

Privilege exists
and I am privileged
because my future isn't synonymous with fear.

We know at risk youth
are less likely to transition successfully into adulthood. 
But what about the youth
at risk of never even reaching adulthood
because they're killed on a sidewalk?
Or locked in cages? 
Or ripped away from their families
that have lived longer in this country
than I've been alive?

Dreaming of tomorrow is a privilege
​taken for granted everyday.