Putting My White Husband’s Privilege to Work For Me
Because racism is a toxic gift that keeps on giving
We’ve been trying to landscape our small garden for several years but have been unsuccessful. I usually check out companies on Google and then invite them to visit the premises to let me know how much work needs to be done. The thing is, when these smug white men show up, they usually think I’m the maid or babysitter and ask to meet the ‘real’ owners of the house. They struggle to believe me when I tell them I’m the owner.
When I finally convince them, they’ll start speaking much slower, as though I don’t speak French and can’t understand what they are saying. This continues into mansplaining gardening to me as though I had no clue. They’ll then commit to sending me a quote, and I will never hear from them again. This has been happening for seven years, ever since we moved here. We might be moving to a new country in the New Year, and to ensure we can rent the house, the garden needs to be landscaped, so there’s now a sense of urgency to get it fixed.
Last week, I decided to run an experiment. I called three new gardening companies and set up appointments for them to visit the house. I decided, however, that my white husband would welcome them and manage the interaction. Not surprisingly, they didn’t ask him if he was…
