Privilege

It had been a pretty difficult two years at college for Jamal. He was one of the few African American students at the otherwise white school, and he often felt racial discrimination from his peers. They often mocked him, saying the only reason he got in was because of affirmative action. Jamal knew his grades were better than most, but he knew logic never seemed to get through to any of them. He would take advantage of his size and their prejudices by making a low growl to get them to shut up. Things got really bad at the end of sophomore year when a female student falsely accused him of rape. He wasn’t sure why she did it. Maybe she mistook him for someone else or maybe she was just out to get him, but he wasn’t happy about having to face the school’s judicial board to defend himself. On the night before the hearing, he wished he benefited from the same sort of privilege these white, female students did.

He woke up feeling strange. Something felt different. He made his way over to a mirror and was shocked. Instead of being a 255 pound, six foot tall, African American male; he was now a 110 pound, five foot four, white woman! He decided there was probably an upside to this. He wouldn’t have to be mocked by his classmates anymore; he’d probably get a fairer shake at school. But when he put on a black hoodie, he did totally miss the feeling of knowing he could intimidate the other students. He was pretty sure no one was going to cowering in fear of this body!