Left-Handed Student Knows What Discrimination Feels Like

CFA STUDIO—In a recent conversation with his only POC friend, “lefty” Martin White (CFA ‘21) empathized with his friend’s fight against discrimination, assuring her that he knows “what it’s like to grow up in a world where it is harder for him to succeed.”White claims he has been held back all his life due to systemic discrimination that he refers to as “Right Privilege,” or the preference given to right-handed people in every aspect of society.“Ever used a scissor? That’s right privilege. Ever sat at a lecture hall desk? Right privilege,” said White. “It’s exactly like when they had separate water fountains in the 60s. Where’s our civil disobedience?”White also cited right privilege’s sinister past: “Teachers used to beat left-handed people until they became right-handed,” said White. “That’s like, exactly what plantation owners did to their slaves. So, I get it.”When asked whether he really thinks being left-handed compares to the plight of POC, whose voices have been suppressed and discredited, and whose opportunities have been limited by a cycle of systemic oppression, White’s answer was simple.“Their stories do get silenced, and I know how it feels. Mine literally gets smudged when I try to write it out.”At press time, White announced that he will be hosting a “Coffee and Conversation” event at the Howard Thurman Center to organize a “Civil Lefts Movement.”