For some people, privilege can be easy to doubt because at the most granular level it is tough to prove: I can’t say for sure whether the university hearing board would have been so forgiving of a Black or brown student. But I can say for sure that the color of my skin greased the wheels of so many of the moments that made that forgiveness possible. Everybody should get the second chances I got, but most people do not. That’s not to downplay anything or say that it was easy. Addiction and arrest, going to prison and getting back out—these are the sorts of things that are hard for everyone. But
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