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Twitter thread: In light of recent events in America, I feel like I should share a little story that happened to me a few years back. It seemed innocuous at the time, but afterwards it had an impact on me in ways I& #39;ll explain shortly. /1
I& #39;m as white guy from the United Kingdom, so I& #39;m not near most of these events, but they have an impact globally. Okay, so a few years back I was a train station, waiting for the very slow train. I was approached by a police officer. /2
They were looking for someone who had robbed a store nearby and asking about it. I was carrying a plastic bag (that I think my lunch had previously been in) from another store, but from a distance, it looked like maybe I fit the description /3
So the police officer is talking to me and of course the bag is a different bag. So then my phone starts ringing quietly, it& #39;s my mother calling and it& #39;s going for a while. Without thinking, I reach into my pocket and answer it. /4
The police officer is still there, I& #39;ve reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. I& #39;m having to explain what happened on the phone. Everything is fine, albeit a bit surreal. The police officer leaves and that& #39;s seemingly that /5
But shortly after, when I& #39;m able to take stock & think for a moment about what happens, I& #39;m realising that was a big example of how lucky I am there. I was in the UK and a white guy. If I had been a black guy in the US, what I did may have been the biggest mistake of my life /6
I reached into my pocket without warning in front of police & when I thought about it, that& #39;s what I knew was meant by privilege. People can say "white people have hardships too" & sure anyone can, but in that moment, that was the privilege I got that others didn& #39;t /7
In another situation, what I did could have killed me, but for me it was absolutely fine. I was lucky to be in a country with more responsible police officers. I think those moments of reflection help understand the situation more. /8
Like sure I& #39;ve always been against racism, but then a moment like that where the situation is much more fully grasped, those are the moments we have to think about. Black Americans live in fear of that whereas I blindly went into my pocket. /9
They shouldn& #39;t have to deal with these situations & it& #39;s something we have to be far more cognisant of. The police should be protecting them, talking to them properly. That seemingly small encounter was a big realisation where I more understood what privilege really meant. /10
For other white guys, think about an innocuous thing that happened to you and think how it would have gone had it not been so innocuous. Then you& #39;ll adjust accordingly as I hope I have done myself. #BlackLivesMatter 
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