Disappointed but not surprised

Disappointed but not surprised: On Felicity Huffman’s Painless sentencing

Last week, actress Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison amid the recent public cheating scandal. She defrauded the education system, and she will serve two weeks.

Following this arguably light sentencing, I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t even serve the full two weeks. If the Brock Turner ruling was any indication, maybe Huffman is not “cut out” for the prison system, so the judge will go easy on her.

Meanwhile, in 2012, Tanya McDowell, a Black mother experiencing homelessness, was sentenced to five years for enrolling her son in a school outside of his district, according to AJ Plus. Five years.

Yet, Felicity Huffman, an actress who had the means to pay for her daughter to get into a school rightfully, faces two weeks.

This story is infuriating not only for the blaring white privilege but also the classism (one of many byproducts of white supremacy). College is already a capitalist structure that preys on poor people by convincing us that the only way to succeed under capitalism is to invest in schools that sometimes do not even invest in us. For me, this story feels personal.

Five years ago, I watched the acceptance letters roll in. DePaul University. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. These were great schools, undoubtedly, but what about the looming debt? How was I going to afford them with no college fund and barely any scholarship money?

The answer was simple: I was not.

I ended up choosing Tuskegee University because they offered the most money, and I still had to take out loans. Without them, I would not have been able to see Tuskegee. I would have never joined a Sorority, led a campus organization, met my lifelong friends, and experienced personal growth. That was due in part going to college, but it was not without a cost.

As I look at my loans for Tuskegee and now Northwestern University too, I wonder when (or if) I’ll ever be able to pay those debts off. Sure, there are campaign promises about loan forgiveness, but given America’s historical voting patterns, we’ll either be stuck with Joe Biden or a second era of Trump’s terror (which would both suck).

When I see Felicity Huffman trending on Twitter, these are the things that I think about: that she had all the tools at her disposal (whiteness and wealth) to ensure her daughter’s success, yet she still abused the system in the same way that white people love to claim Black people do.

Worst of all, she will serve two weeks in prison for it (maybe). Then, she will get to retreat to her bubble of privilege while I work odd jobs and wonder when the residual benefits of this Master’s degree will kick in.

It hurts to think about, especially because I have been told to my face that I was a “privileged minority” (of course not in those words). During my time at Northwestern University, I was privileged enough to travel to South Africa. I will admit that. It was a privilege to go back to the motherland.

However, without the University sponsorship, it never would have happened.

In a previous article, I detailed my reaction to a white classmate telling me “I’m stoked they’re paying for you to go to South Africa.” Although it was months ago, that condescending comment lingers. Maybe it’s because it was coming from the same person who boasted about paying $2,000 a month for his daughter’s daycare. That’s more than I make in my paycheck.

Later on, he asked me why I didn’t like him, and I told him it was because he is racist. Then, he had the audacity to ask, “Why?” After that, I walked away. Really, there is no arguing with people who have gotten to live in a bubble their entire lives. To them, our issues are unimportant and we are just “whining.” If we (minorities) just worked hard, they claim, we would be able to reach their level of success.

They just forget to add the part about being able to start 3 laps ahead on a 4-lap race where the finish line constantly gets moved. For this reason, Felicity Huffman’s sentencing does not feel unexpected. As the locals say, I am disappointed but not surprised.

~ ℝ