Three white women were cleaning up "Black Lives Matter" graffiti on a federal building in what appears to be Washington, D.C. on Vermont Avenue when a passerby stopped them and asked them why they were cleaning up the graffiti. The three women answered that it's a federal building and they wanted to clean the graffiti off because it's a federal building. The passerby then questioned and bordered on accusing the three women of not caring about black lives. The women said "that is not it at all, we certainly do care about black lives". The passerby then double down saying "not enough to leave up a message". The women tried further explaining by saying "we don't disagree with the message m'am, it's just on the building". The passerby then accused the women of using their white privilege by saying: "Not a great way to use your white privilege, ladies...that's disgusting".
What do you make of this exchange? Are you shocked? I am a bit. Correct me if I'm wrong but it appears to be clear that these women just want to clean up graffiti off a federal building regardless of the message. I don't think it's the message itself they are against, they made it clear they are not against Black Lives Matter, they just don't want anything on the federal building and were trying to do their part to clean it up. Graffiti is considered a crime in most cities. My question and I need to tread lightly here because I don't want to be accused of saying something I did not, is how did cleaning up graffiti become utilizing white privilege and racist?
-Producer Lightning