There is so much to be said about white privilege, and what’s wrong with the American justice system. This is merely the tip of the iceberg, but it’s a prime example of how a rich white lady can do something that a person of color would probably be punished for.
I’m sure that Miley’s mom didn’t mean to offend anyone with this, and just thought she was being funny, living her best life.
But that’s what white privilege is.
So, here’s Miley Cyrus and her parents, Billy Ray and Tish.
As you can see, they are a very zany bunch, to say the least.
In the past, Miley has been known to smoke a lot of weed. It sort of became part of her identity for a while.
She was known for being a very cool, laid-back, queer, hippie chick that didn’t shave her armpits, smoked a ton of weed.
We loved her for it.
I still do.
But in 2017 she stopped smoking weed entirely, because she had a nightmare that she smoked so much weed that she died, and she believed this could actually happen IRL.
“It’s like, no one’s ever died from weed, but no one’s ever smoked as much as I did,” she said in an interview with Jimmy Fallon.
I love Miley. But I don’t think it’s possible to die from smoking weed.
I totally respect her decision to stop smoking though.
To each their own!
Turns out the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…
Miley’s mom happens to be quite the pothead herself!
After Miley quit smoking and drinking for a period of time, she said in an interview that it was her mom that got her back into it.
According to Miley, Tish never used to approve of her daughter’s weed smoking habits, but eventually jumped on the bandwagon.
Apparently now, she “smokes more pot than anyone” Miley knows .
I’m guessing that’s a whole lot.
The photo of Tish brought some serious issues to light about the American justice system.
Soledad O’Brien tweeted in response to the photo, pointing out that there are tons of people behind bars right over weed related charges.
Marijuana was legalized in California in 2016. But the photo sparked an important conversation about white privilege in America as a whole.
Although weed is legal in California — where Miley and her family live, it is still illegal in many other parts of the US.
This person pointed out that it’s not only the Cyrus’ that are able to show off their marijuana habits all willy nilly, without having to worry about repercussions.
They make a good point.
“Every single person in jail right now for smoking pot should be released yesterday,” wrote @AugustJPollak.
Say it louder for the people in the back. Make sure everyone hears this one loud and clear!
Or at the very least, everyone should be treated equally. In a perfect world, I suppose.
It’s definitely not fair that there are people sitting in jail right now over a small baggy of marijuana — a fraction of what Tish was standing in front of in that photo — and the Cyrus’ get to flaunt their drug use freely without consequence.
It’s a sad reality.
I feel horrible for anyone that has or is doing hard time for possession of marijuana, if they ever have to see this photo.
It’s just not fair.
This hits close to home for some people.
I can understand why this would be a frustrating thing to see if you have close friends or family members that are in jail over a tiny amount of weed.
Anyways, here’s the photo Billy Ray posted this photo of Tish standing in front of a giant safe full of marijuana.
He captioned the photo: “Yes! Like I said yesterday @TishCyrus…. my how the times they are a changing #CrAzYMaMa”
To be fair, Tish sent out a statement on Instagram right away, denying that the weed belonged to her.
This may or may not be true. I really wouldn’t put it past her, seeing as she loves smoking weed and has the money to have as much of it as she wants, or could ever want.
But for the sake of this story, let’s just say it isn’t hers.
The unfortunate truth is that people of color are substantially more likely to face harsher consequences for marijuana-related charges than white people.
There’s really no arguing that .
Racism is still very much alive in the US.
Another person pointed out that white people can turn smoking weed into a funny, likeable personality trait.
But colored people get labelled as a druggy or a criminal for the same thing.
This person managed to sum up this incident, and incidents like it with one Cynthia Nixon quote.
So well said.
RELATED STORIES
If respected, wealthy, white folks can casually do it, then people of color shouldn’t be getting the third degree for it.
What’s sad, though, is if someone is released from jail after being incarcerated for marijuana-related charges, it is unlikely that their lives will just snap back to normal.
Being in jail is no-doubt, a traumatizing experience, that can haunt a person for the rest of their lives.
It just isn’t worth the trouble over something as harmless as weed .
Meanwhile, The Cyrus gang is just out here flaunting their privilege.
This person can’t even imagine how they thought this was an okay photo to post on social media.
Posting this photo, with no regard for the fact that there are countless people sitting in jail right now — over a slight percentage of the weed seen in Tish’s photo — is basically the definition of white privilege.
Not to mention having to rebuild their lives from scratch.
Coming out of jail after a weed-related incident would be incredibly difficult, and could ruin a person’s quality of life forever.
I’m guessing the Cyrus family is feeling a little bit embarrassed right about now.
I guess money and fame can make people complacent. But hopefully, Tish and Billy Ray have learned a valuable lesson from this.
The silver lining is that it hopefully raised some awareness about white privilege.
The internet is a pretty hostile place, where people get criticized for just about anything — especially celebs.
But sometimes it’s for a good cause!
If you ask me, they should just make weed legal everywhere. Alcohol is more harmful, and yet it’s completely normalized.
Instead of ruining people’s lives by throwing them in jail over a little bit of weed, why not legalize it and save everybody the trouble.
it would make America a hungrier, more giggly place.