Some of his teachers laughed at his Appalachian looks and nearly choked on his family's radical ideas of "equality for everybody," but like a biblical David, Kincheloe heaved stones at "white privilege" and someday hopes to behead the beast that brought him both fame and fortune. Why would "white trash" want to slay "white privilege?" When asked this question, Kincheloe responds in a slow southern drawl that "when you have parents committed to racial equality, it makes all the difference." But I suspect it's more than that.

Kincheloe is proud that his parents were "rebels with a cause." But if they were "rebels," he says they were "rebels that advocated racial equality." Kincheloe is the most ruthless advocate of affirmative action I've ever met, even though he admits minorities got jobs that he applied for. He pounds his fist on the credenza when he says "there has to be intervention into the economy to help people who are constantly not hired, not promoted, fired or passed over because of their race or ethnicity."

The way he tells it, he would never claim he didn't have white privilege. Apparently, even a poor white man grows up with white privilege. This raises my eyebrows and lowers my jaw. I thought this beast of privilege had pockets full of cash. Kincheloe leans forward and says, "I had privilege because my skin color grants me privilege over non-whites in a variety of social milieus." He attributes his success to "cultural capital," which means his parents stressed the benefits of studying while his friends' parents were too busy trying to put food on the table to stress anything most of us would take for granted.

Kincheloe and I have a lot in common. We both owe our success to this two-faced beast called "white privilege." I met this giant when my dad moved us from a tough city street to a lily-white suburb. Let me tell you, "white privilege" impressed the hell out of me, a city kid who constantly overheard his teachers complaining about overcrowded classrooms and insufficient supplies. "White privilege" is quite handsome when you consider that what we're really talking about is spacious classrooms, volcanoes that spew smoke in science labs and schools that win awards. It wasn't long before I heard a bellowing grumble, "You're getting a good education, and everybody expects you to go to college!" I looked up and there was Kincheloe's nemesis!

Goliath is strong, but he may not be invincible. Do you think that's why people get scared when they see a slingshot called "affirmative action?" Is it fair for David to use a weapon? You know, you're right. Let them duke it out. Let the "best" man win. Unfortunately, it will never be a fair fight. Money always wins our fictitious wars of "virtue." Perhaps that's why a great prophet once said that it's "gonna be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

Face it folks, Goliath is greed. He just happens to be white because we live in America. White may be pretty, but greed is ugly. If you don't believe me, read Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities. Then, ask yourself if Kincheloe will ever slay this Beast. It won't happen without your help, because you are the citizens who fashion political slingshots. You are the citizens who vote for rules that govern battles between good and evil. Trouble is, one day you will knock on Heaven's Gate. Do you really want to stand behind a giant? Wouldn't it be better to say that you built a new, improved "slingshot?" One that protected all of the poor children, regardless of their color? There's no good reason why wealth can't be shuffled around so that every family in America has the time, cash and energy to provide some "cultural capital" for our children.