Analysis and Evaluation of "The Pathology of White Privilege" by Tim Wise

In White Like Me, Tim Wise educates viewers about white privilege. He argues that this racial issue is still largely a problem in America today. According to Wise, the reason that racial inequality still persists is because we failed to realize in the past that white privilege existed. Because of this, our nation was in turn “created for” white

There are many issues with varying amount of prevalence that need to be discussed in our world currently. Privilege is one of those issues. Jeremy Dowsett opens discussion on white privilege with his essay What My Bike Has Taught Me about White Privilege in which he speaks being a cyclist trying to navigate the road and stay safe. Jeremy Dowsett uses an extended analogy on the implications of living as a person of color in an infrastructure designed to benefit white people.

Valkenburg use of juxtaposition, ethos, and rhetorical question exhibits the idea that white privilege still exists ‘till this day. His words cause for his audience to reflect and ponder to see if they have even unconsciously had an advantage over people of color. Colored people do exist and they have to struggle every day to prove everyone that they are just as valuable as white

Tim Wise is a writer and social justice activist. In this video, Wise gives a speech on white privilege and how as a society we are expected to not notice a person as black or white. He states that it is impossible to not notice a person’s skin color. He says white people need to discuss white privilege or we will never understand what people of color are talking about when they discuss racism and oppression. I don’t agree that we need to talk about white privilege.

In “An Open Letter to the White Right, On the Occasion of Your Recent, Successful Temper Tantrum” the letter is written by a man named Timothy Jacob Wise and he discusses his views on the white right. The white right focuses on discussing privileges, people who are superior to other races, and those believe they should dominate society. Timothy demonstrates examples and his anti-view on the white right. The article does not focus on white people, but on people who believe a culture on the white right should be continued to this day.

I am better than you because I am black and you are white or I am white and you are black. What does this say about the type of people we are today? Having moral power over a certain race determines the guilty and the innocent. The simple fact of saying I am better than you, does not matter on the color of your skin but how you present yourself. Steele offers us a view of what it is like to be a black middle class citizen and shows his way of dealing with the major issues of race. For me this has opened up a new way of thinking about myself and the several dealings I have had in my life with the moral aspect of race, which dove me into the reality of what obstacles we encounter everyday with the race issue.

In Whine Merchants: Privilege, Inequality and the Persistent Myth of White Victimhood, Wise believes that discrimination is still rampant in today’s society. He supports this belief by discussing the different scenarios that white people are still privilege compare to blacks and Latinos. For example, employers will likely to hire a white person regardless of his criminal records compare to a qualified black person without a criminal record. Employers should look for a qualified applicant, rather than looking for skin color. Most black people who has a college degree will have a hard time getting a job because of their color. He also discussed how white people complains about the benefits that the government are providing to low income families

I agree with your responses on the White Privilege article. White people do not realize they have privileges until the observe themselves. For instance, how the author did in the article. The author observed her actions and the actions of people around her, and see began to notice white privilege. I like the way you stated white privileged as an “invisible package.” I thought that was a great phrase to describe white privileged. However, while people who are not white experience white privileged daily is frustrating. I disagree with your response that white privilege is use to oppress others to their advantage. I could agree with that in the past, however today the world is changing allowing everyone to privileges not matter of race or ethnicity.

Wise’s examination of the inconspicuous character of racism 2.0 dovetails fittingly with our course’s recurring theme of institutionalized racism. In class lectures we have defined institutionalized racism as the discriminatory practices that have become regularized and routinized by state agencies, organizations, industries, or anywhere else in society. Although such practices might not be intentionally racist, they end up being racist nevertheless as consequence of the systematized and unspoken biases that have become increasingly convoluted and entrenched within society over time. It also doesn’t help white people to recognize these discriminatory practices considering they have been unconsciously tailored to be consistent with white perspective and mentality. In her article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh examines not only how white folks often consider themselves to be a normative figure within society, but also how they are carefully taught not to recognize the advantages they gain from the disadvantages that impair people of color. In the article, McIntosh acknowledges the reality of her own white privilege and expresses, “In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth” (McIntosh 4). In fact, even if white folks do not believe themselves to

He says that the notion of race hides the class difference among white people. At the beginning of colonialism, white elites just gave some authorities to the poor white people as being “white,” which led those penniless whites not to perceive white rich as their enemies. Thus, racism is basically the most cost-effective strategy of the white rich to maintain their profits: divide and conquer. It makes the poor white people blame for people of color for “their” problems. Meanwhile, Wise articulates that this discriminatory strategy is consequently even bad for the white people; it affects mental dysfunction, especially anxiety and stress. To maintain the privilege, they need to constantly worry about someone who would take their advantages away. As a result, the privilege cannot be permanent. In this regard, Wise suggests that, to make a secure society, all of us, especially who got the advantages should try to see what is going on in the society and should take responsibility for the creation of inequality/injustice system. He wraps up his speech by saying that this is “not because of our guilt, but because of [the fact that] we are

In “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh argues that racism can be found imbedded into the culture of society; conferring and denying certain privileges on some rather than all. This is a dangerous cultivation; endowing a strong expectation that white privileges are naturally deserving. Furthermore, making the cornerstone of McIntosh’s main argument; that white privilege is just a less aggressive synonym for dominance. When you receive privileges for looking a certain type of way, the recipient becomes immune; often not being able to acknowledge their advantages. As a result, this creates a cultural divide, between racial groups.

Although in this age, anyone, regardless of race are capable of being born with what’s known as a “silver spoon”, whites are automatically born with an “ultimate silver spoon”. The “ultimate silver spoon” is a ticket with access to many opportunities that has virtually no outside obstacles. White privilege is a target aspect of racism in modern times. White privilege is the reason why white citizens are given chance after chance in the justice system. It is the reason why white citizens are able to make certain comments and make certain decisions without questions and without criticism.

There are two prominent writer/scholars who have taken the issue of white privilege to heart and have shared their expert analysis on the subject; these authors/writer-scholars are Peggy McIntosh, a white feminist, and Beverly Tatum, an African American Psychologist. McIntosh, in her article "Coming to See Correspondences," makes excellent observations about the privilege that she has experienced just by being a white female in America. The two most significant points made by McIntosh

“So a quiet, respectable Negro man who had the unmitigated temerity to feel sorry for a white woman is on trial for his life. He’s had to put his word against two white accusers, not to remind the reader of their conduct here in court – their cynical confidence that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption- the evil assumption- that all Negros lie, that all Negros are forever immoral, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber. However, the truth- and the truth is, some Negros lie, and some Negro men are not to be trusted around women- black or white. And so with some white men. This is a truth that applies to the entire human race, and to no particular race.”(Lee

Although some individuals may wish or even naively claim that we live in a post-racial society, the reality in twenty first century America is that individual and institutional racism continues to take a horrible toll on young people of color, who are at greater risk of race-based violence, unjust criminalization, as well as economic, political and educational discrimination. The powerful advantages that come from being born white are immeasurable and painfully real. It is critical that white individuals recognize the depth of their privilege, but doing nothing more than that can appear self-congratulatory, and as an attempt to exempt them from responsibility. An example of one writer’s over-simplification of white privilege can be found