Congratulations for those of you who have won the fictitious genetic lottery imposed by society, the government, and first world countries for being born white. The prize: the white privileges granted to us every single day; set by the racist, the profiteers, and the selfish individuals allowed to prevail for centuries through the silence of our own fears and thinking that this was and is not our problem. The topic of white privilege has unsettled many. Have you ever stopped to think what privileges you may take for granted everyday for having a certain shade of skin? To have a generally “positive relationship with the police,” the ‘nude color’ matching your own skin tone, the hotel shampoo matching your hair type and texture, seeing people of your own race celebrated in monuments, textbooks, currency, not being followed by security personnel in stores, and to be not perceived as a danger to the community in the media (Greenberg and Holladay). It's easy to overlook our white advantages when it's not you who is being directly confronted, violated, and unjustly prejudiced for simply having a different colored skin. If you had a different skin tone, would these everyday inconveniences to downright discrimination become more apparent? Since the 17th century onward, indentured servants received more rights than Africans being protected by the crown of England. Africans brought to America were viewed as a class of untouchables, and in 1705 an African American could get
Although white privilege is an existent term many white people choose to ignore that they embody it because of the way society covers white privilege. Some examples of societal norms include “nude” colored crayons or “flesh colored bandages.” “Those with privilege can afford to look away from mistreatment that does not affect them personally. The conflation of privilege
White privilege is defined, according to Emba, as the “the social advantage that comes from being seen as the norm in the United States, automatically conferred irrespective of wealth, gender or other factors.” Because it is an inherited membership, most of the people in this group do not understand the
I am a white cisgendered, heterosexual male. I come from a middle to upper class family and live in a safe suburb with an excellent school system. My parents both have college degrees and raising my sister and me and providing us with all the opportunities they could provide has always been a high priority. Therefore, when I read Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack in one of my freshman English classes, I could agree with the vast majority of conditions she lays out as conditions of white privilege. Additionally, my parents and many of my classmates do not quite understand why I want to pursue a career studying the stereotypes and prejudice and the answer is not simple.
As many of you have probably guessed, I have tried very hard to tone down my beliefs in this course; however, due to the nature of the question asked, I have no other choice but to expand more upon my views. First, I will acknowledge that there clearly was "white privilege" prior to the Civil War, to a lesser extent until the Civil Rights Act, and to an even lesser extent until the about the 80's or 90's. I believe that the institutions of slavery and segregation (pg. 238, 243) were evils which we are paying for today and definitely contributed to "white privilege" during their time of existence. I believe that America fought with great difficulty and eventually eradicated these evils because of the belief that all men are created equal (Declaration
Biologically speaking, all people are made up with approximately 99% of the same genes (Robbins et al. 2013:80). It does not matter if a person looks different or has a different skin colour; we are all humans and thus should be treated equally. Unfortunately, this is not the case in most of the world, especially in America. In America¬ (and other parts of the world), several communities and companies believe in white privilege. One of the first reports of white privilege in America was in the 1600s, when white people enslaved black people (Nkomo & Ariss 2013). Back then, having slaves raised a white person’s power and identity, while also making it beneficial from a business standpoint (Nkomo &
What is privilege? What does it mean? Is privilege inherited or is it earned? As an American resident of color I’ve learned that privilege in this country is something that is innate and inherited. The privilege that I speak of is that of White privilege.
The central argument expressed by Marcus is that white privilege is not a result of a political agenda as was previously stated by Tim Wise, but rather a psychological one. He goes on to say that because the issue is not based on policy, the government cannot legislate it. He explained that, “almost all scientific evidence produced to describe the nature of any individual based on race is bunk” also adding that, “only when everyone views snap judgments about individuals based on race as the absurd equivalent of such judgments based on hair or eye color, will the great moral victory over bigotry be won” (Marcus). I agree with the author that white privilege is spread by individuals and not based on policy. However, I disagree that white privilege
This paper examines how white privilege continues to be constructed today within schools and how teachers have a large role in it. In today’s society, many can go through their lives without understanding what it is or how it effects other people. White privilege is how a person’s lighter skin color benefits them directly from birth and that person doesn’t have to do anything in order to gain these privileges. These privileges are good and usually don’t have any negative consequences for the person receiving them. However, those who do not have white privilege face discrimination and end up paying the price in the future. This paper will uncover the hardships that people face when dealing with white privilege in schools, how it continues to be constructed in society, and how we as a society can become more aware to this problem.
The education system is notorious for teaching its own agenda, and not necessarily all the facts of a situation. For many years, the education system on all levels has been teaching students what it means to have privilege, and how life would be if they did not. Usually, the white students are the subject of privilege, and the minority student are the subject of life with racism, and without privilege. White privilege has been an underlying lesson to students for generations, and contributes to the power and superiority white people feel over everyone else. When the Michael Brown shooting occurred, it opened up many people’s eyes to the inequalities that are being perpetrated by the very education system meant to teach students how to live
Peddy McIntosh highlighted various unearned white privileges in her autobiographical article “White Privilege, Color and Crime: A Personal Account.” She illustrated the white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that one white person could count on cashing in each day. White people have these privileges given to them by the society in which they live in. The same society taught them to be ignorant and unawareness of these privileges. This system of unearned privileges established by white individuals made people of color feel oppressed. In this system being white is a norm and dominant power. Caucasians, who benefit most from the white privilege system in the United States, are more likely to
The population of the United States of America has been one of mixed race since its very beginning. Boatload upon boatload of enslaved Africans provided a labor force which would fuel the American South’s economy for many years, until national abolition and the subsequent civil rights movement created a primarily biracial population of blacks and whites. The US has come a long way since those days, and today every child born into the US is taught from an early age the evils of racism and the shameful actions committed by slave-owning US citizens in the past. From textbooks to televisions, the modern USA seemingly works tirelessly to teach its population that discrimination by race is wrong and that all races are equal. This has led to a great national complacence among whites, and a widespread belief that the US has mostly eradicated racial prejudices. But it is not so, and despite a population almost entirely composed of people who would not consider themselves racists, racism still pervades in the US. In many cases modern racism occurs at the hands of whites who almost absolutely are completely unaware of their discriminatory actions. In the films “Frozen River” and “The Visitor” racism was touched on repeatedly and played an evident part in the messages they were trying to portray.
Prior to beginning my readings on white racial identity, I did not pay much attention to my white race. If someone had asked me to describe my appearance I would have said short blond hair, blue eyes, average stature, etc. One of the last things I would have noted was the color of my skin. Growing up in overwhelmingly white communities, I never thought to use the color of my skin to differentiate myself from others. Over the course of this dialogue I have learned that my white racial identity is one of the most defining aspects of my appearance in this society. There is a certain level of privilege that I am afforded based solely on the color of my skin. According to Peggy McIntosh, “White privilege is like an invisible weightless
Racism is contagious to this society. It has been a growing concern in the United States for many decades now, however, no major improvements are made by any political officials in reducing it. Many individuals of color are treated unfairly just because they are of pigment. Not too long ago, many individuals in the African American communities sparked out in outrage when individuals such as Michael Brown and much more were racially profiled by were brutally attacked by the law enforcers. Racism does not only limits individuals of color their freedom and rights but has further impacts on health. However, when one mentions inequalities and racism, people may look at it in terms of a justice problem, but not much attention is given how racism
Why do people treat differently to someone if that person is from the different culture or has different skin color? Racism is the major issues today and it still exists in our schools, works, and society. Racism at the workplace is responsible for continuous mood changes, aggressive behavior, and have a bad feeling in the minds of the affected persons. This turn bad for the employer and the society. Everyone has right to do something so why do people become races. Today it was better than years ago but still, racism exists in the United States and other countries.
Will you able to function if you lived in another race’s shoes? Will you be able to function and deal with consequences of being the other race?When we were all fetuses in our mom’s tummy we as humans are not given the options to chose our race. Yet we are still being ridiculed from what we are born with. Racism is one of many elements that in the United States of America affects our society. However, there is a hidden problem that promotes racism. It is the fact that a lot of people try to make themselves believe that racism doesn 't exist. But unfortunately, it still does. Everyone knows about the problem of racism but don 't realize that they are supporting the problem by discriminating against other people 's rights but at the same