There are many racists in America. Racism is a battle constantly being fought. While racism can be very obvious, it could be very subtle, so subtle to the point that one could be racist without knowing. Racism is often overlooked as it is masked by ignorant attitudes. This prejudice is an issue from the bottom to the top. From crude remarks on bumper stickers to laws that are designed to indirectly attack minorities, racism is everywhere. Dave Chappelle, a notorious comedian, recognizes these societal issues and uses his platform to attack these inexcusable, inexplicable, and unacceptable racists. While Dave Chappelle is a very funny man, there is truth behind all good jokes.
Dave Chappelle was the king of comedy. He had his own show on Comedy Central, did many stand ups and guest starred in many SNL skits. His works were filled heavily with racial satire with the intent to attack and expose racism throughout America in a non-threatening way. Dave Chappelle’s masterful delivery and extreme horatian satirical techniques allow for top-shelf entertainment with an underlying, thought provoking message.
A common target of Dave Chappelle is white privilege. White privilege is an societal advantage that a white person has despite being in the the same social, political, or economic circumstances as a non-white person. A good example of white privilege, is the relations between minorities and the police. According to The New Progressive, despite white people making up 44% of the
The term “white privilege” can sometimes cause defensiveness, or even an abrupt end to the conversation. This is because the term is often misinterpreted as an accusation against white people. In his essay, “What My Bike Has Taught Me About White Privilege”, Jeremy Dowsett helps his audience to understand the actual meaning of white privilege. He does this effectively by utilizing ethos, pathos, and an analogy. Dowsett is white, a fact that he makes sure to state near the beginning of the article.
Critical Review of White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
In Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege and Male Privilege, she as a white woman herself was one of the first people to acknowledge that white privilege is a phenomenon that is commonly overlooked in the white race and made a point to think of many instances where white privilege was prominent. Peggy McIntosh defines white privilege as, “an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks”. To interpret this, she is saying that white privilege is an unacknowledged idea with so many different parts and pieces to it, it is hard to classify it as just one thing. When she goes on in the article listing situations where because of white privilege she would not have to be concerned about the outcome; example 41 stated, “I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me” (McIntosh). This example can be related to Brock Turners case given the situation of him having legal trouble and having more things go for him during his trial rather than having people working against him. It seems that the white race lives focusing on normalcy and convenience, that when they are in a situation to help others they aim to make them more like themselves (McIntosh). It only makes me wonder, how do they act when a more serious situation such as rape is introduced, how it affects them. It seems that in tough situations, white privilege itself works to show dominance and power over certain groups.
This week’s readings, podcast, and videos were very interesting to learn about white privilege. The term white privilege means the systematic advantages of being white (Tatum Racism: Can We Talk?). The topic white privilege is an exceptionally difficult to discuss for the reason that many white people don’t feel influential or identify they have privileges compared to other individuals in society may not feel differently about white privilege. For example in the article White Privilege Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack Peggy McIntosh, a white feminist scholar identified of society privileges that she received simply because she is White (Tatum Racism: Can We Talk? p 8). Therefore when each individual learns about his or her own privileges there
Popular television shows aids to heavily influence American audiences, perpetuating, and problematic ideas about homosexuality. Not all mainstream media adheres to traditional social ideas. South Park uses satire to deconstruct heteronormative views on homosexuality. Therefore, homosexuality is accepted more widespread through use of mainstream media.
Dave Chappelle is returning to the stage this fall for a 17-date tour run. The tour will travel to small clubs in the US, and it will begin on September 14th in Salt Lake City (UT). Chappelle has been touring for a few years now, and he usually chooses to do his stand-up at small venues. The infamous comedian has decided to lead a quieter, less hectic life as a comedian. It appears he was never comfortable living as one of the most respected comedians in the business. Some have even referred to Chappelle as the greatest comedian in the world. His stand-up routine includes racial, social, and political issues, and he has a brilliant way of implementing comedy to these controversial topics. Last
White privilege is the societal privileges that specifically benefit white people. White privilege is why white people can get pulled over by the police and escape a ticket with just a smile and apology. White privilege is also why whites are in charge of a company and they see a black person, they bypass the application. Whites carry a certain privilege not available to people of color. Marilyn Frye describes how whiteness is a form social and political power.
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 embraces the behaviours, values, beliefs and practices of the dominant white culture (Puzan, 2003). There are often unnoticed advantages
White privilege is a unique form of racism given its fascinating characteristic of not involving hostility. Therefore, it cannot be directly blamed on someone (Pludo, 2015). The lack of blame does not cause any discomfort on the white persons enjoying the privileges.
Firstly, white privilege entails wide media representation, where people of colour are consistently underrepresented. Many people don’t see this as an issue at all, but it is necessary
White privilege is the ability for whites to maintain an elevated status in society that masks racial inequality. It is also considered a system of advantage based on race, as well as societal privileges that benefit white people. It is usually known as the “other”, or the opposite side of discrimination. Some people in society, typically people of color, feel as though people with white skin have benefits over people of color, just because they’re white. White privilege is sometimes seen as a higher social status, having the freedom to move, buy, work, play, and speak freely as one wishes. The effects of white privilege are predominantly evident in professional and educational settings. Some critics argue that the concept of white
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
Racism has occurred for many years and in many different societies. Some people choose to remain oblivious to it all while others choose to take a stand either for it or against it. Racism is a big
The power of white privilege is something that quite frankly isn’t talked about enough but as a society many people believe that racism doesn’t exist. However, there is this unspoken advantage that whites are given called privilege, which is something that gives them a step ahead in society. Tim Wise talks about it in the video using specific examples to back up his point that white privilege is so prevalent and how others don’t even recognize that it is a serious issue. A study that was done in 2006, showed that out of 100 white people that were asked only 6% of those people thought that racial discrimination still existed in society. He also went on to mention that 2/3 of the white people who were alive during the civil right movement