...white privilege, for centuries has been ignored as a potential area of study because it has been widely accepted as the societal norm. Many whites have benefited socially, economically and politically without understanding that most of the privileges they have historically received are solely due to their race and/or gender. The purpose of this review is to analyze the social construction of whiteness from a theoretical perspective, whites understanding themselves and their social status, in addition to the evolution of whiteness. Many studies have been undertaken on the social construction of whiteness. These studies shed a lot of light on the different perceptions on whiteness, gaps in research, areas of highest research interest, strengths and weaknesses of the various methodologies, and direction for future studies. In the study done by Hartmann, Gerteis, and Croll, the focus was on the theoretical aspects of whiteness studies. The findings led the researchers to estimate that in the United States, 15% of the population exhibit what may be called ‘categorical whiteness’ (404). The study by Hartmann, et.al, was carried out using data obtained during a recent national survey, which helped provide an empirical assessment of the theoretical underpinnings of whiteness studies (Hartmann, et.al 404). Three propositions regarding the awareness and conception of whites about their own racial status were analyzed. The propositions included: the understanding of racial privileges, the...
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...“White Privilege: American Reality“ America is the land of the free and the land of opportunity. All men are created equal and can achieve the “American Dream”. These are the kinds of phrases one hears throughout life. Unfortunately, these words are misleading because not everyone has the same opportunity. Court documents from the Dred Scott decision state: “… people of African-American descent are a subordinate and inferior class that, whether slave or free, remains subject to the authority of the dominant and superior white race.” (Day & Schiele, 2013) The concept that we live in a land where all people are equal and success is achieved through hard work alone is nothing more than a myth. White Privilege provides a distinct advantage to white Americans over all non-whites simply by virtue of birth. White Privilege is like gravity, everyone feels the effects but you don’t see it. According to Eduardo Bonilla-Silva most whites believe that racism is less relevant in today’s society. Focus is placed on cultural differences as the reason why some people achieve more success than others. A closer look reveals that this idea still supports the status quo of White Privilege (Bonilla-Silva, 2001). White Privilege is so ingrained in American society that it is virtually invisible (O'Malley Halley, Eshleman, & Vjaya, 2011). The dominant American social values (Day & Schiele, 2013) while separate are still to some extent an extension of White Privilege. White privilege is...
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...In the article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Back Pack, Peggy McIntosh explains how white people have an unearned advantage in society solely due to the colour of their skin. The first important aspect of the article is that McIntosh argues that white people gain this privilege from the prejudice we attribute to people of colour. These ideas people have, put people of colour at a disadvantage in comparison to white people. The preconceived ideas people have about others affects their opinions causing them to undervalue people belonging to particular racial groups. Examples of these ideas are: that a certain race is uneducated, that a certain race is incapable performing certain tasks, or that one race is superior to another, also known as ethnocentrism. Since being white is an asset, it opens many doors for white people to rise to the top (McIntosh 8), while the undervalued people of colour are being held back. The fact that this happens and while people remain oblivious to white privilege, allows the current “taxonomy of privilege,” (McIntosh 9) to remain. Another important aspect of the article is that McIntosh acknowledges that all white people are not racist, but they “are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege,” (McIntosh 3). If they do not see white privilege as being real, they will be less inclined to agree that other races are not treated as fairly and they will also not attempt to do anything to help the under privileged groups. In society today...
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...backdrop of the belief system of "race," and battling prejudice today, includes understanding "whiteness" as the establishment of racial categories and why being white is superior. Whiteness is invisible on the grounds that whites are expected "not to have race". Being white would be regular and discussing "race" would mean discussing every one of the general population who are not white. The invisibility of whiteness is seen as a racial position of dominance. Western representation expresses that whites are overwhelmly and excessively transcendent, have the centra expounded parts, and above all are seen as the standard. Since they are the standard, they appear not to be spoken to themselves...
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...Puente 02/09/15 White Privilege Assignment My ethnicity is Central American. I am Costa Rican on my maternal side and Honduran on my paternal side. I am a first generation American on my maternal side because my mother was born in Costa Rica and moved to Los Angeles, California when she was ten years old. I am also a first generation on my paternal side as well because my father was born in Honduras and moved to this country later on in life. After reading the article by Michael Omi and Howard Winant, I learned how race was determined in the New World and how with time, the meaning of race changed by many factors such as science, social factors, and “common sense” qualities that people have when meeting people of a different race other than their own. In the New World, Europeans did not know what to call people that looked different than them and decided to outcast these people as “natives”, whom they believed may have not been human beings at all. This idea eventually led to slavery of non-whites. I agree with the authors about the idea of “racial etiquette” because race has become a part of who we are and what we go through every day. I know that being Hispanic has many stereotypes such as knowing how to cook well, speaking fluent Spanish, and most likely having Mexican ethnicity. In reality, none of these things define me but I already expect people to believe these ideas and perceptions about me. I also agree that these stereotypes and myths about race can change but the...
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...The relationship between racism and white privilege is obvious in their individual definitions alone. Racism is the belief that all members of a certain race possess characteristics specific to that race, and as such, distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. (4) The white privilege system maintains this racial dominance through a series of beliefs, behaviours, policies and use of language. (12) It is a particular set of advantages, often invisible to those who benefit from it the most, and these advantages that white people hold are a direct result of the disadvantages of other people. “We have a racist society without acknowledging any actual racists” (Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, 2010). Initially, the word ‘race’ sparks...
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...White American Privileges and Social Class Aieleen Lanot University of Hawaii – West Oahu White American Privileges and Social Class Privilege is a concept of sociology used to implicate that there are certain groups of individuals that have an advantage over others. “Social liberties use the term to mean benefits according to white people under economic, political, and social circumstance. (Anyon 17)” I agree with his stance because there is no extension of such privileges to individuals of other races such as Blacks, Hispanics or Asians. The use of this term is mainly in the social inequality context primarily in relation to social class, sexual orientation, race, age, and gender. Several recorded privileged elements show the advantageous that White America has in getting access to better housing, jobs, and education. This paper will explore the issue of White American privileges and how social class status is based on color of your skin and the financial means of your family. In the article by Peggy McIntosh, she defines, “White privileges as a package of unearth assets, invisible in nature and are obvious” (McIntosh 10). There is a comparison of white privilege to an undetectable light knapsack of assurance, maps, tools, guidance, visa, codebooks, clothes, passbooks, emergency gear, blank checks, etc. I concur with Peggy McIntosh analysis since there are several functions brought about by white privileges. These functions include provisions of “perks”...
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...one. In the case of banning burkas for the sake of safety, a situation some would call racial profiling, a safety precaution is misconstrued as a racial and Islamophobic act. While this issue resides in France and is not necessarily a racist issue, rather a presumed one, the United States does in fact face more race centric...
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...Privilege is the Greatest Enemy of Equality Educators most often consider multicultural education as teaching their pupils about Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, and other descendants of color. However, multicultural education is not complete if it doesn’t challenge the root of structural racism and racial oppression: the matter of white privilege. It’s vital to understand white privilege and the role it plays in affecting society. In essence, white privilege is an unwilling and non-owned racism that has been ingrained into our mindset throughout history, and it affects how we interact with each other and how those who don’t share such advantages are affected. It’s a permeating factor responsible for many inequalities faced among races, widening the social gap between white and nonwhite Americans. Accessibility to education, jobs, and housing are all directly affected by societal inconsistencies of privilege and power. Ultimately, racism isn’t caused by white privilege; white privilege is caused by racism. Yet racism isn't a problem that resides in the minds of individuals; it lies rooted deep in our social institutions. It is necessary we reconstruct the societal ideologies of race and class to expel this self-perpetuating cycle. In this essay I will address these racial struggles for power and privilege, the role it plays in education, and my personal experience towards racism and how it has affected me as a person. Privilege, as defined by Websters Dictionary...
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...White Privilege Karie R. Shepherd Ivy Tech Community College Abstract The study of sociology allows us to understand the relationship between people and other cultures along with racial and ethnic inequality. As we define culture by a set of norms and values, we can also study how these cultures can often change over time and attitudes towards racial and ethnic groups. Several concepts, such as prejudice, racial profiling, and white privilege can often change the way we think or view other cultures. These topics become more relevant as you read Tim Wise’s article “White Swim in Racial Preference” and force us to think about how these ideas are put into practice. How this short piece makes us initially feel or perhaps react to other cultures can say a lot about who we are as a person and our level of understanding and tolerance towards groups other than our own. As we study sociology we seek to explain social behavior and human groups and how social relationships influence peoples behavior. We also seek to understand how those relationships and behaviors can change and develop over time. To study sociology we need to look at theoretical ideas such prejudice, racial profiling and white privilege to gain more understanding of how society functions as a whole. Tim Wise’s article “Whites Swim in Racial Preference” speaks to the ideas that white privilege very much exists in the country and how the University of Michigan’s affirmative action sanctions essentially did nothing...
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...In the United States, race and racism exist as social systems that causes for those who are white to benefit, and those who appear to be of a race other than white to not benefit. The implementation of racism by Europeans, allowed for them to over time, be put in a position of dominance and benefit from the creation of whiteness that came as a result. The creation of whiteness brought with it certain privileges which can be defined as, “an institutional benefit, enjoyed by those who are empowered through structures of domination.”. These societal benefits that whites receive and people of color do not is called white privilege. White privilege in itself is a system of domination in the U.S that allows whites to have more of an advantage at...
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...Privilege is like having some built-in advantages just because of who you are, like your race, gender, or how much money you've got. It's not about anything you've earned, but more about the way society's set up to give some folks a leg up while holding others back. In everyday life and especially in healthcare, privilege can really mess with how we treat people. Peggy McIntosh's idea of white privilege in her article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" shows how privilege works, often without people even realizing it, shaping how we see and deal with others. Say you're a doctor or nurse who's got it pretty good because of your race or money. You might not even know it, but that could affect how you treat patients. You might...
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...White men are commonly the most targeted group in terms of being privileged and are often times offended, but maybe the reason is not because it is false. The idea of white privilege is something whites seldom realize and colored people will never experience. It is the preference of one race over the other that exists in the many dimensions of society and it still exists today. People of color are at more risk of injustices due to this concept. The need to constantly be aware of one’s surroundings at all times can be found in some racial groups more than others. Peggy McIntosh wrote an essay called “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” in 1989 where she boldly brought to the attention of Americans this societal phenomenon. She refers to herself and indirectly mentions hardships faced by colored people in...
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...Whiteness is socially constructed in American society by several different factors. The idea of race itself is socially constructed as it has nothing to do with genetic makeup or ethnic background. Race is simply constructed by what people observe by the color of a person’s skin. In society whiteness is viewed as one side of a spectrum with black being on the other and all other races falling somewhere in the middle. This view sees whiteness as the opposite of people perceive as being a quality of people that are African American. People define what these qualities are by what they see in the media and interactions they have with the world. In the media African American males are consistently being presented in a negative light by what the...
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...Ben Vinson III. Benefits of free-colored Militia in Colonial Mexico Bearing Arms for His Majesty: The Free-Colored Militia in Colonial Mexico. Ben Vinson expresses how New Mexico was known to be white man’s’ land also known as Spanish Land. In the contrary, different races erupted in New Mexico as a result of her occupants. He highlights examples of the races that came to existence in the Spanish land. These races include Pardos, Mulatos and Morenos as well as the whites. In his analysis, Ben comes up with a conclusion that the different races led to discrimination. Ben outlines how the Spanish were forced by circumstances to accept race differences irrespective of their attitude towards the black. Many people elaborate how racial Mexico evolved and the potential effects of the despised race. Ben Vinson III wanted to understand racial differences in the people. He suggested a single mainframe to carry out his study. The suggestion was a...
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