...White privilege is a topic that I never really heard about or grasped the concept of until I became older, maybe around late middle school or early high school years. Coming from a very small, railroad town in western Virginia, white privilege was not apparent or noticeable to me. It was not a topic that was commonly discussed unless you were taking a history class or another class that addressed racism in our country. Even in those classes, racism in our country was talked about, but rarely was the topic of white privilege and what it stands for brought up in discussion. My initial thoughts about white privilege are that I think it is unfair and morally wrong to have such a difference in treatment and opportunities between races. However, I’m not surprised that it exists in our world today and it doesn’t shock me to hear and see that white privilege is still embedded in the crevices of everything we do. We live in a world where racism is still...
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...Many white people do not think white privilege exists, but those opinions prove exactly why white privilege does indeed exist. This is because privilege is a lot more noticeable when you do not have it, rather than when you do. White privilege is a prevalent factor in society, which is abundantly clear to those in a non-white ethnic group but invisible to white people. White privilege is everywhere. From waking up in the morning to going to bed, the average person probably comes across ten or more privileges that benefit white people. This leaves all other races being discriminated against/ being set at a disadvantage daily. The article "White Privilege" defined white privilege as "the unearned privileges that white individuals experience daily (often unconsciously) because they are not subjected to...
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...White is Invisible To comprehend the historical 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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...White privilege is an advantage in society that is unmerited. Though it is practiced in every day life (whether it’s subtle or not), the majority views it as “absurd” and “non-existent”. Whiteness and white privilege are taboos that create feelings of guilt, hostility and anger whenever discussed by people of colour (hooks, 339), but it must be addressed and understood in order to be eradicated. Racism shapes the lives of white people, not only the lives of people of colour (Frankenberg, 1). When white privilege is ignored, white people are able to maintain power and dominance in our “post-racial” society. (Mcintosh, 33). In this essay, I will argue that widespread media representation and housing opportunities are the most important features of white privilege, using ideas from Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, bell hooks’ Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination and Ruth Frankenberg’s Introduction: Points of Origin, Points of Departure. Widespread representation is the most important feature of white privilege because we live in an age where the media not only reflects our real worldviews and attitudes, but also controls them. The second most important feature of white privilege is adequate housing opportunities. It is necessary for white people to acknowledge their part in benefiting from a society that has thrived on racial hierarchy and white supremacy for centuries and these two aspects are key in reaching that. Firstly, white...
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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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...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, most...
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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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...Running Head: BLACK AND WHITE PRIVILEGE IN AMERICA 1 Black and White Privilege in America Jacki Barnes Davenport University Diversity in Society – SOSC201 Professor Narketta Sparkman October 21, 2012 Black and White Privilege in America There are many definitions of “white Privilege” in text books, media, and on the internet, but all of those definitions include one common thread: It allows white persons advantages over non-whites and it is a form of social privilege. According to Akbar (Koppelman, 2011, p. 44), white privilege originated with the arrival of the white man in America. He states that, “They began to effectively eliminate any contradiction to the imposed redefinition of reality that they dictated.” White privilege has been referred to as rightness of white, meaning that white is normal and any deviation from that is abnormal (Koppelman & Goodhart, 2011, p. 189). It offers economic benefits as well as cultural benefits. Being white means you will most likely be paid a higher salary, receive promotions, and have loans approved. In classrooms, anything that happened prior to white people arriving in America is referred to as prehistory (2011, p. 191). Because of white privilege, there are many things that white people take for granted that people of color have no access to. For example, whites can choose to purchase a home in an area they can afford and want to live in. Researchers at Dartmouth, the University of Georgia...
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...Nathan Salupo Professor Vann WMST 231-001 Privilege For my mini paper topic I focused on privilege. Before enrolling in this class I had no idea of what privileges were, who had which privileges, how we get our privileges, and the role that privileges play in our everyday lives. The topic of privileges shows up in Shaw and Lee chapter two which is the main focus. Privilege as defined by Shaw and Lee is defined as “Advantages that people have by virtue of their status or position in society.” For example males have advantages that are inherent just because they are males that females do not have. In the case of my topic I focused mainly on the privilege that white people have over black people. In early August in Ferguson, Missouri, 18 year old Michael Brown, an unarmed African American male was shot multiple times and killed after a confrontation with a cop. The officer, Darren Wilson, drove by the boys walking in the road and told them to move onto the sidewalk. Wilson then reversed his car back to the two boys where there was an apparent confrontation as Wilson recognized Brown as a suspect for a convenience store robbery days prior and the boys split off running in separate directions. It later became known that the robbery was not the reasons for the encounter that led to Brown’s death. (Washington Post) When Brown was killed there was a public outcry for him because he had been unarmed and was shot by a white police officer, Darren Wilson after what witnesses...
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...The similarities between Citizen, An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine and What is White Privilege? by Christine Emba both showcase the concepts of microaggressions and white privilege. Many examples of microaggressions and white privilege are common between the two texts, but the examples in the texts are manifested in different ways. For example, in Citizen, An American Lyric Rankine writes many personal accounts of microaggressions targeted at and experienced by black people. While in What is White Privilege? by Christine Emba the author discusses examples of white privilege while providing evidence and statistics to back it up. Also, in What is White the Privilege, Emba explains that the concept of white privilege has been and will continue to be misinterpreted by people and that it exists in American society even though some Americans don’t believe it exists or is a problem....
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...Whites Swim in Racial Preference Nathan Wood Sociology 111-001-F1 Ivy Tech Community College Muncie, Indiana The article “Whites swim in racial preference” is a phraseology comparison of fish and water in regards to the privilege of being white or Caucasian. The article by Tim Wise points to the ignorance of the most powerful man in the world in regards to the racial divide in this country even at the highest level of education. Wise also mentions a government loan program in the form of FHA loans to as many as 15 million white Americans for over thirty years. Today FHA loans are now mainly used by low income families of African American and Hispanic homebuyers. (Dedman, 1998) Privileged whites now label FHA as a form of welfare, which is amusing since so many whites benefitted from the program from the 1930’s to 1960’s. Another reference in the article referred to hard working whites, differentiating themselves from minority groups that dot the labor landscape working as maids, garbage collectors etc…as if they care not hard working due them these workers being from a specific ethnic group. While some articles I have researched seem to think The FHA loan program, was a form of social control. However, I see this more as Social Stratification as A segment of society (15 million whites) shared a distinctive pattern of rules (FHA Loans) that differed from the pattern of the larger society. Obviously other social tags could...
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...discrimination, disadvantages, worthless, and the list could go on with even more words that relate to racism. Jobs, acceptance, equality, benefits, this list is harder to label is it not? White Privilege is just as real as racism, but not as apparent. According the University of Dayton’s online dictionary, White Privilege is defined as, “a right, advantage, or immunity granted to or enjoyed by white persons beyond the common advantage of all others; an exemption in many particular cases from certain burdens or liabilities,” (“white privilege”). White Privilege is a subject rarely covered by educators due to the difficulty students’ have understanding it; therefore, resulting in a lack of awareness. White Privilege, unlike racism,...
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...White Privilege in America is real Imagine going to the gas station, and you seen a white man, that is underage, buying a pack of cigarettes. The cashier never asked for his ID or his license. And then you think to yourself, “maybe it is because he looks old enough,” but yet you know he’s not legal age. Then, you see an African american man going to buy the exact same thing, but he’s legal age. And then the cashier says, “May I see your ID please?” So then, you're just wondering,“is this white privilege?” White privilege can be little things in our society, that can be changed. White privilege in America is real. White people are less likely to be arrested by police. If you are a person of color you are most likely going to be accused of committing a crime than a person of white color is. According to Human Rights Watch, “people of color are no more likely to use or sell illegal drugs than whites, but they have much higher rates of arrests. While only 14% of black people use drugs regularly, 37% of those arrested for drugs...
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...SWK207 “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...
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...Diane Baquedano Comm 315 Professor 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...
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