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 be referred to as well, especially white privilege, as this program was not hidden from the public it was just the requirements set at the time mostly met by white Americans. This program certainly meet the description of white privilege by Jennifer R. Holladay in her book White Anti-Racist Activism: A Personal Roadmap, which states; “White skin privilege is not something that white people necessarily do, create or enjoy on purpose. Unlike the more overt individual and institutional manifestations of racism described above, white skin privilege is a transparent preference for whiteness that saturates our society. White skin privilege serves several functions. First, it provides white people with “perks” that we do not earn and that people of color do not enjoy. Second, it creates real advantages for us”. (On Racism and White Privilege, n.d.) Labeling theory can be used describe when discussing the hard working analogy used in the article White Swim in Racial Preference. I personally sit in a cubicle most of the day, travel 25% of the time in my position as a quality engineer and consider myself to be a hard working. However the Latino working in the tomato field or the African American working on a trash truck are also hard working and definitely more-hard working than I when it comes to the physicality of the work being performed, unfortunately society has labeled hard working with the amount of money you make or by the material things you have. This label is so predominate in our society there is a book written by Michelle T. Johnson titled “Working While Black: The Black Person’s Guide to Success in the White Workplace”. This book only shows how blacks understand the theory and the need for a guide to succeed in the white world to break the non- hard working African American stereotype. In regards to the University of Michigan portion of the article I believed it met many if not all of the social terms Social Control Mechanisms, Labeling Theory, Social Stratification, Racial Profiling, Prejudice and White Privilege. However after doing a little research I have to wonder if the information provided in the article is one sided or in reference to a few instances. However was admission policies changed to side in favor of white applicant due to the case of Graz v. Bollinger? The case stated that Jennifer Gratz was not admitted to the University of Michigan because she was white. In 1995 Ms. Gratz applied to University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. In 1997 Patrick Hammacher applied to the same school. Their applications were rejected because they are white. Minority students with lower test scores were admitted ahead of Gratz and Hammacher to meet the University's racial enrollment goals. (Gratz v. Bollinger, 1997) The school also rejected Barbara Grutter's application because she was white. "Caucasian American" candidates with Ms. Grutter's credentials (LSAT score of 161 and grade point average of 3.81) had an admission rate of only 8.6%. But black Law School applicants with exactly the same credentials had an admission rate of 100 %. (Grutter v. Bollinger, 1997). Although the article touches on many social lables in regards to the University of Michigan admissions policies and/or regulations, it does not touch on the possibility that the policy was changed due to these court decisions from the late 90’s and early 2000’s which ruled against the University of Michigan due to reverse discrimination. Therefore is the ariticle correct in portraying the admission requirements as a white privilege? Without supporting evidence of research beginning with these two cases and ending with the speeches by President Bush and President Obama I believe it is unfair to place any label on the admission policies of the University of Michigan. The article does inform the reader that we are all equal or should be treated as such. Eqaulity is necessary whether we are talking about qualifications for loans through the Federal Housing Authority, working in a cubicle, the president of a firm on Wall Street, picking cotton or tomaotes in a field, cleaning bathrooms, or applying for school at a major university. The words loan, hard working or words on a application do not see color therefore our rules, laws and regulations should not either.

REFERENCES
Dedman, B. (1998, May 13). Racial Bias Seen in U.S. Housing Loan Program. Retrieved from http://people.duke.edu/~ldbaker/clippings/fha.html
Gratz v. Bollinger, No. 97-75231 (United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division October 14, 1997).
Grutter v. Bollinger, No. 97-75928 (United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Souther Division December 3, 1997).
On Racism and White Privilege. (n.d.). Retrieved from Teaching Tolerance: http://www.tolerance.org/article/racism-and-white-privilege

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