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Running Head: WHITE PRIVILEGE 1 Destiny Wheeler May 9, 2016 SOCY 3020 White Privilege White privilege is a set of bonuses that white people benefit from on a daily basis that is beyond those common to all others. White privilege does exist even without white people's conscious knowledge of its appearance and it helps to preserve the racial hierarchy in this country (Avakian, 2003). Whites have always had it easier. White immigrants who arrived aboard the Queen Mary were always escorted through immigration first and were automatically assigned upper-class positions within the American system (Dunn, 2015). White privilege has many functions. First, it creates real advantages for white people. White people are resistant to a lot of challenges of daily life. Secondly, it provides white people with benefits that are not earned, just handed to them. Finally, white privilege forms the world in which we live by the way that we operate and communicate with each other. Although white privilege is not something that white people necessarily do, create, or enjoy on purpose, it is still relevant every day. White privilege creates a lot of advantages for white people. There are many of things that a white person does not encounter, have to deal with, or even recognize. A contemporary example of this is that being white does not work against them regarding how people perceive their financial responsibility, their style

Running Head: WHITE PRIVILEGE 2 of clothing, their public speaking skills, or their job performance (Holladay, 2000). White people receive all types of perks as a function of their skin privilege. From 1924 to 1965, this was the time when racial and ethnic hierarchies generated in earlier eras took their firmest hold (Spickard, 2007). Store security or police officers do not harass white people, pull them over, or follow them because of their race. Another example of this is when white people buy hair care products in a grocery store like Walmart, their shampoos and conditioners are in the aisle that is labeled ‘hair care’ and not in a separate section for ‘ethnic products', where you would find very few African American hair care products. Also, white people can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see other white people being widely represented (McIntosh, 1998). White privilege shapes the way in which we view the world and the way in which the world sees us. A state of not knowing is a factor that causes white privilege to carry on. Color-blindness is an example of this. Color- blindness is a denial to see race or acknowledge white privilege. It is a self- imposed blindness that white people are taught, that instructs them to ignore race. When someone looks at the national currency or sees photographs of monuments on the National Mall, they would see people of the white race being widely represented and celebrated. White people have the privilege of playing the colorblind card that wipes their slate clean of the centuries of racism. The race is a fundamental

Running Head: WHITE PRIVILEGE 3 part of African American’s identities, and it deserves to be acknowledged and appreciated. White people have been using the invention of race, through legislation and policies, to benefit white people systematically. Because of white privilege, they will never have to worry about becoming the victim of police brutality. A report from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in 2011 concluded that police stop white drivers and pedestrians far less than they prevent people of color (Clifton, 2015). White privilege and racism generate and preserve disproportionality at all levels in today’s society. This happens due to inadequately funding schools that are attended primarily by African Americans and poor children, taking on culturally inappropriate and unresponsive programs of study, and inadequately preparing educators to effectively teach African American learners and other students of color (Blanchett, 2006).

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