High School Privilege Analysis

We are always trying to figure out where we are in this world, or how we got where we are today. Obviously you have no choice of parents or where your born and these are two major contributing factors of who am I today. Being born white and a male society has immediately granted social advantages or white privileges. But, how privileged was I really? Being born in a highly populated city to first generations Americans without high school diplomas. I did have some advantages and I realized them growing up around my non-white friends. But compared to other white people I didn’t see my self privileged in many ways.

In the beginning of the year I entered this class with a very sheltered and ignorant view of current and past events. Through time and sociological evolution I have begun to see things in a different light. The development of my ability, to look at something or some kind of situation, lets me use the sociological terms in such a manner to relate them to micro and macro problems in society. This started with the assigned readings of the class; the aim was to decipher the messages the authors were presenting. The goal was then to dig deeper and use my experiences to help myself understand the concepts throughout the course. "The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited." Plutarch (46-120 CE--common era) I was no longer

We live in a country that feels the urge to label every individual, group, or race however; sometimes that label does not truly represent that individual. For instance, the U.S. Census Bureau, during the 1940s classified Hispanics/ Latinos as white. In this case being labeled, as White did not benefit Hispanics/Latinos because they did not enjoy the same privileges as a White person. However, it was not until 1970 during Nixon’s administration that the academia term Hispanic was created, but it was not included in the Census until 1980. Regardless of how long it took to be included within the Census, the Hispanic/ Latino race will always live under the oppression of the superior race due to the phenomenon

Both of these excerpts are expressing visibility. The “White Privilege” article expressed visibility by trying to show whites about unseen racial and gender issues. One thing of the many things that frustrated me was when it was written. I looked up the publication date, which was 1988. I found that her arguments were old and seemed redundant. I feel this way because she didn’t really didn’t show way she felt the way she did. She didn’t really change my feelings on this because she only wrote her essay in one perspective, which doesn’t seem accurate to me. She tries to make a big deal about racial inequality, but she doesn’t make a firm stand on her perspective. She focuses on many different issues, and not on one. The condition she states

I recently read a news article that almost seemed like satire to me. It was about how a Connecticut town’s diversity council held an essay contest and its prompt was to discuss how white privilege had impacted the lives of people in the town. As you could expect from a predominantly white, suburban town, the essay contest received backlash. The public was outraged and became defensive. One of the people in the town is quoted in saying, “‘There are no barricades here. Nobody says if you are black or whatever, you can’t move here’” (Theroot.com). The sheer oblivion and refusal to discuss the existence of racism in a primarily white town is the epitome of white privilege.

In this sense, I noticed how privileged I am because of my sexuality, socioeconomic status, and country of origin. I was raised in a European country where I had the same ethnicity as the majority. Coming from an upper-middle class family, I never suffered from poverty or the stigma associated with it. This means that I grew up in a nice house and in a nice neighborhood where my neighbors were also middle-class families. I could walk alone around my neighborhood without the concern that I could be assaulted or robbed. This means that I was part of a privileged group, but without being aware of it since, as a kid, my parents could afford healthy food, medical bills (such as dentists, dental brackets, or new glasses) but, also toys and clothes. Furthermore, I was able to participate in extracurricular activities or go to college without worrying about the financial cost. Moreover, I have not struggled with stereotypes or stigmas that come with lower socioeconomic statuses such as thinking that they are less educated. Thus, I was never questioned for being intelligent, honest, or hard-working. Overall, I never faced discrimination or racism and that makes me unaware of how it truly feels like. For that reason, I need to acknowledge my identity

“It is only White privilege…. that allows us often times to view criminals of the dominant group as mere individuals while too often viewing Black and brown folk through the lens of a group pathology whenever one of theirs violate our legal and moral norms” (Tim Wise, 2009) This opening statement, given by Tim Wise at a White Privilege conference in 2009, was one of the first to catch my attention because it is nothing less than fact. There have been many instances of violence in this country, perpetrated by Whites, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, the list can go on and on. However, the difference between when Whites commit crimes versus when minorities commit crimes, is White Privilege. Peggy McIntosh (1988) described White privilege as a set of undeserved benefits that a White person in America can use every day, yet they remain unaware of the privilege they have. According to Christine Emba (2009) of Washington Post, White privilege is the level of “societal advantage that comes with being seen as the norm in America, automatically conferred irrespective of wealth, gender or other factors.” It is

Growing up, I felt that being white was the opposite of a privilege for me. I grew up in a lower income area and was one of only a few white kids at my school. I was picked on and made fun of countless time for being the “white kid” in the

Another topic that was extremely important to me was the achievement gap between blacks and whites. Being an educated African American woman it’s astonishing to see how far America has come. From not even allowing African Americans to become educated to now having specific scholarships to help African Americans become educated. It’s amazing to see how each case such as learning about the different cases such as: Plessey vs. Ferguson, brown vs. board of education, and many other cases that have set precedents in order for me to be attending and succeeding at division one University.

Jewish, white, upper middle class, I have always been lucky. My surroundings remind me of this daily. Pikesville High School is a melting pot of differences, with kids from high class families with parents who attended schools like Harvard, Yale, MIT and then kids on the total other spectrum. We have students in their sophomore year of school, reading at a fifth grade level. Many of the attendees of my school have blinded themselves to these

So far in the course, the material that has sparked my interest the most were the concepts of privilege and oppression. Actually, I would not even say that it sparked my interest; I would say that I could compare my life with these two terms. I grew up on the East side of Detroit, in a neighborhood that looked down on people who did not attend schools in which they have. For example, I went to a predominantly all black private school not too far from my house. But my friends in my neighborhood honestly did not care whether it was a black or white school. They would make fun of me because I attended a private school. I believed that their interpretation of a private school was that the school was preparing us to into formal black Americans.

I have learned that I was born into a life full of privilege, although many times in my life I have felt as if that was not the case. Mary E. Swigonski notes several aspects of privilege in her article "Challenging Privilege Through Africentric Social Work Practice", all of which I can identify with. Some examples are: "I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race, I will feel welcome and normal in the usual walks of public life, and I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systematic racism for their daily protection" (Swingonski,1996). These kinds of privilege had never really occurred to me until I began studying social work and especially while working on this assignment, which definitely shows just how much privilege I am accustomed to

I experience a fair amount of privilege. Being a person coming from a great deal of privilege shapes the person I am but it does not take away the fact that I am not blind to those who do not have such privilege as

1. To be quite honest, I am shocked by the article's hyperbolization of the concept of "white male privilege". Make no mistake about it, in general, certain groups absolutely do have it easier than others. However, we've all been dealt a hand, so to speak, and as a result everyone has a discrete set of privileges AND disadvantages.

A few years ago, being able to own an iPhone, wearing certain clothes was only something that the privileged could do. These are no longer looked upon as society as items that are afforded to the privileged. While there are three iPhones in my home, when comparing myself to those in the African American community I consider myself to be privileged. I am an immigrant that migrated to this country 17 years ago. I have been afforded opportunities that many African American have only ever dreamed of. I have worked as a manager for a fortune 100 company. I feel secured in knowing that I do not have to worry about where my next meal is coming from and that the roof over my head is paid for. This alone however does not make me privileged with the norms that are imposed by society.