Persuasive Essay On White Privilege

When my family members would try to apply for office jobs, white applicants were chosen over them. They were only able to get factory jobs. As the years went on and society started to be more accepting of diversity, I felt that I was no longer part of the subordinate group, but during the 2016 presidential campaign I found out I was wrong. Winders even said, “I expected immigration to be a secondary issue, a topic that might get periodic mention but would not receive sustained attention” (Winders, 2016).

When I think about white privilege, I see it as something I must understand to truly feel a relation to my own privileges with race. “As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.” (McIntosh 1988) When comparing other privileges McIntosh sees that her life is more influenced by her skin color than class, religion, ethnic status, or geographical location. Tim Wise explains “even though there is more than one type of privilege, they can never fully eradicate white privilege.” “Understanding the persistence of privilege requires recognizing the sleight of mind that occurs on the subject of individuals as members of groups” (Wildman 2005). Early work done by African American sociologist W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) showed that studies with white workers over time came to see themselves as white unlike the developing working class with recently freed black slaves. DuBois was one of the first people to initiate the concept of white privilege.

Privilege is defined as “a special advantage or authority possessed by a particular person or group” in the Cambridge Dictionary. Globally, white individuals are often granted privileges than minority groups do not receive. While white privilege often goes unnoticed by white individuals, it causes many disadvantages for people of color and effects how they see themselves. Furthermore, Affirmative Action attempts to equal the playing field for minorities but is faced with contention by many white people.

Peddy McIntosh highlighted various unearned white privileges in her autobiographical article “White Privilege, Color and Crime: A Personal Account.” She illustrated the white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that one white person could count on cashing in each day. White people have these privileges given to them by the society in which they live in. The same society taught them to be ignorant and unawareness of these privileges. This system of unearned privileges established by white individuals made people of color feel oppressed. In this system being white is a norm and dominant power. Caucasians, who benefit most from the white privilege system in the United States, are more likely to

Firstly, white privilege entails wide media representation, where people of colour are consistently underrepresented. Many people don’t see this as an issue at all, but it is necessary

Today, the U.S. is considered a “post-racial” society, and many believe that in this day and age, equality is much more prevalent among races. However, the word “many” is mostly referring to the white population in the U.S.. Majority of white people often refuse to believe that they have more privileges, or benefits, compared to people of color. Throughout history, and even in todays society, white privilege has been an issue that many people of color have discussed. For example, research shows that white people are much less likely to be arrested and jailed compared to black people, even though blacks only make up 30% of the population, they make up 60% of the prison population. White privilege and the advantages received through colorism is very much evident even now in current times.

White privilege is a unique form of racism given its fascinating characteristic of not involving hostility. Therefore, it cannot be directly blamed on someone (Pludo, 2015). The lack of blame does not cause any discomfort on the white persons enjoying the privileges.

At its core, white privilege is described to be an “invisible package of unearned assets” (McIntosh, 2002, p. 33) for white people. There are many layers explaining the manifestation of white privilege and even more explanations pertaining to its dominant presence in today’s world.

“White privilege refers to the fact that in many societies, “white” people have access to greater power, authority, and privileges, than non-white people” (Robbins et al. 2013:81). It goes beyond letting white people get away with more than other races; it also discriminates against them. This is well illustrated by the history of white privilege in America and how it changed over time (Nkomo & Ariss 2013) and how white privilege is used to benefit white people (Blum n.d). Without white privilege, people would be equal and perhaps live in a more peaceful society. Therefore, if white privilege has been around for years and continues to be an issue in America and all around the world, than without educating the population and making them aware of the issue it will continue to happen.

Privilege affects everyone, regardless of if they are affected positively or negatively. Being the majority in America, the white populations bears an automatic stamp of privilege on their foreheads, although they would care very strongly not to admit it. On the surface, privilege does not seem like such a bad thing, but when you pay attention to the differentiation of struggles between white men and everyone else in America, you can see it is a very large issue. Whether it is in the classroom, in the workforce, in real estate, or even in your own home, white privilege is affecting you. White privilege in America is counterproductive to the growth of equality in society today because it affects the quality of living and level of opportunity for the rest of the country’s inhabitants. Within all facets of life, you can find extreme examples of white privilege.

In order to change these types of conditions, I think it should be put out in the open more. “White privilege” is supposedly this invisible knapsack. If more people knew about it, maybe they would try to be more conscious of how they treated others and how they exercised this white privilege without really knowing it. I think a lot of people’s reactions to a minority speaking, for example, is done kind of subconsciously and many may not realize that they are doing it because they’ve done it for so long and they’ve been trained in a way to think that it’s ok, and it’s not.

What is privilege? What does it mean? Is privilege inherited or is it earned? As an American resident of color I’ve learned that privilege in this country is something that is innate and inherited. The privilege that I speak of is that of White privilege.

As many of you have probably guessed, I have tried very hard to tone down my beliefs in this course; however, due to the nature of the question asked, I have no other choice but to expand more upon my views. First, I will acknowledge that there clearly was "white privilege" prior to the Civil War, to a lesser extent until the Civil Rights Act, and to an even lesser extent until the about the 80's or 90's. I believe that the institutions of slavery and segregation (pg. 238, 243) were evils which we are paying for today and definitely contributed to "white privilege" during their time of existence. I believe that America fought with great difficulty and eventually eradicated these evils because of the belief that all men are created equal (Declaration

Although not all white people are rich and face disadvantages, they still face a specific systematic privilege that minorities will never have. Whites are better-protected from negative outcomes due to their constant allowance for opportunity. Therefore, to allow a system of white privilege to prevail, white members of society are afforded advantages over their colored

What is white privilege? It's 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 makes life smoother, but it's something you would barely notice unless it were suddenly taken away — or unless it had never applied to you in the first place. (Emba.) White privilege is the norm to a lot of my fellow peers have and don’t even realize it. An example would be that it’s not likely that store security or law enforcement officers harass them, pull them over or follow them because of the color of their skin tone.