Privilege Bubble Examples

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.

An alumni group, Check Your Privilege organized by Dr. Ja’Nina Walker, works to raise student and faculty awareness about privilege on a San Francisco campus and increase social equality. The group defines privilege as “unearned access to social power based on membership in a dominant social group.” The group desires to increase consciousness about privilege, especially in the among social justice influences. They work to bring privilege into regular public discussion and urge those with privilege to use it for public benefit.

A privilege is not something people should expect to have, but something people consider themselves fortunate if they have it. Lewis Gordon believes that white privilege does not exist, since the ‘privileges’ that benefit white people are just social commodities that all people aim for. He also points out that although white people may be the majority race and population in privileged settings, that the actual amount of white people that enjoy those benefits isn’t much. Another criticism of white privilege also points out the confusion between a privilege and a right. If someone were to discriminate against a person of color, or a nonwhite, that does not count as a privilege. Blum feels as though privilege is not whites having more opportunities than nonwhites, but that racial discrepancy has been adopted by society over the years, within activities and opportunities that are often unconsciously assumed by those who benefit.

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

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.

White privilege is defined, according to Emba, as the “the social advantage that comes from being seen as the norm in the United States, automatically conferred irrespective of wealth, gender or other factors.” Because it is an inherited membership, most of the people in this group do not understand the

Interwoven through history are the have and have nots. Those who come from privilege tend not to recognize those privileges, while those who fall into the marginalized groups have an uphill battle. White privilege is a set of institutional beliefs granted to those based on their skin color. These individuals have better access to privilege and resources. Much of these privileges are seen through types of employment, amount of compensation, quality of schools, and racial profiling. Among these few privileges one can see daily how the people of color are affect with basic needs as well.

Our country was founded on the notion that “all men are created equal,” while this concept is an integral part of America’s Declaration of Independence, the fundamental idea has never genuinely been practiced. Our country established a white supremacy culture in its founding days, and has accepted the concept since. White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races. Although there have been valiant efforts, the inequality of the races has never been truly rectified. People are not born practicing white privilege. White privilege is taught, and learned. America’s school system, media, and culture are driving factors that lead white privilege to be a custom within society today.

Privilege is defined as “a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most” (Dictionary.com). If we live in a country where even the discussion of the privilege of causes controversy, we are living in a state of denial. Efforts to engage in political discussion are too often deemed as inappropriate or offensive. The only way to understand white privilege is to maturely engage in conversations about the topic. America is founded on diversity and it would not be what it

The deep but subtly entrenched nature of white privilege into the American social structure is problematic because it creates complications to overcoming this type of racism. The difficulty in detecting white privilege facilitates the denial of the role white privilege plays in affecting an individual’s living experience in America. The reality is that white privilege does make a difference in the opportunities available to certain individuals. However, this difference is not as subtle. The biggest problem white privilege poses, aside from the discrimination and bias it employs, is that it is difficult to identify. Due to its intrinsic nature, eradicating its effects requires a reconstruction of the white supremacist American social system.

This week’s readings, podcast, and videos were very interesting to learn about white privilege. The term white privilege means the systematic advantages of being white (Tatum Racism: Can We Talk?). The topic white privilege is an exceptionally difficult to discuss for the reason that many white people don’t feel influential or identify they have privileges compared to other individuals in society may not feel differently about white privilege. For example in the article White Privilege Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack Peggy McIntosh, a white feminist scholar identified of society privileges that she received simply because she is White (Tatum Racism: Can We Talk? p 8). Therefore when each individual learns about his or her own privileges there

As an individual with an eclectic variety of European descent, I have experienced white privilege. White privilege, prevalent in Western countries like the United States, is a societal structure that puts those who are non-white at a political and sometimes economic disadvantage. Many who do not face these negative experiences are not made aware of the effects white privilege has on their life, unfortunately. Having grown up in Los Angeles, I naively thought I was well versed in racial injustice. It wasn't until I met my partner, and made a deep connection with an individual whose life is negatively affected by the same privilege that benefits me that I began to understand. By sharing their experiences as a non-white citizen of this country,

I am a white cisgendered, heterosexual male. I come from a middle to upper class family and live in a safe suburb with an excellent school system. My parents both have college degrees and raising my sister and me and providing us with all the opportunities they could provide has always been a high priority. Therefore, when I read Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack in one of my freshman English classes, I could agree with the vast majority of conditions she lays out as conditions of white privilege. Additionally, my parents and many of my classmates do not quite understand why I want to pursue a career studying the stereotypes and prejudice and the answer is not simple.

The first question is why am I interested in exploring these issues related to privilege and I believe that society generally neither give lessons on how to cope or speak about privilege, so it's important to make a contribution to addressing these issues. In my experience as an Indian girl, gender discrimination is very prominent in my background and especially in the terms of taking on specific jobs and duties. For example; In my household, girls are expected