Racial Discrimination For Their Own Daily Physical Protection

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.

Shannon Sullivan wrote the book “Revealing Whiteness: The Unconscious Habits of Racial Privilege”. She does agree with McIntosh that whites do in fact receive these hidden privileges. In her book she wrote “Blithely wrapped up in a white world, white people often do not see their own ignorance and cannot be faulted for not addressing it...” (18). Sullivan explains that white people do not realize that they are receiving these certain benefits for just being white. They also can’t fix this problem until they realize that they are privileged.

According to Wise, the benefits of white privilege include material benefits like better job opportunities, better housing access, and better education opportunities. There is also the psychological benefit of just the realization that as a white person, one is not going to be racially profiled when going about their everyday business.

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.

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

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.

White privilege is the ability for whites to maintain an elevated status in society that masks racial inequality. It is also considered a system of advantage based on race, as well as societal privileges that benefit white people. It is usually known as the “other”, or the opposite side of discrimination. Some people in society, typically people of color, feel as though people with white skin have benefits over people of color, just because they’re white. White privilege is sometimes seen as a higher social status, having the freedom to move, buy, work, play, and speak freely as one wishes. The effects of white privilege are predominantly evident in professional and educational settings. Some critics argue that the concept of white

From this list, the two most important aspects of white privilege are: the fact that white people are taught not to recognize their privilege and the fact that it is an ongoing, institutionalized remnant of colonization. These are

“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.

In Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” she expresses her own privileges as a white woman. She says things such as, “I do not have to educate my children to be aware of

How to minimize the hurts of non-white children once their belief on the theory of a society is fair and equality is completely collapsed when the reality is happening in the opposite. In the reading “Why the Myth of Meritocracy Hurts Kids of Color” Mildred Boveda, an assistant education professor at Arizona State University, said: “I will admit that it sometimes felt risky to tackle these difficult conversations, but this [research] underscores why we cannot equivocate when it comes to preparing our children to face injustices.” I agree with her opinion. Because finding the proper solutions to fully empower and equipping the best knowledge that can help children cope better is not easy, but it is the responsibility of the family, the school, and society. The three elements need to act and work together in an effort to dare to speak about the truths mentioned above.

In the book Warriors Don’t Cry, the children of Little Rock were greatly influenced by the society on how they should treat people of color. For example, the students of Central High School were considerably shaped and groomed by their parents racist views. Link’s father told him “colored folks are used to doing without, and i ought not spoil them” (282). These comments have caused children to believe that people of color don't deserve to anything, which led to the verbal and physical abuse towards the nine students at Central High School.

White privilege is the societal privileges that specifically benefit white people. White privilege is why white people can get pulled over by the police and escape a ticket with just a smile and apology. White privilege is also why whites are in charge of a company and they see a black person, they bypass the application. Whites carry a certain privilege not available to people of color. Marilyn Frye describes how whiteness is a form social and political power.

“White Privilege and Male Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh discusses about white privilege and male privilege as an invisible privilege that does not become a topic for discussion in white communities. The children of white communities are taught to not recognize what is white privilege same with male. Instead of recognizing what is white privilege or male privilege, they become ignorant of the privilege they have compared to other races without privilege. Peggy uses herself as an example to understand white privilege and the advantage of occupying a position of privilege. In addition, she lists a list of conditions that she meets as a white individual compared to her friends, who may not meet the conditions.

There are two prominent writer/scholars who have taken the issue of white privilege to heart and have shared their expert analysis on the subject; these authors/writer-scholars are Peggy McIntosh, a white feminist, and Beverly Tatum, an African American Psychologist. McIntosh, in her article "Coming to See Correspondences," makes excellent observations about the privilege that she has experienced just by being a white female in America. The two most significant points made by McIntosh