White Privilege And Black Privilege

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.

In “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh argues that racism can be found imbedded into the culture of society; conferring and denying certain privileges on some rather than all. This is a dangerous cultivation; endowing a strong expectation that white privileges are naturally deserving. Furthermore, making the cornerstone of McIntosh’s main argument; that white privilege is just a less aggressive synonym for dominance. When you receive privileges for looking a certain type of way, the recipient becomes immune; often not being able to acknowledge their advantages. As a result, this creates a cultural divide, between racial groups.

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

White privilege is a form of structural racism where whites are routinely advantaged while producing adverse outcomes for people of color such as Blacks and Hispanics. White privilege is a historically based system which still exists in the United States (US). In my view, white privilege system marked the beginning of racial inequality in the US. White privilege exists in the United States and is one of the contributing factors to the injustices people with color are facing in the US.

In this spellbinding lecture, the author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son offers a unique, inside-out view of race and racism in America. Expertly overcoming the defensiveness that often surrounds these issues, Wise provides a non-confrontational explanation of white privilege and the damage it does not only to people of color, but to white people as well. This is an invaluable classroom resource: an ideal introduction to the social construction of racial identities, and a critical new tool for exploring the often invoked – but seldom explained – concept of white privilege.

Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack” addresses the issue of acknowledging whites’ unaware privileges, thus weakening the systems of advantage to reconstruct power systems in the society from 1989 to the present. For instance, men are unconscious about their privileges in a patriarchal society while women are oppressed in the society. White people are unaware of the privileges which they take for granted while non-white communities are discriminated against repeatedly. McIntosh identities her privileges from daily life, which she also relates the patterns of white privilege and assumptions that passed down.

Institutional racism is a global phenomenon. The never-ending list of disadvantages minorities face on a day to day basis is catastrophic. Nevertheless, one thing that can be done is to improve awareness. Institutional racism should be recognized by those higher in social status since minorities only make up a smaller percentage of the earth’s population. This limits the amount of control they have, leading to systemic oppression and restricting the number of opportunities people of color can have. From redlining to mass incarcerations to police brutality, minorities are left with a disadvantage to nearly all the social institutions. However, for white Americans, that is not the case. White privilege is not something that white people do, create or enjoy on purpose, it’s the apparent preference of white skin over people of color. This benefit leads to the “perks” in life, creating the foundation for this institutionalized racism. In the literary works, "Master Harold and The Boys," "White boy Privilege," and "incident," the outcomes of white privilege and how it affects people of color

Wise’s examination of the inconspicuous character of racism 2.0 dovetails fittingly with our course’s recurring theme of institutionalized racism. In class lectures we have defined institutionalized racism as the discriminatory practices that have become regularized and routinized by state agencies, organizations, industries, or anywhere else in society. Although such practices might not be intentionally racist, they end up being racist nevertheless as consequence of the systematized and unspoken biases that have become increasingly convoluted and entrenched within society over time. It also doesn’t help white people to recognize these discriminatory practices considering they have been unconsciously tailored to be consistent with white perspective and mentality. In her article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh examines not only how white folks often consider themselves to be a normative figure within society, but also how they are carefully taught not to recognize the advantages they gain from the disadvantages that impair people of color. In the article, McIntosh acknowledges the reality of her own white privilege and expresses, “In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth” (McIntosh 4). In fact, even if white folks do not believe themselves to

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

White privilege everyone has heard of it but what does it really mean and are all whites okay with it being said it. Could it be a racial slur to the white race or did the whites create and make it there own and use it to their advance. Privilege means “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people”(dictionary). Just by know the definition helps understand white privilege a little more understanding. Not all white men are privileged because to be privilege is to have connections and money in this day and age. Everyone thinking by now that if you're white you are right and that you have money a lot of the term white privilege is mostly the upper class white men with money and power

“Racial profiling describes the practice of targeting or stopping an individual based primarily on his or her race rather than any individualized suspicion” as illustrated by Warren of Sage journals. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as reasons for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. African-Americans have been fighting what seems to be a never ending battle against oppression and racism. Over the years 2012-2015, reports of police killing unarmed black men in America have been alarming.

Black privilege also allows them “to move conveniently in and out of white reality at will. On any given occasion, I can act like a white person better than most white people and do it with finesse and elegance, and two seconds later I can become super Black, declare my history of exclusion and deny ownership of my own behavior.” (Na’Im Akbar, “Perspectives”, p. 47) This is called “shifting;” a reflexive defense strategy used by black women employed to cope with biases and discrimination in Corporate America.

Today the term “white privilege” assumes that people only look at skin color. This concept does not look at the whole picture but maligns people without intending because they are bitter about what they don’t understand.

White privilege is defined as societal advantages that are beneficial to people identified as white. This privilege makes it easy for caucasians in tough situations, and rough for non-white people under the same circumstances. It is not something that has to be discussed or recognized, it is just present when needed. White privilege is an ideology that is based on the roots of racism and it is recieves a spotlight in the case of unjust events. It continues to exist in society because its benefiters are convinced that the concept is not real; that racism is not an apparent presence in society; that people of color are just stuck in the past. As a result, it never receives the proper attention that it should. This idea of white privilege can be demonstrated in many aspects of life, however, the main three instances are expressed through police brutality, the education system and the workplace.