Privilege, a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others, is a term most people learn at a very young age. Privilege is thought of as something that one earns, not something that is just a given in everyday life. White privilege is an advantage that white people have in society that is unearned and mostly unacknowledged, yet practiced regularly. Daily life consists of multiple “privileges” that are unrecognized because they are such the norm of society that we no longer even realize that these “privileges” exist. The unconscious daily routine, for the white race, consists of a multitude of advantages that are seen as “the way it is”, unconsciously oppressing the minorities in ways consisting of housing, education, jobs and the ability to achieve “the American dream”.
An example of privilege is getting away with something that someone may not get away with. So White privilege is defined as “an invisible package of unearned assets that [someone that is White] can count on cashing in each day, but about which [they were] ‘meant’ to remain oblivious” (McIntosh 1990: 1). McIntosh is saying in that quote is that Whites do not recognize that they have this privilege
White privilege is defined as a set of advantages and/or immunities that white people benefit from on a daily basis beyond those common to all others. White privilege can exist without white people 's conscious knowledge of its presence and it helps to maintain the racial hierarchy in this country. (mtholyoke.edu) There are many examples of white privilege. They range from people’s thoughts to people 's court cases, to actions. Basically to sum that up you have more privileges and fewer assumptions get made because you 're white.
When you fail at something in life, like getting a job or getting into college, you don’t stop and think, “Is it because of my race?” White privilege isn’t something that you enjoy having, or that you can necessarily control, but it is important to understand what white privilege is because it most definitely comes into play in our everyday life, including, and especially, news and other forms of media. The media has, for as long as it’s existed, upheld white privilege while at the same time stereotyping people of color. The biggest way that the media, specifically the news, does this is how they advocate white people’s accomplishments the same way that they advocate alleged crimes by people of color. They want to criminalize people of color to make whit... ... middle of paper ... ...at are being fed to us by the media. This is definitely the harder way of doing things but there is power in numbers and even more power when those numbers are the people of the United States.
White privilege are privileges that are given to white people who they do not earn, it 's an asset they get; on daily basis just because of their skin color. ; White. Peggy McIntosh describes the white privilege as "an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, code-books, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks (McIntosh 1988, p175).” I believe that the white privilege is the same as racism because the word white privilege itself explains it. It is privilege given and offered towards only the white people. If someone is given a special privilege because they are white then that is racism.
The White people in this video assume, since they were not the actually ones who enslaved African Americans, that they have no involvement with the inequality that America serves to minorities. They are part of the problem because White people are not doing anything with the “power” they have of “whiteness”. The system is already accustomed to watching Blacks, Hispanics, Latinos fight for their rights and equality but if White people with their “whiteness” and White privilege, it would spark a red flag and hopefully make a change. The racial disparity between Whites and Blacks is huge. The majority in his country are the Whites because of their power not by number.
BEE has done justice to the people who were previously advantaged until a certain stage. The policy users misunderstood BEE policies and used it to crush and take people down. It should always dwell at the back of the minds of policy implementers that White people are part of the new South Africa and they deserve to be treated well too. It is not all of them who do not need assistance from the government. BEE has mainly profited people who are politically active instead of everyone who was previously disadvantaged.
It’s unsettling to think that White people are gaining from Black’s disadvantage. Interestingly, “the initial construction of Whiteness had been based on a material benefit for Whites: land, or the apparently realistic hope of land” (Rothenberg 35). The benefits are different now: it makes Whites confident, comfortable, and oblivious and other groups unconfident, uncomfortable, and feel alienated. A contemporary example is that a White people can go shopping alone and be sure that they will not be followed or harassed (McIntosh). The thought of white privilege traces back to the eighteenth century, so how is it still relevant?
Explaining the case in which certain races or ethnic groups dominate within diverse fields is not just an American phenomenon, he cites Professor Walter Williams, who wrote about the privileges of Chinese minority in Malaysia. He also mentions the talk-show host Michael Savage who, after he earned his Ph.D., had trouble finding a job in his chosen field, and was told in so many words that "white men need not apply." With all of these facts, the author tries to prove that racial differences and privileges appear exaggerated and unrealistic. The privileged and less privileged exist at all levels of society. Duke wants white people to understand that they are in the same position as all other races.
I tried in every speech I made to clarify my new position regarding white people - 'I don't speak against the sincere, well meaning, good white people. I have learned that there are some. I have learned that not all white people are racists' (367). Yet, while Malcolm learned over a period of time that not all whites are evil, King entered the scene already fully aware that "good" whites existed. In fact, where Malcolm underestimated the goodness in whites, King seems to have overestimated it.