What I remember primarily about my childhood room is that I had white walls in my room, and those white walls were distinguished by two things—A painted picture of my older siblings who passed away before I was born (which seems slightly morbid when I think back upon it), and a large, framed movie poster of Disney's Pocahontas that showed the Disney-fied versions of Pocahontas and John Smith embracing passionately. Perhaps it's only natural that that poster is prominent in my memory, since the love story that Disney presented was my favorite as a child, outranked only by Gumby: The Movie in my child's mind. However, what I didn't realize as a child was the underlying implications that Pocahontas had regarding race and the status that we have according to our race, and the conception it instilled in me regarding the ideal of equality between all races. My increasing exposure to social justice issues and my continued higher education has led me to examine my own status in society, particularly my ascribed status as a white person, and I have come to realize that the struggle for racial equality is still continuing.
First, we must examine the full implications of ascribed status. Ascribed status is generally assigned at birth, and includes the categorization of humans at birth according to factors such as their kinship, age, sex, caste, group, or race. For the sake of focused discussion, I will focus upon my ascribed race, which is white, as aforementioned. Because our ascribed status so impacts every facet of our lives, from our educational and employment opportunities to the way we interact on a day to day basis. As for those of white skin, we enjoy (whether we are aware of it or not) “white privilege”—That is, “...[the] right, a...
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...s affecting what happens in my life. Maybe we will be able to “paint with all the colors of the wind”, so to speak, but until then, I choose to use my ascribed characteristics in a positive manner that works towards that multicolored and multiracial image.
Works Cited
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Clark, Kendall. "Defining "White Privilege"" Racial Understanding and Discussion. University of Dayton, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
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Wilson, Ryan. "Richard Sherman: 'Thug' an Accepted Version of the 'n-word'." CBS Sports. CBS Broadcasting Inc., 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
Yu-Hsi Lee, Esther. "Passersby Allegedly Threw Burrito Wrapped With Racial Slurs At Immigrant Hunger Strikers." ThinkProgress. ThinkProgress, 20 Feb. 2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
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The two articles that had a profound impact to my understanding of race, class and gender in the United States was White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh and Imagine a Country by Holly Sklar. McIntosh explains the keys aspects of unearned advantage (a privilege that one group hold over another) as well as conferred dominance (the act of voluntarily giving another group power) and the relationship that these factors hold when determine power of a social group. Additionally, the purpose of McIntosh’s article was to demonstrate the privilege that certain individuals carry and how that translates to the social structures of our society. Furthermore, conferred dominance also contributes to the power of the dominant group
Fryer, Roland G. Jr., and Glenn C. Loury. 2005. "Affirmative Action and Its Mythology." Journal
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In society, race clearly affects one’s life chances. These are the chances of getting opportunities and gaining experience for progression. The social construction of race is based on privileges and availability of resources. Looking at society and the formation of race in a historical context, whites have always held some sort of delusional belief of a “white-skin privilege.” This advantage grants whites an advantage in society whether one desires it or not. This notion is often commonly referred to as reality.
The paradox of privilege, one can essentially describe this as a gift being bestowed on someone just for being (or perceived as being) white. Wise explains that if one were to be end to take any perks that make our lives easier for granted to the point that we don’t even know they’re there. Even when a person(s) is completely unaware that he/she is privileged it isn’t keenly felt in the way the areas where we lack privilege are. This usually leads to why it is possible to be privileged without feeling...
Tim Wise’s book White Like Me provides a picture of what it is like to be white in America. A main topic covered in White Like Me is white privilege. On pages 24 and 25 Wise illustrates what white privilege is and shares his opinion regarding how to address white privilege in society today. Wise’s plan for addressing white privilege is one not of guilt, but of responsibility, a difference Wise highlights. The concept of feeling guilty for white privilege lacks reason because white privilege is something built up through generations and its existence is not of any one person’s fault.
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Brown (2003) argues how whiteness is a dominant race (pg.37). The dominant race was white while excluding non-whites from certain class privileges such as the right to have better health care similar to someone of a white ethnic background. It led to emergence of racial formation aim at dividing the white from the black’s base on their racial identity .A person of non-white racial identity is sometimes referred to as “others” meaning he or she does not belong, but of a different racial category {grouping of people base on racial identity and ethnicity}. The grouping of people into different racial categories is reinforcing racism in relation to keeping the white race dominant and powerful over
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Billingsley, K.L. "Affirmative Action Is Racist." 1995. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. University Library. IUPUI, Indianapolis. 14 Nov. 2004.