Just as McIntosh stated “ this is not such a free country” having a certain skin tones guarantees certain unalienable right and benefits whether consciously know or not. I believe that white privilege, just like, race is socially constructed. White privilege is a form of modern racism. People with fair skin are lead to believe that they are held a at higher standard that other due to the many benefit that is associated with their skin color. It is dictating "who is what and who gets what." Due to my light skin tone, “I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help my race will not work against me, I can criticize our government...without being seen as a cultural outsider, I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group” (McIntosh). This should not be the norm in our society. As McIntosh stated not every white person consciously know that they born with these innate benefits. When a person grows up in an all white or predominantly white community they just don’t know because "whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege" McIntosh .
It is truly sad and disheartening to know that skin color still heavily affects our daily lives and what types of opportunities people of different skin colors are offered. I believe that white privilege definitely exists and is a leading example of how racism still exists in our world today. For example a lot of business are filled with white people. why is this? It can not be solely because more white attend college and have the qualifications for that job. I believe that white bosses hire white people because people choose to surround themselves with those who are similar to them, specifically in race, because this is who they are most comfortable with. Due to this there is a kind of invisible and unconscious segregation between the different groups of people in our society especially financially and in the work area.This creates income inequality and shows that success is not achieved solely through hard work, but involves a person's racial background as well.
From the graphs we can see that the difference in earning between a white and nonwhite is sometimes double if not triple. The question now is, what can we do about this as individuals living in a world where providing for yourself or family can become a challenge because you were not born with the right skin color.
I think that the white privilege all ties back to the issues of race. This will always be an issue in American society because like race white privilege is now something that is deeply rooted in our history. Even though we might not be able to totally eliminate it, we have to try to educate the people and let them consciously know that we are still living in a society where not everyone is as equal as we thought. These privileged individuals have to use their voice to bring these issue forward because and “use your white privilege to educate and make right a situation”(Joy DeGruy) because it is unjust. Then maybe we can get to a point where there are no limitation as to what you might deserve in life because of your skin tone. We can live in a society where being white or light skinned will not be a privilege anymore and we all can succeed together as equals.
After reading not only the article, but also this blog I have realized a lot of things that I never had before. I, being a white male, have technically been born into the "top notch" of society and I have always known of some advantages, but no where close to the amount pointed out in the reading. Also this idea of whites not intentionally spreading this privilege because they don't realize that many aspects in life help further that mentality is very prevalent. For example, I could see myself not thinking twice about a white boy/girl cutting a bike chain as was presented in "Bike Theft". I am glad that much of this information has been presented to not only myself but others as well because honestly much of this made me think twice about a lot of the pleasures that I take for granted every day. As Scholastica said I hope in the future that skin tone will not effect the playing field and that we can all do well together as people in general.
ReplyDeleteThroughout history we've seen differences in rights between White and Black, as well as other ethnic backgrounds. Our world has come a long way in accepting differences, being tolerant, and has shown growth. Since there are privileges among people, what happens to those who are interracial or those who do not identify with just one identity such as White, Black, Asian, European, or etc.? What kind of privileges do they have? I watched a reality show earlier this week titled, "Tia and Tamera". It's about twin sisters who have a television series of their lives. The episode that I saw was about identity and racial context. The sisters identify themselves as interracial and discussed about what kind of obstacles that their children may face at school or in their careers based on the background and skin tone. Their children will not be able to say they are of a certain group, but interracial. Therefore, does one have to be fully White to have certain privileges? I believe the roles are changing and people are becoming more mature about skin tone and willing to marry into different ethnic groups, which presents progress in our society.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in a mostly white community, I didn't ever feel like my experiences were privileges. After spending a year in Ann Arbor, I am now beginning to understand what it means to be white skinned. I am looked at differently than Asians inside the classroom, because they are thought of to be "more intelligent." I am looked at differently than black athletes, because they are expected to excel at their sport. Even though we may not make racist comments, we are constantly judging people by their skin color and associating them with both good and bad things.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that McIntosh stated the fact that "whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege." This makes me wonder how people of other races are raised. If I was taught to not recognize my privileges, are Asians taught to believe they are smarter, therefore becoming more intelligent? I find myself agreeing with this statement, though. In my hometown, it is almost frowned upon to talk about all of our opportunities. We most definitely take them for granted and by reading these articles and comments on other posts I realize how different each individuals background is, regardless of race.
Having agreed with most of the opinions expressed in this blog, I believe it is important to note that some white privileges may have less to do with “modern” racism than others. For instance, as a white male, “when I am told about our national heritage or about ‘civilization,’ I am shown that people of my color made it what it is” (pp. 4). I am definitely not arguing that history cannot be framed differently or that white men have not had more praise and attention than they deserve in most cultural narratives, but I think it would be impossible for any of us, no matter how much we tried, to change the fact that Christopher Columbus and the colonists who signed the Declaration of Independence were all white men of European descent. There were certainly racist institutions that played a role in making these things true, but they would have been an example of racism at that time, not modern racism.
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