White Privilege Thesis
Each and every single white person in western society, regardless of class, gender, or sexual orientation, benefits from institutional racism. This unfortunate truth is due to a concept known as white privilege. White privilege is an innately invisible aspect of life that grants white people certain advantages in life that are not given to people of color. Often seemingly innocuous details many would not consider important, white privilege elevates one race above the rest through societal catering to said race. This societal privilege specifically discriminates against people of color, leading to a racial imbalance and unfairness that has been historically present dating back to well before the colonization of the hemisphere. All white people are racist because they are granted privileges based solely on their skin color. White people, even and especially unconsciously, are part of a system of discrimination where white children grow up in a racist society, benefit from said racism, and do not have to constantly battle against an entire government and society. To claim all white people are racist is not an attack on their character, but instead forces white people to be spurred on to take action in ways claiming some
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does not. There can be no detachment or dissociation from the harsh reality of white privilege.
One fascinating phenomenon of white privilege, or indeed privilege of any kind, is that those who have said privilege cannot see it. To the privileged, it is simply a factor of life. White people do not see the benefits they are granted due to skin color as handouts or special rights. However, many fail to realize or simply cannot comprehend that their experience is not something people of every race can experience. The invisibility of privilege is political (Kimmel). People of color are hyperaware of their race at all times because they are not privileged due to it. White people often do not see themselves as white, and instead as simply human beings. This is a direct factor of invisible privilege because, for white people, race is irrelevant to. One of the most prevalent aspects of whiteness is never having to think about it. But it is vital to acknowledge that people of color often must work twice as hard for half the reward, but often regardless of efforts, those same people of color will never be granted the same privileges as someone with white skin. One simple illustration of this invisible privilege is through commonplace interactions, and abilities. In a list of over forty daily privileges, Peggy McIntosh, Senior Research Associate of Wellesley Centers for Women, lays out the harsh reality of the difference between the lives of people of color and non-people of color in her much-cited article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Some are as benign as being represented on television, picture books, and even dolls (McIntosh). White people do not need to search far and wide to see other white people in media. For them it is the norm. For people of color, finding that representation is as difficult as finding one particular needle in a stack of other needles. It is a painful, and misleading procedure. After all, sometimes needles are disguised as the one to look for only to be just like every other in the pile. Representation is important. Those who cannot understand the need for proper and equal representation are already well-represented. But it is extraordinarily disheartening, even harmful, for young children of color to see themselves continuously type casted as the criminal, or token minority. White privilege is having an entire army of characters to relate to, and that is a privilege often overlooked.
White privilege has a long, painful, and deeply engrained place in American society. It is a systemic feature of this great nation, yet most cannot or will not even acknowledge its existence. Though unfortunate and frustrating for its proponents, it is not entirely surprising in the slightest. History is a deliberate composition of privileges given to white people while specifically denied, or blatantly taken from, people of color. Yet because history is often told from the point of view of those in power, this discrimination is glossed over, and often forgotten. Take, for instance, the treatment of African-American veterans post-World War II. The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 – better known as the GI Bill – essentially facilitated a continuous age in white wealth while leaving blacks behind. White veterans were given access to secondary education, low-interest loans to start businesses, and low-cost mortgages to buy affordable housing in those Levittown neighborhoods. And thus, continued the racial divide among neighborhoods. While the GI Bill itself did not discriminate against blacks directly, there were no measures to ensure rampant discrimination did not happen. The GI Bill was carefully orchestrated to uphold Jim Crow laws (Katznelson). The southern members of Congress deliberately gave control of the programs to local white officials. As a result, less than one hundred of the first sixty-seven thousand mortgages were granted to non-whites because many banks and agencies refused loans to black people, and by 1946, only a fraction of blacks who applied for educational benefits actually saw them come to fruition (Herbold). As white soldiers enjoyed the prosperity of the post-WWII boom, their businesses flourished, and wealth grew. But owing to of rampant institutionalized racism, this was a privilege exclusive to whites. It is not a question of who worked harder, but instead a fact that whites were given what were essentially government handouts that they used to buy housing that would eventually rise in worth, elevating the wealth of whites to their black counterparts (Callahan). By excluding black people from those suburbs because of racist practices, the racial wage gap became a chasm that continues to widen with each passing day.
But the GI Bill is one of the less directly fatal aspects of white privilege in historical America.
This is a country founded on the blood of slaves, the tears of natives, and the sweat of immigrants. In response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, our very own supposedly progressive President Franklin D. Roosevelt, ordered the mass incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese – many of whom were American citizens – who were forced onto internment camps. Despite the connection of Italians and Germans to the Axis-power, no similar actions were taken against them (Irving). White privilege is that the actions of an individual, or small group, is not a stain on the entire race. Whereas people of color must always bear the consequences of the few as a
whole.
Furthermore, the idea of Manifest Destiny is quite literally the embodiment of white people believing they had a privilege to uphold. White Americans believed it to be their God-given right to travel west, but by doing so they further annihilated those who came before them (Irving). Their feelings of white superiority, driven by this privilege even before the ages of Manifest Destiny, supposedly gave them the right to brutally cleanse Native American lands through murder, disease, and assimilation. The Native population driven to near-extinction, their culture was all but eviscerated in favor of the white man ways. Native American children were essentially kidnapped from their homes and punished for speaking their own languages (Kendall). White privilege is never being on the receiving end of a mass genocide by those in power because of race in America. Religion, yes. Ideology, yes. But not race. Never race.
White privilege is not merely limited to western society. In 1948, South Africa legally instituted white privilege through apartheid (Posel). Under apartheid, South Africa saw racial privilege become a bureaucratically regulated institution where South African’s were officially classified by race. Those with elements of “whiteness” were granted social status, and preferential treatment. Even in a society where white people were not necessarily the majority, whiteness was inherently seen as superior to its black counterpart. To this day, blatantly lingering aspects of the apartheid way of thinking remain, despite the fact that “unfair” racial discrimination is illegal under Section Nene of South Africa’s Constitution. White privilege transcends geographical boundaries.
does not. There can be no detachment or dissociation from the harsh reality of white privilege.
One fascinating phenomenon of white privilege, or indeed privilege of any kind, is that those who have said privilege cannot see it. To the privileged, it is simply a factor of life. White people do not see the benefits they are granted due to skin color as handouts or special rights. However, many fail to realize or simply cannot comprehend that their experience is not something people of every race can experience. The invisibility of privilege is political (Kimmel). People of color are hyperaware of their race at all times because they are not privileged due to it. White people often do not see themselves as white, and instead as simply human beings. This is a direct factor of invisible privilege because, for white people, race is irrelevant to. One of the most prevalent aspects of whiteness is never having to think about it. But it is vital to acknowledge that people of color often must work twice as hard for half the reward, but often regardless of efforts, those same people of color will never be granted the same privileges as someone with white skin. One simple illustration of this invisible privilege is through commonplace interactions, and abilities. In a list of over forty daily privileges, Peggy McIntosh, Senior Research Associate of Wellesley Centers for Women, lays out the harsh reality of the difference between the lives of people of color and non-people of color in her much-cited article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Some are as benign as being represented on television, picture books, and even dolls (McIntosh). White people do not need to search far and wide to see other white people in media. For them it is the norm. For people of color, finding that representation is as difficult as finding one particular needle in a stack of other needles. It is a painful, and misleading procedure. After all, sometimes needles are disguised as the one to look for only to be just like every other in the pile. Representation is important. Those who cannot understand the need for proper and equal representation are already well-represented. But it is extraordinarily disheartening, even harmful, for young children of color to see themselves continuously type casted as the criminal, or token minority. White privilege is having an entire army of characters to relate to, and that is a privilege often overlooked.
White privilege has a long, painful, and deeply engrained place in American society. It is a systemic feature of this great nation, yet most cannot or will not even acknowledge its existence. Though unfortunate and frustrating for its proponents, it is not entirely surprising in the slightest. History is a deliberate composition of privileges given to white people while specifically denied, or blatantly taken from, people of color. Yet because history is often told from the point of view of those in power, this discrimination is glossed over, and often forgotten. Take, for instance, the treatment of African-American veterans post-World War II. The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 – better known as the GI Bill – essentially facilitated a continuous age in white wealth while leaving blacks behind. White veterans were given access to secondary education, low-interest loans to start businesses, and low-cost mortgages to buy affordable housing in those Levittown neighborhoods. And thus, continued the racial divide among neighborhoods. While the GI Bill itself did not discriminate against blacks directly, there were no measures to ensure rampant discrimination did not happen. The GI Bill was carefully orchestrated to uphold Jim Crow laws (Katznelson). The southern members of Congress deliberately gave control of the programs to local white officials. As a result, less than one hundred of the first sixty-seven thousand mortgages were granted to non-whites because many banks and agencies refused loans to black people, and by 1946, only a fraction of blacks who applied for educational benefits actually saw them come to fruition (Herbold). As white soldiers enjoyed the prosperity of the post-WWII boom, their businesses flourished, and wealth grew. But owing to of rampant institutionalized racism, this was a privilege exclusive to whites. It is not a question of who worked harder, but instead a fact that whites were given what were essentially government handouts that they used to buy housing that would eventually rise in worth, elevating the wealth of whites to their black counterparts (Callahan). By excluding black people from those suburbs because of racist practices, the racial wage gap became a chasm that continues to widen with each passing day.
But the GI Bill is one of the less directly fatal aspects of white privilege in historical America.
This is a country founded on the blood of slaves, the tears of natives, and the sweat of immigrants. In response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, our very own supposedly progressive President Franklin D. Roosevelt, ordered the mass incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese – many of whom were American citizens – who were forced onto internment camps. Despite the connection of Italians and Germans to the Axis-power, no similar actions were taken against them (Irving). White privilege is that the actions of an individual, or small group, is not a stain on the entire race. Whereas people of color must always bear the consequences of the few as a
whole.
Furthermore, the idea of Manifest Destiny is quite literally the embodiment of white people believing they had a privilege to uphold. White Americans believed it to be their God-given right to travel west, but by doing so they further annihilated those who came before them (Irving). Their feelings of white superiority, driven by this privilege even before the ages of Manifest Destiny, supposedly gave them the right to brutally cleanse Native American lands through murder, disease, and assimilation. The Native population driven to near-extinction, their culture was all but eviscerated in favor of the white man ways. Native American children were essentially kidnapped from their homes and punished for speaking their own languages (Kendall). White privilege is never being on the receiving end of a mass genocide by those in power because of race in America. Religion, yes. Ideology, yes. But not race. Never race.
White privilege is not merely limited to western society. In 1948, South Africa legally instituted white privilege through apartheid (Posel). Under apartheid, South Africa saw racial privilege become a bureaucratically regulated institution where South African’s were officially classified by race. Those with elements of “whiteness” were granted social status, and preferential treatment. Even in a society where white people were not necessarily the majority, whiteness was inherently seen as superior to its black counterpart. To this day, blatantly lingering aspects of the apartheid way of thinking remain, despite the fact that “unfair” racial discrimination is illegal under Section Nene of South Africa’s Constitution. White privilege transcends geographical boundaries.