White privileges in America - Essay Example

? White privileges in America An ideology of the superiority and the inferiority of people belonging to different groups, based on the difference in their skin color or in other words their pigmentation that are generally created by the white Europeans and the Americans, for their own benefits in every aspects of living, be it Social, economical, political as well as educational benefits is what can be termed and viewed as racial differentiation or to be defined in a single word as racism. The society of the United States of America inherently is a country of the whites. The American society has been structured by racial discrimination profoundly and racism has lastingly marked the society of the country as concluded by the report of the United Nations Human Council for the year 2009. However the racism affects the white population of the country as well, as they are from birth always been isolated from the people of color in the daily life. That is how racism is experienced by the white population of the society. (Lund and Colin, p 8: Wise, p viii) Racism and the privileges for the white thus hurt the living of the people of color and to some extent affect the white as well. 1. The White Privilege The roots of the society of America are permeated by the factor of racism which gets reflected in each and every institutions of the society. It get resembles in the culture of the society, in the society’s character as well as in its structure. There are several boundaries in the social lives set by the majority of the white population of the country for the people of the different skin color. For the constrictions that are set by these white people make the black Americans of the society to create their own lives for themselves and their race people. The conception of and the idea behind the theory of white privilege has been derived from racism and its dynamics. The customs and the traditions of the society by its intent founded the white privilege. This type of racism is shattered against the scientific principles of the society. The white privilege operates at the society in its macro level and gets acted out in discriminatory behaviors of the society. (Guess, 651) The whiteness enable in creating and sustaining several privileges in the society for those white populations of the society which when accorded marginalized the people of the different races. Whiteness and non whiteness stratified the society of the United States of America. In the society of America real situations are defined by Whiteness and it also impose real consequences.(Guess, 650; Lund and Colin, 8) According to Wise the society of the United States of America always bestowed some advantages to the individual born white in the society. These are the advantages from which the people of color are deliberately withheld. Whiteness which may have different meaning in different time and places, however in the United States of America being white entitles some common experience based upon the advantages and privileges from the people of color along with belongings. The racialization of a subordinate group also brings with it the racialization of the super ordinate group as they enjoy the position of dominance in the society and added to their advantages (Wise, viii, 3: Guess, 651) In the words of Wise, white privilege is enjoying every kinds of social, political economical as well as educational benefits along with facilities in health care services that an individual requires for earning prosperity, social security and respect for himself over the other classes of the society. According to him in short white privilege is the root of problems existing in a society that is not a meritocracy. (This is your nation on White Privilege) 2. Privileges enjoyed by the white population of the country According to the reports of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year 2009 and the United States Census Bureau for 2006, the total percentage of the white population of the society is 73.9 percent that experienced the unemployment rate that is lowest in the society of only 14.9 percent. On the other hand the Americans of African origin comprises of about 12.4 percent of the total population of the country and contributed to 25.6 percent of the unemployment rate of the country. Similar records can be found for the Hispanics that consists of 14.8 percent of the population of the country, with 20.7 percent of the unemployment rate. Colin in the year 1994 prescribed for the faculties of higher educational institutions that the fact of racism affecting the lives of the non white population of the American society with serious implications, should always be acknowledged by them in the beginning. For that there is the requirement of confronting their personal racism. Moreover the impact racism has on the perceptions and the practice of those individuals should also be properly acknowledged. (Lund and Colin, 8- 11; Guess, 670) 3. Effects of White privilege on the people of color In every area and stages of the world of academia the ideology of racism gets reflected. In the process of recruitment, promotion, the retention of those faculties that is not only limited only in their interactions with their colleagues, as well as in their research agendas; the racist ideology confronts the faculties. The author has cited real life experience in order to prove the deprivation of the non white faculties on the basis of what is called racial perceptual and isolations of them through the act of examining and equating the competence of an individual on the basis of the color of pigmentation of the individual. The white faculties always remain with the ideology that the non white members have no substance in them for offering to the requirement of the institutions that can be referred to as the supremacy of the white. The people of color are always in a position of proving themselves deserving for every positions of the society. The Admission of the students of color in the higher educational institutes of the country and their ratings in their graduation are also something that are considerably affected by the factor racism that can be both be both socio-cultural as well as intellectual. The Digest of the Education Statistics in the year 2008 published the government data of the admission of the students in higher educational institutes for the period of 2006 to 2008. The data stated that 56.2 percent of the sixty one thousand seven hundred doctoral degrees that were bestowed, only were awarded to the white students of the society. Merely a percentage of 6.1 were allocated to the African students of American origins. The Asian as well as the residents from the island countries of the Pacific were allotted only 5.8 percent of the total bestowed degrees. Respectively values equal to about 3 percent and only 0.4 percent was allotted to the Hispanics and the Alaskans or the American Indians. In every aspects of social, economic as well as political hierarchies formed in the United States of America, the white population of the society have always been placed on the above of the people of color without any cases of exceptions. Moreover the white people of the society enjoyed advantages in the labor market of the country and also advantages in the opportunities of social mobility. (Lund and Colin, 8- 11; Wise, 3; Guess, 670) The white population of the society can purchase or rent houses in any area of the society without any objections from the neighbors who are bound to be neutral or even pleasant which the people of color are deprived off. The people of color always have the chance of being harassed or followed by other individuals as they are often considered individuals of suspect. The people of the society widely represent the society in every media’s coverage of the country. It is thought always that the country’s heritage and the civilization of the country have been truly made by the white population and they are the group responsible for carrying and representing it truly. The children of the society of the white population do not need to be always aware of the racism factor of the system for ensuring their own protection and also not need to be concerned of the attitudes of other individuals towards the color of their skin. However the people of color need to be seriously concerned over these issues. The people of color are generally regarded as a culturally outsider in times of their comments towards the politics and the governmental functions of their country. Even in cases of the arrangement of the public accommodations the people of color remained in the fear of being mistreated by the people of different race or specifically by the white population of the society. The white populations of the society are normally welcomed in the public places, in educational institutes and in other professional aspects of life which is often not the case for the non white class of the society of the country. There are even instance that the white supremacy or privileges for the whites exists in treating people addicted to several harmful drugs like cocaine, and restrictions of cocaine trafficking and sex trade. It is assumed by the government of the country that the white populations of the society are in a position of handling their addictions to these severely harmful drugs with required dignity while the addicts belonging to the non white class of the society are sentenced to imprisonment for the addiction. Hence the law of the country also differs with the difference in the color of the skin of individuals of the same society. (McIntosh; James, 263- 264) Effect of the privilege on the white and the non white population of the society Racism is an issue that is not seen by the white population of the society as being ‘self interested or self seeking’ in the words of McIntosh. People belong to the white class of the society can be concerned and worried about racism without being too much concerned for it. They took it for granted the privileges they enjoy in their everyday life. The varieties of privileges enjoyed by them are something that is deserved by and for each and every individual in a just society. The color of their skin is thought to be an asset for them which they could use in their advantage in every aspects of life. According to McIntosh the favor that they gain from the society as conferred by their birth are misleadingly represented as privilege, as they work in the empowerment of certain group of people of the population systematically and helped them in enjoying positions of dominance in the society. Racism does not affect most of the students of the society belonging to the white class as they not belonging to the group of the people of color. Since being the dominant group of the society they enjoy the advantages that are not enjoyed by the people of color and hence automatically they are the deprived group of the society subjected to various distress, harassment and insecurity living in the same society. Being white is reflected as a power to those individuals belonging to the white population of the society (McIntosh; Jensen, 2) 4. White population and the white privilege The white populations of the country both at their conscious level of thinking and at the unconscious levels have deeply embedded racism which is like a psychological disorder, for a very long period of time. The white populations of the society are almost crippled intellectually by the act of racism that provides them the privileges of being the white. The children of the white class are often found to be miseducated. What can be concluded is that the psychological development and the intellectual thinking and growth of the White population of the American society have been hindered by racism thus somehow contributing to the limitations of the growth potentials of the whites. (Katz, p 17- 18) There has been a growth of the process that brought the differentiations in the aspects of race. Differentiation in spiritual and mental thinking of individuals belonging to different race and the integration of the difference in their physic are the great characteristics that define the process of growth of racism of mankind. (Bois, 7) 5. Resisting White Privilege in the American society Yes, White Privileges can be resisted with due efforts from the white population and their realization of these advantages they enjoy and the fact that every success of theirs is not achieved by merit alone. Professor John Fobanjong asserts about himself that he has not been the brightest writers or teachers despite being hardworking and not guilty of his paycheck (Forbajong, 92). In his heart he knows that he has not reached here by merit alone and his race has been a great advantage. He talks about second rate professors being lead into the profession merely on grounds of their fair race. Taking into consideration the White Privileges enjoyed by the white population, there is the need for a structural change in the radical patterns of the society are out of their view at present. There is the need for egalitarian reforms in the society. (Feagin, 261) There can be a change in the racism and White Privileges, if there is a change in the attitude of the white people. The responsibility lies in the hands of the whites for invalidating the assumptions of by birth privileges and power embedded in the social, cultural as well as the intellectual thinking of individuals. The responsibility lies in the hands of the creators of white privilege solely and not in the hands of the sufferers. Thus a broad overall change in the thinking of the society of the whites in the country will only be able to bring some changes in this social pattern. (Lund and Colin, 11: McIntosh) Hence, to conclude it can be said that for the want of a just society there is the need of united living considering each and every individual of the society equal, allocating them equal rights and freedom of living. References 1. Bois, W.E. Burghardt, The conservation of races, The American Negro Academy Occasional Papers, No. 2, 1897 2. Feagin, Joe, R, Racist America, Taylor & Francis, 2009 3. Guess, The Social Construction of Whiteness: Racism by Intent, Racism by Consequence, Critical Sociology, 2006, 32. 4, 649-672 4. James, Joy, The Academic Addict, Blanche Radford curry 5. Jensen, Robert, The heart of Whiteness, City lights books, 2005 6. Katz, Judy, H, White Awareness, University of Oklahoma press, 2003 7. Lund, Carole, L and Scipio, A, J, Colin, White privilege and Racism, John- Wiley and Sons, 2010 8. McIntosh, Peggy, White Privilege and male privilege, Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, 1988, working paper 189 9. This is your nation on White privilege, Wise, Tim, Sept, 2008, 2nd May, 2011, from http://www.redroom.com/blog/tim-wise/this-your-nation-white-privilege-updated 10. Wise, Tim, J, White like me, Soft Skull press, 2005 11. Fobanjong, John, Understanding the backlash against affirmative action, Nova Publishers, 2001. Read More