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By: Moussa Yarori
“Privilege” [Oxford Dictionary - A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group] is a term that’s more than often associated with rather negative ideas. Advantage, entitlement, right, and undeserved benefit. This is because the term refers to an explicit difference in status when looking at both “The privileged” and “The unprivileged”, and refers to a state of elevated status when looking at only “The privileged”. This difference in status almost always translates to a difference in treatment, leading to inequality. One’s privilege may be based on sex, religion, association, social class, age, and nationality. But, when discussing White Privilege, the idea of Race and its applications are of great relevancy.
What is White Privilege:
Wikipedia defines “White Privilege” as “... the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies”. But, more than everything, White Privilege is an inherent net of safety “offered” to White individuals. A net of safety that works to shield them from certain experiences, interactions, and preconceptions Black individuals don’t have the luxury of being protected from. These advantages are often unquestioned and go unnoticed, making White Privilege a lethal weapon. But, more specifically, White Privilege is often seen as “Non-existent” to the White individuals who benefit. They often believe these advantages are universal, and that these benefits are experienced by all. And, because recognition and identification are the first steps to deconstruction, White individuals’ tendency to ignore their privilege in America make it all the more difficult for Black people to fight systemic inequality.
What Does White Privilege Look Like?
Similarly to Racism and Discrimination, White Privilege can take many shapes and forms. Here are a few examples...
- White students and employees often being favored and shown more lenience by Administrations.
- White people having much more positive relationships with Police and the Justice system, generally.
- White people being able to learn their history through core curriculums, rather than electives or secondary classes.
- White people never having to deal with lack of representation, whether it be in politics, the beauty industry, the entertainment industry, the modeling industry, etc.
- White people being able to exist outside of the stereotypes associated with their race.
Why a discussion on white privilege must be made:
Unfortunately, White privilege does not exist as its own entity. Rather, it works as the heavier object on a scale. For every instance a White individual benefits from their whiteness, people of color are held back, shown harsher treatment, and impeded. In cases where White individuals use their whiteness as a weapon, White privilege can result in unjust arrests, punishments, and even deaths. White privilege allows White people to remain ignorant on aspects of life that threaten the safety and happiness of POC daily. When we refuse to discuss White privilege, we continue the cycle of injustice, inequality, and undeserved pain people of color have faced in America far too long.
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