What is White Privilege?
Six things we can do about it!
Activists talk about people of color being treated differently by the country. And they are right! Throughout written history, (See These Truths by Jill Lepore for an extremely well-written view of American History.) The conquerors of indigenous people have subjugated them and treated them differently. This was a contributing factor that led to the founding of the colonies in America. Our Founding Fathers saw equality and Justice for all. Unfortunately, they did not solve the problem that burdens us from history. That of White Privilege.
Christine Emba defines White Privilege in her Washington Post article as a level of societal advantage that comes with being seen as the norm in America. They confer it upon you because of the color of your skin. Professor Peggy McIntosh in her article on White Privilege: Unpacking the Knapsack (https://nationalseedproject.org/Key-SEED-Texts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack) that white privilege is something they teach us. It is an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day. So what are we talking about here? White privilege is a concept that means in a situation, my being white gives me an unconscious advantage over an identical person of color. Professor McIntosh gives a list of 25 examples to support her thesis.
The bias has existed throughout our history. Perhaps now is the time to come to grips with these biases and move society forward. Let’s build on the work of Martin Luther King Jr. and all those in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and make another huge jump towards equality for all.
Here is a list of 6 things we can work on to get measurable results.
1 Admit it exists and you Have it. Much like the alcoholic and drug addict you have to admit the existence in you before you can work to conquer it.
2. Provide sensitivity training to police, government employees, and everyone who interacts with the Public. Once you understand you have this bias, you catch yourself when it arises and treats each person equally.
3. Begin a public awareness campaign to praise diversity and help the public understand that to be different isn’t necessarily bad. In fact, our country was historically proud of the melting pot of America.
4. The social agencies, courts, welfare, hospitals, banks, and others need the training to treat people equally. There should be no difference between white and people of color for qualifying for government loans or getting permits for business.
5. Admission policies at all schools need to be reformed and not based on the color of a person’s skin. We should hand scholarships out based on a fair system that ignores the skin color of the applicants.
6. Voting rights have to be equally available to all, not subject to the whim of whichever political party is in power. This is a foundational right of all Americans under our democratic form of government.
Working on these problems has to start at the top. As long as our government and business leaders, our institutions and society refuse to see the biases we hold. Changes will be a long time coming. We have lost the respect of people both within and outside our country because we aren’t living up to the expectations of our founding fathers.
We are at a dangerous tipping point in our country. At a fork in the road. We must become reoriented and pay more than lip service to the tenants of Democracy, we must move closer to the ideals of Democracy. Find a forum in your community to take part in discussions about these topics. Find solutions, for now, that move us back on the road towards our democratic principles.
Martin Luther King Jr. Said:
“True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
