I have always thought that there are privileges to being white, but reading the White Privilege article was eye opening. I never thought that much into it, but so many of the things listed are things most white people take completely for grated. Growing up there were a lot of black kids in my classes, maybe even more than white kids in elementary and middle school. I never even thought about it until now. I grew up in a very liberal family and was taught to be accepting of people from all ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. I feel like for many white people, it is so easy to criticize people from other racial backgrounds, not because white people think they are better but because they are the majority. Poking fun at race, religion, and sexual orientation has become so normal in this country, I feel like most people don't even think about it. Comedians and television programs exploit the differences in race and any other defining factors about people. Many people are used to it, and I'm sure a lot of people are still offended and hurt by it.
In America, we have gotten used to a way of life focused around heterosexual, white men. It has been that way from the beginning. As this country becomes more and more diverse, and as different ways of life are becoming more accepted, these narrow views are changing. I see more and more people every day proudly and happily showing off their sexual orientation, and displaying cultural heritage. It's fabulous! That is what America is supposed to be about, freedom of choice for everyone. I know there are still a lot of old fashioned people, as well as just plain ignorant people, but it is becoming more and more acceptable to be open about your choices. I mean, the KKK still exists, and have quite a few members, but they have absolutely no power, as they did years ago. It just goes to show that kind of thinking it dying off. Thankfully.
I believe that we do take for granted our privileges of being white. Like you, I also came to realize all the privileges we have and it helped me understand it a lot better.
ReplyDeleteComedians are softening our thoughts on the matters of sexual orientation, religion, race, ethnicity, etc., and they are dampening our anger at jokes about our "own kind," but they cannot make us quit having anger at all when something that we are is considered less than it is.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the KKK's power dying off is living proof of the re-shaping of people's views on race and ethnicity. Another example that kind of goes with that was the Nazis. Even an army who killed off more than 6 million people could not prevail in making the earth a "solid white" sphere.
There are many benefits to being White in this country and around the world in general. These benefits are known collectively as "White privilege" and while many might deny it, White privilege is quite real. Now obviously, no one in their right mind besides a true racist is going to openly declare "I'm giving him/her this because he/she is White!". Most times, certain beliefs and stereotypes about specific minorities have become so ingrained into some White people by society or by those closest to them that they exhibit this kind of behavior or discrimination towards minorities subtly, or sometimes unconsciously. The fact that they didn't ask for these advantages or that they didn't realize they were receiving them doesn't make the concept of White privilege untrue. However, this is not to say that all Whites are to blame for the discrimination, but all Whites benefit from it nonetheless.
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