White Privilege: Unearned Benefits Based on Race
White human beings in North America enjoy unearned benefits due to their race. They receive greater public profiles for many of the most important occupations. The whites have a lot of privileges of which different races do not have. This paper addresses this difficulty in detail.
The Role of Luck and Privilege in Success
Many students people in North America have succeeded not due to the fact of their hard work however because of good fortune and privilege. Mayorga-Gallo, 2014, a grade two anthropologists, refers to white privilege as a racist ideology. However, it is worth noting that human beings are not born with racism. There is no any natural biological cause of racism (In Bergo & In Nicholls, 2015). Racism is part of human culture. Culture is acquired, external, and transmissible. Racism includes patterned, repetitive ways of acting, feeling and thinking. Anthropologist argues that racism can be best understood as a cultural phenomenon and not biologically.
Impact of Race and Ethnicity in Education
Race and ethnicity have been very rampant in most colleges and universities in North America. Schools and universities have successfully attracted a lot of underrepresented minority students. The education system in many educational institutions in North America has been structured in such a way that it discriminates against non-white students (Mayorga-Gallo, 2014). For instance, most black and Hispanic students are forced to attend open-access institutions having being denied access to elite selective colleges.
Disparities in College Enrollment
Between 1995 and 2009, the highest percentage of students enrolled in open access two and four-year institutions were blacks and Hispanic students. Their rate of enrolment during this period ranged between 68 percent and 72 percent respectively (Mayorga-Gallo, 2014). On the other hand, among the students enrolled at the most selective four-year institutions, around 82 percent were fresh white men.
Consequences of Selective Enrollment
Selective enrollment has adverse effects on the education sector in North America. Most student who attend open-access education institutions rarely graduate. There are dramatic results in the earning ability of the black and Hispanic students who fail to complete their studies. This results from the fact that the whites privileged due to their skin color which leads to racial differences. In North America, there exist stubbornly persistent and profound ethnic and racial differences. These differences are characterized by educational, social economic, and occupational status among others.
The Role of Higher Education in Perpetuating White Privilege
The higher education system in North America has become a passive agent in perpetuating White privilege. There is an intergenerational reproduction of white privilege in most universities. The unequal enrolment in schools due to racial segregation has rendered the undermined groups in active in economic development activities.
The Impact of White Privilege on Post-Secondary Education
The post-secondary school system in North America mimics and magnifies racial inequality. The inequality is projected into the labor market (In Bergo & In Nicholls, 2015). With this regard, there is a sense of deprivation amongst the discriminated groups. As stated above, this group entails mostly people with black and Hispanic origin.
Challenges Faced by African-American and Hispanic Students
The education curriculum has not been spared by the increase white privilege in North America. Most African-American and Hispanic students rarely undergo the full education system successfully. Most of them are denied a chance to do so at the expense of the whites. Many of them are unprepared for college (Mayorga-Gallo, 2014). However, some of the whites, who are as surprised as the Black and Hispanic students, have access to more postsecondary opportunities than their counterparts. For the few black and Hispanic students who are accorded this chance, almost half of them do not graduate due to socioeconomic problems which are magnified by racial disparities.
Added Vulnerability for Underrepresented Minority Students
Anthony P. Carnevale argues that race is an added vulnerability that makes low parental education, low income and other destructive variables more powerful. There is a widened chasm between the underrepresented minority students and the elite colleges. This is caused by the failure of these schools to accommodate them at the expense of the whites.
Impact of White Privilege on Immigrant Students
Immigrant students in North America have suffered much due to white privilege. There has been apparent stratification for decades, and it has gotten worse (McIntosh, 2000). Little attention is given to the immigrants both in school and outside of school. This impacts negatively on their academic performance which in turn affects their living standards.
The Social and Psychological Effects of White Privilege
The social lives of the undermined minority group are affected by white privilege. White privilege on white college campuses subjects the undermined minority to the feeling of isolation, alienation, loneliness, and marginalization. The privileged white students are the leading cause of these problems (In Bergo & In Nicholls, 2015). The result of this is the loss of authentic, growth-inspiring relationships among students. The unrealized practice or hegemony and acceptance of white privilege worsens this condition. White privilege causes anger or depression to the undermined groups.
Effects on Integrity and Sense of Self
White privilege leads to loss of integrity in the education system. This happens when student’s relationship with each other go unexamined. The segregated minority groups are forced to take a longer time to complete their studies. The white students spend less time in school than the blacks (Mayorga-Gallo, 2014). They get better training, research opportunities and credentials than their counterparts (McIntosh, 2000). This helps the white to advance while the discriminated group suffers a lot. With this regard, the credibility of the education system that is characterized by white privilege is very low.
The Fragmented Sense of Self in Students
White privilege also leads to a fragmented sense of self. Nature provides white students with lots of advantages in life. There is automatic skin privilege in North America in almost if not all fields of life. Students of color feel the effect of this opportunity. They are oppressed and socialized into a worldview which is suboptimal to their living standards (McIntosh, 2000). This brings a sense of dividedness among the white and the color students (McIntosh, 2000). This is what leads to the fragmented sense of self as the whites feel superior while the undermined group fell disadvantaged by such a system dominated by white privilege.
Power Distribution in Schools
The distribution of power in schools is based on the cornerstone of white privilege. This is witnessed in both students and teacher’s leadership (McIntosh, 2000). The non-white students are oppressed and sometimes denied their freedom. The white students who are the dominant group in the line privileges enjoy the luxury of obliviousness (McIntosh, 2000). They have the freedom to live unaware of what they are participating in and the impact they have on the other students.
The Historical Context of White Privilege
The concept of White privilege has deep historical roots in North America. There exists an arena of diverse interests that lead to white privilege. For instance, in the early 20th century, America was characterized by European immigration (In Bergo & In Nicholls, 2015). The immigrants were disparaged for their racial and cultural peculiarities. They were discriminated against and subjected to assimilation as a way to avoid being victimized. All this was done by the white people whose main aim was to maintain their superiority of other races.
Conclusion
Conclusively, many residents of North American are living with the dread that they didn't merit their prosperity and that perhaps fortunes and privilege had more to do with it, than brains and diligent work (In Bergo & In Nicholls, 2015). There are various explanations behind the across the board segregation at all levels, yet the principle purpose behind the presence of separation is a privilege to a specific group of individuals and far-reaching social partiality towards special gatherings of individuals (McIntosh, 2000). Contrasts between individuals have dependably existed (In Bergo & In Nicholls, 2015). However, they pick up in significance just when are of distinctive importance given to specific variations, so it makes benefits (McIntosh, 2000). Individuals who are favored in one society are frequently not mindful of their privilege (Mayorga-Gallo, 2014). It is anything but challenging to be unmindful of the interest. The issue of segregation is exceptionally mind-boggling, and no excellent recipe would fathom it.
Race as a Social Construct
The world is characterized by human variation. Among them is genetic group variation. There is concrete evidence that racialized groups are not genetically discrete. According to Bergo, racialized groups cannot be reliably measured. The race is not biological and cannot be scientifically measured. According to Bergo, the race is not a product of some biogenetic variation.
Race and Human Biological Variation
Race bears no intrinsic connection to human biological variation. It emerged after the contact of different groups from different continents (In Bergo & In Nicholls, 2015). The concept “race” can only be described anthropologically and not biologically. It is a social construct and lacks biological meaning. This means that the use of black and white as biological variables is not only erroneous but also misleading.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in North America
In North America, there exist stubbornly persistent and profound ethnic and racial differences. These differences are characterized by educational, social economic, and occupational status among others.
Racism as a Cultural Phenomenon
Humans are not born with racism. There is no any natural biological cause of racism. Racism is part of human culture. Culture is acquired, external, and transmissible. Racism includes patterned, repetitive ways of acting, feeling and thinking. Anthropologist argues that racism can be best understood as a cultural phenomenon and not biologically.
The Historical Roots of White Privilege
White privilege has deep historical roots in North America. There exists an arena of diverse interests that lead to white privilege. For instance, in the early 20th century, America was characterized by European immigration (In Bergo & In Nicholls, 2015). The immigrants were disparaged for their racial and cultural peculiarities. They were discriminated against and subjected to assimilation as a way to avoid being victimized. All this was done by the white people whose main aim was to maintain their superiority of other races.
The Fallacy of Genetic Differences
The existence of whites and blacks in America is not enough evidence of the life of discrete groups. The scope of human diversity overrides any proof of this two teams as being distinct. There is concrete evidence to support this statement (In Bergo & In Nicholls, 2015). Specific racial genes do not exist. For instance, there is no single absolute genetic difference between Africans and Europeans.
References
In Bergo, B., and T. In Nicholls. "I don't see color": Personal and critical perspectives on white privilege. 2015.
Mayorga-Gallo, S. Behind the white picket fence: Power and privilege in a multiethnic neighborhood. 2014.
Mayorga-Gallo, S. "Behind the White Picket Fence." 2014. doi:10.5149/North Carolina/9781469618630.001.0001.
McIntosh, P. White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. S.l, 2000.
