White Racism In America

Improved Essays
Our country has a very rich history, or so we are taught. We are taught that english immigrants battled native american savages and the british for their freedom, but what they don’t mention is the fact that the native americans were only protecting their land from invaders. History books tell the story of how wealthy plantation owners helped build our economy. However they don’t mention that our economy was built off the backs of hard working slaves. This is the history of our country and what helped create modern day white supremacy.

White supremacy has been in north america since its “discovery” in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Once europeans began to invade, the country they would soon call the United States, the native american population
…show more content…
White privilege helps with white supremacy. It has created a divide among races since the lives and ideas of white people are see as better than any other races ideas. So because of this divide black culture is seen as “ghetto” and “trashy”. Another example of white privilege can be seen the police force and criminal justice system. African americans and white sell illegal drugs at the same rate but african americans are four times more likely to be arrested for the possession of marijuana and ten times more likely to be sent to prison for drug offenses. This shows that whites clearly have an advantage when it comes to confrontation with the criminal justice system and the …show more content…
Many may say that racism is far gone from our country but it 's everywhere, from college students singing racial slurs to african american students, to whites requesting for a white history month. Racism has rooted itself in this country and does not plan on leaving anytime soon. We treat racism like it 's a sensitive topic that should rarely be addressed whenever it appears and attempt to pass it off as nothing else. If this continues to go on we will more than likely be seeing more people like Dylann Roof, appearing in the news for a short time for his actions then forgotten like what he did was nothing.

However there are many who think white privilege is just a myth. That those who are white are treated on an equal platform as those who are not white. White privilege is a construct created by those who want to feel oppressed, so they may have something to fight about. The percentage of poor whites are ignored by the “oppressed” which shows that they are only attacking the rich whites. This however this not true, african americans are assisted by the whites who live in lower income households. They understand the fight against those who are white and privileged because they are fighting it

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    When asked to describe what they saw “95 percent mentioned a black person” (Johnson Ch. 15 Pg. 454). When in fact, 85 percent of people who buy, sell, and use illegal drugs in the United States are white, claims Johnson. Furthermore, colored people are often identified as “nonwhite,” a term “that doesn’t tell us what they are, but what they are not.” As a result, when a society recognizes white people as superior, advantages will mostly be available to whites simply because they are socially identified as “white,” according to Johnson.…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege,” Peggy McIntosh, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack. Ms. McIntosh has written a treatise on white privilege, beginning with a reference to materials she has used in Women’s Studies on male privilege. She sees a correlation between male privilege and white privilege, that being in a group of individuals (men) who are not willing to see themselves as privileged, although they admit women are disadvantaged. In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack by Peggy McIntosh she was persuasive about white privilege being a problem in society because the majority of white people do not acknowledge white privilege.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Unearned Privilege

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What exactly is white privilege, one might say? White privilege is knowing that one has unearned privilege but choose to ignore the meaning of it. " White Privilege Shapes the U.S" by Robert Jensen, first appeared in the Baltimore Sun on July 19, 1998. In this editorial, Jensen speaks about his personal experience on white privilege and how being white can give them more unearned privilege than those of other races. Furthermore, Jensen states that unearned white privilege was given rather than by working hard for it, but faces the choice on how they use it, and to admit they have benefitted from it.…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An Ever Changing Country Although it has been decades since slavery ended, racism is still a profound controversy in the United States today. Charles Blow describes some of these levels of racism and its effects on people in the United States in his article “White America’s ‘Broken Heart’”. The article, as can be deciphered by the title, is about how white Americans today are handling the changing situations of equality in the United States. Blow published this article February 4, 2016, on The New York Times’ Opinion Pages on their website. Many Americans assume that racism is almost completely gone in today’s society, but Blow believes that it still lingers and is affecting the health of Caucasians in America.…

    • 1010 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After some decisions made in recent court cases, society brings about the term “white privilege” quite often. Some in society say that white people may get less harsh punishments for the same criminal act than a person of color. Others in society say that their claims are untrue, leaving the question about whether white privilege is or isn’t an actuality. In the article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack” published online at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, author Peggy McIntosh claims that white people do not acknowledge white privilege because they are taught not to notice it.…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In Tim Wise’s video, The Pathology of White Privilege, Tim Wise elaborates on several race-related issues and discusses the affects of white privilege as we see in our daily lives. From the beginning, Wise states, “This study found that between 1991 and 2000, there was almost one million African Americans in the United States who died, who would not have died if they merely been white and had the average health care quality and access of the typical white man in this country” (Wise, 2008, 6:29-6:43). Wise proposes that such information is not shared nor discusses within society as it is described to be ‘institutionalized injustice’ and because it is systemic - Wise suggests that our system is flawed and the United States’ law enforcement…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    With white privilege comes a certain power. Wielding white privilege in your fist gives you the ability to argue that historically black colleges are racist, to argue that you suffer as much as the next person of color does, to scream and rally “All Lives Matter,” all the while denying you have this sort of power. Many white people do not know of its power, they do not know of its strength. However, they possess and use this strength in ways which they do not even realize. Without the acknowledgement of this power, people of color are left powerless and will continue to be abused by this system of bias.…

    • 1660 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “White” Like Me At the heart of American culture is the concept of racism; a continuous cycle perpetuated through years of injustice by slavery, violence, segregation, and hatred. Much like the symbolic “tree of life”, racism’s roots extend deep into the earth, drawing sustenance from each member of society. Yet in that survival tactic, it unconsciously steals a little more from one side—this is white privilege. “White privilege” is a mere social construction by which the dominant white group justifies their advantages and higher quality of life through diminution of people of color. To be a member of the white race, it is easy to overlook subtle inequalities—such as the wealth gap, career opportunities, education, etc.…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    White privilege is a topic that is always existing and has for a period of time, but it is not talked about that often and actions are not taken against it. This issue is difficult to diminish because the majority of people that are in authority are most like to be caucasians who are in that position thanks to the power of white privilege. It has cause many problems and caused many cases of unfair of treatment anywhere from inside a personal household to a community, to the society, and all the way to the institutional level, and can be the source of systematic discriminations as far as to the federal government and to the supreme court. 
Unfair treatment in the workplace, in the social justice system may be an effect for life threatening issues. An example of this that I wall be discussing in my paper will involve a case that happened recently, comprised of the association with an African American victim and a Caucasian authority.…

    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    What is white privilege? There have been many police brutality reports that show young black men being killed by white officers for no reason. The officers accused do not get convicted properly. In the court system, African Americans are ten times more likely to get an improper conviction for their crimes. An African American male is convicted of crimes they do not commit.…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    White privilege is defined by the actions that majorities and minorities commit against each other. This entails the way people speak as well as the way society interacts with other. Although, there are many contributing factors to why white privilege is still standing today. Education, law enforcement, and social mechanics all have the potential to be reformed, and changed, for the betterment of the forthcoming generations. The key to equality is to plan for the future by producing new ideas that promote the values that many civil rights campaigns so vigorously advocate.…

    • 1269 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    White Privilege in America "White privilege" is the idea that white people unintentionally and automatically get certain perks and advantages that people of color do not receive. Many do not believe in such a concept because in America, all people are suppose to be equal, however, it is easy to see that a white person is treated differently than a person of color solely because of the color of their skin. White people living in America receive numerous “perks” on a daily basis. A number of people that get these perks probably do not stop and realize they are getting something that a person with a darker colored skin could not get. For instance, if a black woman went to a clothing store to find nude undergarments, she would most likely have a difficult time finding something that matched her skin tone because most items that are “nude” match a much lighter skin tone.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Privilege is a right, advantage, favor, or immunity specially granted to a specific individual, group, or class, and withheld from certain or all others. White privilege is a form of social privileges that solely benefits white people and excludes people of color. For some apparent reason many people become blinded, ignorant, and oblivious when white privilege becomes the topic of conversation. “White Privilege is the other side of racism” (Rothenberg, 53). Although we live in a country where we are constantly told all men are created equal, there is an overt contradiction to the ideology simply because of conspicuous white privileges.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    All throughout history, white supremacy has existed. From slavery to segregation, whites have always seemed to have some type of authority over people of color. Within today's society, white supremacy shows in many ways with a modern touch to it. Several people do not believe in white supremacy or ignore it, but the more people know about the less it will occur. White supremacy in today's society includes in the media, wealth and workplace, and in school systems.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Importance Of White Privilege In Society

    • 1560 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 3 Works Cited

    White privilege exists in almost every function of daily life from education, housing, finances, and even healthcare. Education, no child left behind, a right for all American youth, none of these things advertise that the best educators are saved for the white students. Mortgage lenders request that the “race” box be checked, only to discriminate, offering higher interest rates to minorities, and approving loans only in “minority” neighborhoods, usually those with lower property values consisting of low quality education, high crime and poor environmental awareness. In these lower class neighborhoods, quality healthcare is unavailable or severely inconvenient, while the white neighborhoods enjoy highly educated doctors, hospitals and clinics at every corner. Somewhere in our cultural unconscious lies the image of the brutal, animalistic, sexual savage.…

    • 1560 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 3 Works Cited
    Great Essays