“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. For example, increasing commercials and ads for tracing an individual’s heritage or genetic makeup, such as “23andMe” and “Ancenstry.com” have become mainstream commodities in American society. Such commodities attract affluent white individuals interested in discovering their “sense of belonging and connectedness to others with firm identifiable pasts, potential royal lineage, and to whom spoils of advantage were owed in each subsequent generation” (Wise 2011:7). Genealogy practices as these “offer something empowering [to whites] to have the ability to trace your lineage back hundreds of years, while so few persons of color can” (Wise 2011:6-7). Because “white privilege” exists, it has further divided whites and persons of color, fostered ongoing violence/apartheid, and will be difficult to uproot, unless an agent of change—awareness—dispels the myth of colorblindness. Born and raised in America, I am a white female citizen.
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Others perception of my whiteness is mutual, although I can recall during grade school, having red-hair sparked people to assume I came from Irish lineage. This quick assumption from others exemplified how easy it is to judge and label others solely on extrinsic appearance—much like the plight of people of color—deemed inferior if seen as having “even an ounce of blackness”. “For whites, the process of racial identity development is typically far slower than for people of color. As the dominant group in the United States, whites too often have the luxury of remaining behind a veil of ignorance for years, while people of color begin noticing the difference in which they are viewed and treated early on” (Wise 2011:27). Because of wealth gaps, white children tend to be raised in racially homogenous communities and schools—thus gaining little to no exposure to anyone who is not white (Wise 2011:27). My personal identity has developed heavily from my role as a military dependent. With both parents serving in the Air Force during childhood, my family constantly moved from place to place—to which I attribute my early understanding of race. In each new location, I gained insight and experienced cross-cultural traits of non-white communities. Majority of the time, having white status has instilled in me a sense of security, particularly through monetary gains and receiving quality education. I pair financial stability with education, as it has been proven by numerous studies that obtaining a degree, increases the job opportunities, thus attributing to a higher salary. In having money to pay for schooling, I have been able to cultivate my talents of creative writing and art of which many individuals of color are not afforded the chance. For example, Wise recounts his childhood in saying that he was “educated at one of nation’s finest universities, which [he] had only been able to access because [his] mother could take out a loan using [his] grandmother’s house as collateral—a house that had only been accessible to [his] family because [they] were white” (2011:176). As a white, having numerous options available to me, stems less from a foundation of struggle and hard work, but more so due to the pervasiveness of white privilege. Though I fall under the metaphorical “umbrella” where homogeneity and having bleached skin is deemed “superior”, I struggle to accept that the advantages I have accrued have been nothing but beneficial. For example, Wise describes a study in which black and white individuals were asked to create a list of what they cherished most by being a member of their respective races. “Looking at the items mentioned by people of color, one couldn’t miss the fact that all attributes listed were actually about personal strength or qualities possessed by participants, in which they took real pride. The list was tangible and meaningful. The white list was
Others perception of my whiteness is mutual, although I can recall during grade school, having red-hair sparked people to assume I came from Irish lineage. This quick assumption from others exemplified how easy it is to judge and label others solely on extrinsic appearance—much like the plight of people of color—deemed inferior if seen as having “even an ounce of blackness”. “For whites, the process of racial identity development is typically far slower than for people of color. As the dominant group in the United States, whites too often have the luxury of remaining behind a veil of ignorance for years, while people of color begin noticing the difference in which they are viewed and treated early on” (Wise 2011:27). Because of wealth gaps, white children tend to be raised in racially homogenous communities and schools—thus gaining little to no exposure to anyone who is not white (Wise 2011:27). My personal identity has developed heavily from my role as a military dependent. With both parents serving in the Air Force during childhood, my family constantly moved from place to place—to which I attribute my early understanding of race. In each new location, I gained insight and experienced cross-cultural traits of non-white communities. Majority of the time, having white status has instilled in me a sense of security, particularly through monetary gains and receiving quality education. I pair financial stability with education, as it has been proven by numerous studies that obtaining a degree, increases the job opportunities, thus attributing to a higher salary. In having money to pay for schooling, I have been able to cultivate my talents of creative writing and art of which many individuals of color are not afforded the chance. For example, Wise recounts his childhood in saying that he was “educated at one of nation’s finest universities, which [he] had only been able to access because [his] mother could take out a loan using [his] grandmother’s house as collateral—a house that had only been accessible to [his] family because [they] were white” (2011:176). As a white, having numerous options available to me, stems less from a foundation of struggle and hard work, but more so due to the pervasiveness of white privilege. Though I fall under the metaphorical “umbrella” where homogeneity and having bleached skin is deemed “superior”, I struggle to accept that the advantages I have accrued have been nothing but beneficial. For example, Wise describes a study in which black and white individuals were asked to create a list of what they cherished most by being a member of their respective races. “Looking at the items mentioned by people of color, one couldn’t miss the fact that all attributes listed were actually about personal strength or qualities possessed by participants, in which they took real pride. The list was tangible and meaningful. The white list was