Part 1
Privileges refer to benefits, immunity, or a right enjoyed only a person or a particular group of people. White privilege encompasses unearned power that has been systematically conferred to whites over the years (Rothenberg, 2011). What other people, consider as privileges, some whites consider being normal daily experience conditions that are available to all people. Some of the earned entitlements include free speech, feeling safe in places that are considered public spaces, being valued for the contributions one can make in the society and being able work in places that enable them to fulfill their potential. For an individual born with access to resources and power, privilege may not be easy to perceive or see(Rothenberg, 2011). However, white privilege is quite visible to people who were not granted the privileges.
White privilege encompasses institutional benefits granted to whites (based on race) and is reflected by the people dominating the powerful positions within American society and institutions. White privilege is characterized by greater access to resources and power than non-whites (Rothenberg, 2011). In other words, whites enjoy such privileges purely because their skin color allows doors of opportunity to be opened to them but not to the people of color. For example, whites in the U.S are more likely to obtain housing loans than their non-white counterparts.
The white power structure tends to reward people who conform to its standards and views. White collective has little reward or motivation for individuals and groups who speak out against race-based discrimination or those who support anti-racist agendas. White privilege is characterized by benefits of access to social rewards and economic resources as well as power to influence the values and norms of the society that white people receive because of their race (Rothenberg, 2011).
Part 2
White privilege is considered invisible because many whites go through life without knowing about the existence of white privilege or even realizing that they be enjoying this privilege. It is a privilege characterized by automatic benefits right from the time a person is born and one does not have earn this privilege (Kendall, 2013).
Individuals who are not aware of the privilege enjoy certain advantages that create inequality in the society. Minority groups’ racial identities are based on race examination but the whiteness of a group or a person remains unexamined phenomenon in terms of racial identity. The normalcy and non-particularity of whiteness contributes to its transparency.
While racial privilege is a dominant factor in today’s society, it remains unclear to people experiencing it (Kendall, 2013). Being white is an invisible privilege to some whites. White is considered a dominant race in the world and that comes with certain invisible powers. It is not easy for a person to see life from his or her perspective. There is also a possible that whites could be genuinely naïve throughout their entire life about white privilege which they learned from white culture, unconsciously (Kendall, 2013).
Whites are raised in a manner that makes them not to recognize white privilege. White privilege encompasses invisible unearned benefits that a white person relies on everyday but which the white person was trained to remain oblivious of.
Domination also works in manner that renders dominant group invisible and unexamined. In the American society, when people talk about race, the minority groups such as Latino, African Americans and Asians come to mind. It is rare for people to think about the dominant group. In the modern society, people hardly talk white culture or whiteness in racial terms. Racism is another factor that helps sustain invisible white privilege because it perpetuates the white-superiority ideology.
Part 3
Both class and race and have climbed to the top of America’s collective consciousness (Jensen, 2005). Race is portrayed as a social construct and racism is portrayed as a social problem that afflicts the mainstream society as well as its institutions and structures (Jensen, 2005).Race has material consequences even though it is socially constructed. In the American society race is deeply embedded in the constitutional and economic foundations. The celebrated concepts of freedom and liberty were applied in the constitution and the first revolution from a male and white perceptive. People of color as well as women had to fight for the ideas of freedom, liberty and equality to be extended to them.
The income gap between the races is one of the manifestations of the relationships between race and class. Income inequality remains high in the American society. Race and gender intersect with class in a manner that allows them to influence people’s relationships to privilege and power (Jensen, 2005). The differences in wealth, income, occupation and education by race shows the way some Americans enjoy white privileges.
As whites we can go shopping without any fear that they will be harassed, whenever they turn on their televisions, they see whites are whites represented and whenever someone talks to us about civilization or our national heritage we are told that it is whites who made it happen. White children are also taken through academic curricula that demonstrate the existence of white race. If a white person want to move to another location, it is highly likely that he or she can afford a house in the area where one wants to live in.
References
Jensen, R (2005). The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege. Cornwall: Polity, Press.
Kendall, F (2013). Understanding White Privilege: Creating Pathways to Authentic Relationships across Race. New Jersey: Pearson, Press.
Rothenberg, S (2011). White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism. New York: Worth Publishers, Press.
