White Privilege Essay Example for Free

livid Privilege EssayHow America came nigh is fascinating, and learning ab step forward immigration, rights, laws, and racialism makes learning more(prenominal) beneficial. It helps you to under carry why we, as a nation, be they way we ar today, and why we depart continue to be stuck in our ways. According to pile Barrett and David Roediger, The fiction of Ameri mickleization is vital and compelling, just now it took place in a nation also obsessed by subspeciesthe process of becoming snow-clad and becoming American were connected at every turn (36). maven of the most controversial topics is white favour and discrimination.Segregation within work systems has been a possessive caper in the ultimo and will always continue to be. Being privileged is a something that individuals should be apprised of due to their past and understand that it is a privilege to be white rather than to be discriminated against. decorous advised of superstars confess white privile ge is the first step to understand the deeper content of racism and discrimination. My intentions of writing this paper were to describe a seat in which I was conscious of my own white privilege.White privilege was always on my side until salutary(prenominal) school where I felt up as though I was discriminated against as world a petite, white girl, from upper-class Allendale leaving me to been seen as an easy target. plot of land at my locker one day during lunch, I was approached by two of the pitch- slow students (one male and one female) and a Latino girl, and they tried to convince me something hurtful was written astir(predicate) me in the bathroom. Being that I am not the type to c atomic number 18, get snarled, or respond, I dark to passing game away. The Latino girl proceeded to grab my hair causing me to turn and face her and she punched me squ are in the face. afterward several minutes of gage and forth wrestling and punches, the fight was broken up my teache rs. It turns bulge out that there was nothing written intimately me, they were just trying to get me into the bathroom to fight me, opposed to the manse which is out in the open. All terce of the students that were there were taken to the principals office straight and suspended for two days whereas I got off free and I was allowed to go back to my day. During the while of the day, one of the African American men left the principals office in delirium and had a mission to destroy all my functionings in my locker.The boy pried open my locked and poured a bottle of soda all over my books, note books and belongings. After I reported this to our principal, he held the three students involved in the fight until one person came clean about who had been at fault for ruining my locker. It turned out, that no one admitted to it, and they were all suspended even longer than originally for not fessing up. The following week, none of the three students awaited my highschoolschool school anymore and I was told by my principal that they left to attend some other(prenominal) high schools in environ towns. After this incident, I energize never come into take with any of them ever again.However, several of my male friends found out what happened that day and wanted nothing but to get revenge and retaliate against them and show them who gushs the high school, being that whites are minority. I became very conscious of my white privilege growing up in a one-square mile suburban town of Allendale, new-make Jersey. My entire educational career through eighth grade consisted of white, middle-to-upper-class Americans. All the heap were similar, with the same morals, value and beliefs. Everyone dressed similar and drove similar cars, partook in the same activities and hung out in specific niches.At this point in my life, I could say I could correlate my life to Peggy McIntoshs article when she describes the hyaloplasm of white privilege There was one main piece of cultural turf it was my own turf, and I was among those who could the turf. I could measure up to the cultural standards and take advantage of the many options I saw approximately me to make what the culture would call a success of my lifeI could hark back of my ego as belong in major ways, and of making social systems work for me. I couldbe oblivious to anything removed of the dominant cultural forms (295).It wasnt until high school where I thought I would potentially move out of my small town bubble. My high school is regional students from Allendale, along with the surrounding towns of Ho-Ho-Kus, Upper attach River and one-half of Saddle River attended. Being that I came from such a white school system, the thought of going onto high school and being surrounded by students of other races and ethnicities is something that never crossed my mind. I was never taught about the disadvantages of being white, but rather I learned about sicks and their disadvantages of dealing wit h racism.Over the years, little was taught about racism and what it stood for, instead we were just told that this is what happened to people when they were of different races and ethnicities back in the day. The article by Peggy McIntosh describes how whites are taught to think of blacks As a white person, I realized I had never been taught about racism as something which put others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege , which puts me at an advantage(291). Being white was never something that I had to deal with in or outside of school, or even within my community.I wasnt necessarily shocked to walk into high school my first day to find only a select fewer of Latinos and African Americans. However, these were things that I never thought about or even had to think about. The few Latinos and African Americans came from Upper Saddle River and Saddle River. I was never stereotypical of these groups of people until I was surroun ded with people from towns that had engaged with these people all the way up through high school. The Latinos in my school all stuck together, as well as the three African Americans that attended my high school.I savour as though this particular agency involved me having the white privilege advantage and it seems as though my white privilege helped to get me out of trouble. I should take aim gotten in trouble for self defense and throwing punches back, but I feel as though since I had never caused problems before, and they had been the center of most of the problems I was let go with no punishment. The students that got in trouble, were seen as troublesome students because of their past, where I had a clean record with no reason to suspect I was the start of the brawl.Considering my school is mostly do up of white students and entirely white faculty, when the three students got in trouble, it was probably a stereotypical decision based on non-whites. Blacks have always endured p ain and twisting as, victims of discrimination, segregation, and violence, blacks in the North encountered a powerful cluster of negative racial images. These stereotypes contributed to the conditions of racial degradation and poverty, which, in turn, reinforced prejudice (Takaki 107). This excerpt further explains that stereotypes stick and the negative racial images will forever be a part of the everyday lives of blacks.The primary reason of why the accompaniment occurred, I believe dates back to sundown towns. Beginning in about 1890 and continuing until 1968, white Americans established thousands of towns across the United States for whites only. A sundown town is any organized influence that, for decades, was all-white on purpose. Many towns drove out their black creations, and then posted sundown signs. Other towns passed ordinances barring African-Americans after dark or prohibiting them from owning or rent property.Evelyn Nakano Glenn helps to further explain the regulat ions, White controlled municipalities passed ordinances creating racial zones. When these laws were found to be unconstitutional, whites formed neighborhood associations and turned to close arrangements such as economic boycotts, violence, and restrictive covenants. These restrictions deprived blacks of a central element of liberal citizenship, videlicet property rights (37-38). This is proof that the African-American populations had no choice but to leave because they werent welcome.No one would support their businesses or wanted anything to do with them they were literally driven out of these towns and wouldnt stand a chance if they stayed. Being that the town of Allendale where I grew up was a sundown town, which is the most obvious interpretation as to why I grew up surrounded by all whites. Moving onto high school, the other regional towns of Ho-Ho-Kus and Upper Saddle River were sundown towns as well. This plays a huge role in the situation at my high school because people of color and different races are focused on more and white students carry all the dominant privilege.If I had been a different race I think the entire situation would have never occurred because I would probably be a person that was know for affiliating with them. If I had been black, I would have probably felt like I should stick with the other three black students in the high school. The situation would have been the same if I were Latino or another race. Segregation still takes place in America and being one of only a few black families within your community will be a repetitive cycle for black families tone to move to our dominantly white community.According to Douglas Massey When avenues of spacial assimilation are systematically blocked my prejudice, and discrimination, however, residential sectionalisation increases and persists over time. New Minorities arrive in the city and settle within enclaves, but their subsequent spatial mobility is stymied, and ethnic concentratio ns increasewhereupon group members are forced to adjacent areas, thus expanding the boundaries of the enclave (225). I feel as though since my region of New Jersey is predominantly white, what would things mixed bag now?Why would blacks and ethnic families feel inclined to move to a neighborhood where they stand out? Especially for African-American families, my town along with the surrounding towns do not sell African-American hair products in any of my supermarkets or pharmacies nor are there salons where African-American women can go to get their hair braided. My community has adjusted to the white population and being that my town is so small, I feel as though it would take dramatic lengths to change the way our community functions.Being white, I feel as though I benefited from the complete situation because I did not get in trouble for punching the girl back, and I did not get suspended. I was allowed to return to my day at school as though nothing happened while they were kep t in the front office until school was let out and were suspended for the rest of the week (2 days). This experience made me think about my race in a different way because I had never encountered issues with non-white people, because I was never around them. Coming from a primarily white school, white students stand to make white privilege stick out like a sore thumb.It helped me to understand that white people dominate my school population and that this would have never been an issue if the school had always been made up of a majority of other races and ethnicities. It is as if the select few minorities felt as though they needed to stand up for themselves and prove that just because there are so few of them they can still run the school. The three students involved, I feel, chose to leave due to feeling like they were discriminated against and treated differently than other students.They could have felt mistreated or felt that being out numbered was a disadvantage for them. Movin g to surrounding schools definitely made them feel like they belonged better because I know there were mixed groups of people outside of our high school district. Being that ninety-nine percent of my school was white could have made the few students feel intimidated and make the white students angrier and feel the need to gang up on them after this incident, almost to prove their white privilege.This incident correlates to issues of citizenship and my ability to participate as a full and equal member of American society because I suffered no consequences from the incident except for a bally(a) nose. A bloody nose is a temporarily occurrence but because of what happened, it hasnt affected me being a full and equal member in the American society. It has however, affected the minority students at my high school, and drove them away. As described by Evelyn Glenn, At its most general level, citizenship refers to full membership in the community in which one lives.Membership in turn impl ies certainreciprocal duties toward the community (37). These black students are citizens but they do not live in a community with other African-Americans reside. They can be still be involved in the community but the families as a whole might not be as eager to get involved as they are outnumbered and may feel their voices may not be heard or make a difference. There are a few potential long term consequences of white privilege for myself that will be with me as long as I live.Being that Quinnipiac University is not very diverse, but more diverse than my high school, it was difficult to get used to seeing people of color and different ethnicities every day. I do not believe growing up in an all white community has been beneficial to me, and I wish I was more natural around people of different races and ethnicities. It is unrealistic to say that I will never have to deal with this, but in the real world, and when finding a job, you will be presented with a variety of people that m ay even become more of friends rather than co-workers.somebodys accent or skin color does not determine what kind of person they are, it is their temper that makes them who they are. I also believe in regards to the incident, if I had been at fault, and was suspended for my actions of self defense, I would have not been able to attend a prestigious school such as Quinnipiac. When applying for colleges, most applications engage if you have ever been suspended, such as the Quinnipiac application which asks if you have ever been suspended or lost(p) significant time from school.I would have then had to explain the situation and how I was suspended for self defense. If colleges see that you are a troubled student, and have a record for misbehaving, they will not give birth you to their school. Community colleges of lower rankings will be more willing to accept a student with a past, rather than a private school like Quinnipiac University. Discrimination and segregation still exist t oday. The past makes up the present so learning about what people of all races and ethnicities went through in chronicle is important as a citizen of the United States.Everyone, in some way, or somehow, has dealt with discrimination whether it is you or friends and family. While on the other hand, it is imperative to pay attention to your privileges and understand what it means to be American. Works Cited Barrett, James E. , and David Roediger. 2005. How White People Became White. Pg. 35-40 in White Privilege Essential Reading on the Other perspective of Racism, 2nd Ed. , Paula S. Rothenberg, Ed. New York Worth Publishers. Glenn, Evelyn, Nakano. Citizenship Universalism and Exclusion. Pg. 18-55 in Unequal Freedom How Race and Gender Shaped American Citizenship and Labor.Cambridge Harvard. Massey, Douglas S. How Space Gets Raced. Rethinking the Color Line. By Charles A. Gallagher. 3rd Ed. New York, NY McGraw-Hill, 2007. 225. McIntosh, Peggy. 1997 White Privilege and Male Privileg e A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Womens Studies. Pg. 290-99 in Critical White Studies Looking Behind the Mirror. Richard Delgado Jean Stefancic, Eds. Philadephia Temple University Press. Takaki, Ronald T. A Different Mirror A History of multicultural America. New York, NY Back Bay, 1994. 108.