“We are just performing our normal routine check sir”, was what the immigration officers told me while they allowed the white man behind me go without checking him thoroughly. This scenario got me thinking, was the white man allowed to pass easily because of his color? White Privilege has become a worldwide pandemic, whereby whites are getting undue advantage in every aspect of life, based on their skin color. White Privilege has also given them an indirect right to do anything bad or against the law, knowing they will not be disturbed or called into question for it. “If you are not white, you are not right”. It can be argued that most white people are being neglected for their transgressions and are given biased or unequal chances in life.
We can argue that white privilege also comes into play when appointing leaders or heads of organization. In Robert Jensen’s article on how White Privilege shapes the United States, he talked about the partial nature of the white society, and questioned whether he got to where he was by merit. White are mostly heads of co-operations, heads of departments, managers, just to name a few. But the question is, did they get there on merit? Every company you go to, you see the boss being a white person. I also expected my Professor to be white too. That’s a normal notion. You go to interviews, expecting to be interviewed by a white person, whose boss is also white. A typical image of a Doctor is a white person, so is a Dentist, Bank Manager, or a Head of a department in a school. From Robert Jensen’s thoughts, I came to the conclusion that some might have gotten there because of their color. Must a bank manager be white? Must the head of a department or a Professor be white? These factors show that White privilege controls everything we do.
Another occurrence that bothers me is being asked your skin color, when filling out a job application. The skin color has nothing to do with the abilities of an individual. This now makes it easier to get a job, based on the color requirements, which is mostly white. Also, In commercials today, most of the characters are white. On billboards, it is also the same, also in cartoons too. Even when the characters are black, the voices are of white people. It also happens in movies too. Why can’t the reverse be the case? I shake my head in disappointment at white privilege.
Also, whites tend to get overlooked when they do things unacceptable, but a person of color, most especially black, is always scolded and castigated for doing wrong. The Young Turks, an online News agency, talked about the neglect of white people’s transgressions on things a person of color would be condemned for. They talked about Sarah Palin’s daughter who got pregnant while not yet married. When the news surfaced, people gave all types of excuses, saying that it was their personal life and should not be used to judge. But if it were to be a black or Latino family, they would have said they showed the disgust in typical black or Latino families.
Also, It was discovered that Sarah Palin had attended five different colleges, and failed, eventually making up her courses at a community college. Anybody with this kind of record is not fit to hold any leadership position. But nobody said anything. She is considered by many as the perfect politician, and was allowed to run for presidency. But if it was President Obama, he would have been condemned by the press, of not being serious at school, thereby not being capable of leadership. If a White person possesses a gun, nobody would be afraid of what he might do. But let a black man hold a gun, people would be afraid of him, expecting him to cause harm. I can go on about the gains of white privilege, but it does not mean it will stop.
With all these going on, I become afraid that I might not be given the recognition I deserve for my works, in the future. It makes school seem like a waste of time, when someone you are a lot better than, gets the position you have worked for, because of his color. White privilege is also an indirect way of racism, which does not seem like ending. It is here to stay. But people should get whatever they deserve, no matter what circumstance. I do not see the big deal in a person of color, being at the top, neither do I see the reason why everyone should not be redressed equally, for any transgression.
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