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. However, Jensen's editorial makes great points but some of his point needs to reconsidered. White privilege doesn’t apply only to white people,
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It's rather simple what Jensen is trying to say here, that being white they have experienced white privilege at least once in their lives but, there is a point that needs to be added into. What if a white couple adopted a child who is not white, yet this adopted child is receiving the same unearned privilege that Jensen did? Does that mean this adopted child has some type of white privilege? Jensen also defines white privilege as knowing that one has unearned privilege but choose to ignore the meaning of it. If the adopted child lives with a white couple and is benefitting from this white couple, does that consider having white privilege or is it based off the way an individual look, like the color of their skin. However, imagine if the adopted kid did go to a nice well-funded school, gets a good job, and benefitting not just from the white parents but also, the community. Therefore, consider that maybe because the adopted child grew up in a white community; the white community accepts him or her, that's why he/she is able to receive such advantages. The bigger picture is to think about the types of families and communities and that most times, white privilege doesn’t apply specifically to all the white population, maybe it's those who are consider themselves in the white community that have white …show more content…
Jensen is not alone on this one because being an Asian American myself, I sometimes wonder if I have it better compared to my parents. As an Asian American, we hear stories of our parent's pain and struggle, but yet we are selfish not realizing what our parents had to go through, especially when coming to America. Sometimes in life, everyone faces the confusion of their hard work and success, and question if it was due to unearned privilege. However, Jensen fears that because he didn’t experience much hardships, he feels like it's too easy on him and yet he should realize that everyone faces unearned privilege in their lives. Just imagine being the children of immigrant parents, where they tell stories of their struggle growing up in a dangerous place where gun shots are heard every day. To especially not having an education or not being able to finish school because the need to provide for their family. Being the children of immigrants, having our parents pay for our education and not have to worry about paying bills and sit around all day would be another great example of having unearned privilege: knowing that one benefits from something but chose to ignore that they have it. Therefore, it really depends on the community and place a person lives, and maybe their personalities
It's rather simple what Jensen is trying to say here, that being white they have experienced white privilege at least once in their lives but, there is a point that needs to be added into. What if a white couple adopted a child who is not white, yet this adopted child is receiving the same unearned privilege that Jensen did? Does that mean this adopted child has some type of white privilege? Jensen also defines white privilege as knowing that one has unearned privilege but choose to ignore the meaning of it. If the adopted child lives with a white couple and is benefitting from this white couple, does that consider having white privilege or is it based off the way an individual look, like the color of their skin. However, imagine if the adopted kid did go to a nice well-funded school, gets a good job, and benefitting not just from the white parents but also, the community. Therefore, consider that maybe because the adopted child grew up in a white community; the white community accepts him or her, that's why he/she is able to receive such advantages. The bigger picture is to think about the types of families and communities and that most times, white privilege doesn’t apply specifically to all the white population, maybe it's those who are consider themselves in the white community that have white …show more content…
Jensen is not alone on this one because being an Asian American myself, I sometimes wonder if I have it better compared to my parents. As an Asian American, we hear stories of our parent's pain and struggle, but yet we are selfish not realizing what our parents had to go through, especially when coming to America. Sometimes in life, everyone faces the confusion of their hard work and success, and question if it was due to unearned privilege. However, Jensen fears that because he didn’t experience much hardships, he feels like it's too easy on him and yet he should realize that everyone faces unearned privilege in their lives. Just imagine being the children of immigrant parents, where they tell stories of their struggle growing up in a dangerous place where gun shots are heard every day. To especially not having an education or not being able to finish school because the need to provide for their family. Being the children of immigrants, having our parents pay for our education and not have to worry about paying bills and sit around all day would be another great example of having unearned privilege: knowing that one benefits from something but chose to ignore that they have it. Therefore, it really depends on the community and place a person lives, and maybe their personalities