“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
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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
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