White Privilege In American Culture

A few weeks ago, I was with a very good (female black) friend at another friend’s apartment just enjoying a relaxing Saturday night. However, the parking in the apartments was very limited, so my friend and I decided to park in handicap spots (yes, I know, shame on us). Later that night when we were walking to our cars we realized that her car had been towed, but mine had not. She definitely had the right to be mad, but she then went on to say “Ugh, screw you and your white privilege”! This dumbfounded me for someone to think that simple luck of her car being towed over mine was actually some mysterious force that gave certain protection to me because of the color of my skin. Also, the fact that she expected me to feel guilty and say sorry for having a lighter skin pigmentation than her. Why should someone have to apologize for what …show more content…
The amount of privilege someone has is set by their race, gender, economic class, sexuality, and even citizenship. It is evident that when you open an American history book, you’re going to be taught through the perspective a white historian, and not that of a Native American. Or if I was to go to my local supermarket, that I could easily find staple foods to my cultural diet. White privilege is definitely alive and cultivating in our society, however, people shouldn’t have to feel guilty about it. One of the main issues with white privilege being tossed around everywhere is the fact that people expect others to apologize for being white. It’s not like they chose to be born white into a caucasian dominated society. Life is not a game where when you’re in your mother’s womb you get to decide to play life on easy (being white) of hard (any other minority). People shouldn’t have to say sorry for something they had no control over, but they also shouldn’t have to have all their accomplishments in life be labeled as a product of white