White Privilege In Our Society

Privilege refers to a special right, advantage, or immunity that is available to only a particular person or group of people. Most people relate privilege to the word earned. For example, many parents tell their teenage children that driving is a privilege and not a right. The truth is that not all privileges are earned nor are they always enjoyed. White privilege creates advantages for white people that other races cannot always say that they have. White people do not always like or create the perks received from white privilege. Many everyday activities include different privileges that are often unrecognized because they become the norm in our society. The first example of a daily effect of white privilege that I selected is that “I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.” This is considered white privilege because people of other races cannot always say the same. When looking at this statement, the biggest issue involved is racially profiling shoppers. …show more content…
The statement above shows that white people are privileged because they don’t have to worry about their co-workers thinking they got the job based on being white when the company uses affirmative action policies. Since these policies are geared more towards minority groups that are usually discriminated against, people of different races might feel like their co- workers think that they got the job based solely on the fact that they aren’t white. In affirmative action environments, bosses look towards an applicant’s skills and resume rather than any other factors unrelated to work such as race, gender, or