Growing up I was privileged enough to live in a suburban area. I grew up in a small town with the typical ‘white picket fence’ stereotype. I grew up in an area that never experienced a high level of crime. As a full time student at Westfield State University, I have been lucky enough to receive a college education. I have been privileged enough to receive an undergraduate degree from a public university. I am receiving a degree in Communication. As a future communication work, I would be considered ‘a guard of the system’
As a communication student, In regards to police brutality and racism, I am already seeing the media play a significant role in todays society. Currently, our major news outlets are filled with stories of police brutality. …show more content…
In the beginning of the book, Wise talks about the difference between white and black families tracing back their ancestry. Wise discusses how far back he was able to trace of his families history. For most white people, it’s fairly easy to trace back a few hundred years. For people of color, it tends to be more challenging to find further ancestry due to enslavement. For me, tracing back ancestry was something I never considered as a privilege. Tim Wise describes white privilege as “For those of us, called white, whiteness simply is. Whiteness becomes, for us, the unspoken, uninterrogated norm, taken for granted, much as water can be taken for granted by a fish (Wise, 2).” Tim Wises idea of white privilege ties in well with another point from “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisbile Knapsack.” Refererncing back to the article, number 21 states : I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.” Personally, I never found a time where I had to speak on behalf of white people as a whole. Wise explains that people could learn about racism by looking at our experiences as whites. For example, “All whites born before, say, 1964 were placed above all persons of color when it came to the economic, social, and political hierarchies that were to form in the United States (Wise, 3).” By taking a look at our United States history, we can see the inequality of black people versus white
As a communication student, In regards to police brutality and racism, I am already seeing the media play a significant role in todays society. Currently, our major news outlets are filled with stories of police brutality. …show more content…
In the beginning of the book, Wise talks about the difference between white and black families tracing back their ancestry. Wise discusses how far back he was able to trace of his families history. For most white people, it’s fairly easy to trace back a few hundred years. For people of color, it tends to be more challenging to find further ancestry due to enslavement. For me, tracing back ancestry was something I never considered as a privilege. Tim Wise describes white privilege as “For those of us, called white, whiteness simply is. Whiteness becomes, for us, the unspoken, uninterrogated norm, taken for granted, much as water can be taken for granted by a fish (Wise, 2).” Tim Wises idea of white privilege ties in well with another point from “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisbile Knapsack.” Refererncing back to the article, number 21 states : I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.” Personally, I never found a time where I had to speak on behalf of white people as a whole. Wise explains that people could learn about racism by looking at our experiences as whites. For example, “All whites born before, say, 1964 were placed above all persons of color when it came to the economic, social, and political hierarchies that were to form in the United States (Wise, 3).” By taking a look at our United States history, we can see the inequality of black people versus white