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White privilege is ignored by whites in society because we live in a nation of white dominance. Whites most often ignore the fact that blacks and other minorities do not enjoy these advantages. McIntosh defines white privilege as the many advantages white people enjoy, often seen as normal, and are largely unnoticed by society. Peggy McIntosh describes white privilege as “an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.”(Calihealth). All of these things listed are seen by whites as the “normal” things that are available to all in society, ignoring the fact that Blacks, Asians, Latinos, and other minorities do not have ready access to or enjoy these privileges. White privilege, expressed by McIntosh, is the ability to be surrounded by those of the same race, not being subject to constant surveillance in public, being included as a positive part of history, being able to conveniently shop for “American” foods and hygiene products, dropping in at any barber shop for a haircut and someone working there having the knowledge to perform the cut of my choice, and the list goes on and
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This privilege creates an ease that other races do not have, nor will they ever have, until the white race acknowledges that privilege exists. The white race acknowledging their privilege would mean agreeing that racism exists, and the white man would have to give up his power, agreeing that the other races have been oppressed by the white race. The racial identity of a white male or white female seems to be hidden, underlying, and almost secretive. "White" people have been placed on a pedestal for a long time, leading to stereotypes about other races that perpetuate the inequality(Recupero pg 1). White privilege has existed throughout history and is still a touchy subject in white society today. White privilege exists in almost every function of daily life from education, housing, finances, and even healthcare. Education, no child left behind, a right for all American youth, none of these things advertise that the best educators are saved for the white students. Mortgage lenders request that the “race” box be checked, only to discriminate, offering higher interest rates to minorities, and approving loans only in “minority” neighborhoods, usually those with lower property values consisting of low quality education, high crime and poor environmental awareness. In these lower class neighborhoods, quality healthcare is unavailable or severely inconvenient, while the white neighborhoods enjoy highly educated doctors, hospitals and clinics at every corner. Somewhere in our cultural unconscious lies the image of the brutal, animalistic, sexual savage. This image was created long ago as part of the cultural work that was done to make whites feel better about slavery. But even now, with slavery long gone, the images are still part of our cultural system and they impact the cultural meanings of white and black
This privilege creates an ease that other races do not have, nor will they ever have, until the white race acknowledges that privilege exists. The white race acknowledging their privilege would mean agreeing that racism exists, and the white man would have to give up his power, agreeing that the other races have been oppressed by the white race. The racial identity of a white male or white female seems to be hidden, underlying, and almost secretive. "White" people have been placed on a pedestal for a long time, leading to stereotypes about other races that perpetuate the inequality(Recupero pg 1). White privilege has existed throughout history and is still a touchy subject in white society today. White privilege exists in almost every function of daily life from education, housing, finances, and even healthcare. Education, no child left behind, a right for all American youth, none of these things advertise that the best educators are saved for the white students. Mortgage lenders request that the “race” box be checked, only to discriminate, offering higher interest rates to minorities, and approving loans only in “minority” neighborhoods, usually those with lower property values consisting of low quality education, high crime and poor environmental awareness. In these lower class neighborhoods, quality healthcare is unavailable or severely inconvenient, while the white neighborhoods enjoy highly educated doctors, hospitals and clinics at every corner. Somewhere in our cultural unconscious lies the image of the brutal, animalistic, sexual savage. This image was created long ago as part of the cultural work that was done to make whites feel better about slavery. But even now, with slavery long gone, the images are still part of our cultural system and they impact the cultural meanings of white and black