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Lesson 12: White Privilege

Social ProblemsRobert Wonser

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The Flipside to Disadvantage

Racism and discrimination disadvantages some but benefits others in the form of an invisible unseen privilege.

According to McIntosh, “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks. ”

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Invisible knapsack refers to the unearned resources (carried in the Invisible Knapsack) that are not in broad view or intended to be seen.

Introduction to Sociology: Race and Ethnicity

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* I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.* I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.* I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented* If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.

Invisible knapsack

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White Privilege

White privilege (or white skin privilege) is a term for societal privileges that benefit white people beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people in the same social, political, or economic circumstances.

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The term denotes both obvious and less obvious unspoken advantages that white persons may not recognize they have, which distinguishes it from overt bias or prejudice.

These include cultural affirmations of one's own worth; presumed greater social status; and freedom to move, buy, work, play, and speak freely.

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The concept of white privilege also implies the right to assume the universality of one's own experiences, marking others as different or exceptional while perceiving oneself as normal

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Academic perspectives such as critical race theory and whiteness studies use the concept of "white privilege" to analyze how racism and racialized societies affect the lives of white people.

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‘Life Hacking’ as White privilege

James Altucher recently posted a short piece on Quora entitled, How to Break All the Rules and Get Everything You Want.

In this piece, Altucher — whose Wikipedia page contains the phrase “ran a fund of hedge funds” — recounts the tale of taking his daughter out for a fashion show and some ping-pong. When he is not on the list at the fashion show (a friend had promised to add him), he manipulates his way in. When the ping-pong venue is closed due to a private event, he manipulates his way in and plays ping-pong at someone else’s party.

He believes his fun evening provides a lesson for us all: “Don’t break the laws. Don’t kill people. Don’t steal. But most other rules can be bent.”

James Altucher thinks he has written an article about “getting everything you want.” He has actually written an article about white privilege. (And probably class privilege, and male privilege, and maybe some others.)

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You know that fun game you play at Chinese restaurants, where you add “in bed” to everybody’s fortune? You will achieve great success this year … in bed.

I have a related suggestion for Altucher’s article. Just add “if you’re white” or “because I’m white” to each generalization or anecdote in the article. For instance:

“I find when you act confused but polite then people want to help if you’re white. There was a line behind me. I wasn’t fighting or angry. So there was no reason for anyone to get angry at me, because I’m white.”

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Louis CK Enjoys Being White