The idea of White Privilege has been conversed, debated, and analyzed since the late 1980’s. Although one thing the term has yet to succeed upon is being understood and then, in turn, brought into society beneficially. In the present day, there are many individuals who still do not believe white privilege is a legitimate belief and/or know the feeling of being “woke”.
Many times, the groups who do not believe in this idea have yet to grasp America’s history and the struggles white groups have put onto minorities. For the amount of years when slavery and segregation were in place is substantially higher than the amount of years without either of those attributes. (It was only 40 years ago that segregated schools were demolished.) With a history that is so indulged in oppression, it’s going to take the equal amount of time America experienced that violence, to get to actual full rounded economic and social equality. Unless of course, society finds a way to come together quickly.
In the same manner, other individuals who do not believe in white privilege can come from poor economic prosperity (during their adolescence) and/or recognition of decreasing help from the government. The white groups a part of lower economic circumstances simply can not fathom that they are "privileged" when in their home life they struggle to eat, pay bills, and simply succeed on an everyday basis. Although, the privilege that they need to accept, has to be thought upon in a different manner.
When a black male or female walks onto the streets, they are 10x more likely to be pulled over by a cop. When a black male or female is applying for a job, they are more likely to be declined based on their name, physical appearance, and even past bias. Past bias can be explained as tensions from America’s past still intact with the current social reactions. For example, a wealthy, white businessman in late 40’s could have had parents who lived in times when segregation was acceptable. As his parents were prospering in the 1940’s or 1950’s, they would have had a 50/50 chance of supporting the violence put onto African Americans. In turn, their beliefs were sprung down onto their children, and now the current businessman carries those oppressive views from his childhood into his current system and choices. Not to mention the recent poverty rate expressing "45.8 percent of young black children live in poverty, compared to 14.5 percent of white children".
Recently, there has been another form of white privilege involving the shooter Stephen Craig Paddock. Anytime a white male destructively reacts or kills, as Paddock did earlier this month, both the media and judicial system can never seem to either 1) prosecute him as soon as possible or 2) consider him a national terrorist. Instead, many media platforms and judges analyze his behavior to try to figure out why the white man did what he did and why. Over ten media companies have interviewed Paddock’s family, girlfriend, and close friends so we can get a “better picture” of Paddock. What for? Even though everyone knows he did what he did (even Paddock himself), the American society still tries to come up with a mental excuse for the white man; like he is mentally unstable, needs help, or was simply just another guy on the streets. On the contrary, if a black male (or any other minority for that manner, especially a Muslim) did what Paddock did, the man would be put into jail with a simple record check and would’ve been quickly shamed by the American public.
These are just a few examples on what white privilege could be categorize among, how it works, and why feelings stem from where they stem. Although, there are many other scholars and books out there discussing the topic in a deeper form.
Now, one would believe that since the idea of white privilege has been established and analyzed since 1988, there would be some sort of progress established by 2017. Unfortunately, the list of what privilege is and what makes someone privileged (created by Peggy McIntosh) hasn’t been fixed or put into society at all - it has just been consistently debated. That in itself, says a lot about how America fixes its many social inequalities.
