What Is White Privilege? (21st Century Skills Library: Racial Justice in America)

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Not all white people are privileged.” While it is true that some white people face economic or social disadvantage, white privilege refers to the systemic advantages that white people as a group enjoy.

White privilege manifests in a variety of ways, both overt and subtle. Some examples of white privilege include: While scholars in some other countries have recently used the term to elucidate systemic patterns of inequality in their own societies, in other countries scholars have been more dubious about the concept. Multiple Supreme Court rulings demonstrate the importance of a thoughtful review process to ensure that schools offer students free access to various viewpoints. In Its Pico ruling in 1982, the court found that “access to ideas makes it possible for citizens generally to exercise their rights of free speech and press in a meaningful manner. Such access prepares students for active and effective participation in the pluralistic, often contentious society in which they will soon be adult members.” Also, last year in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., when it found, “America’s public schools are the nurseries of democracy. Our representative democracy only works if we protect the ‘m arketplace of ideas.” Criminal justice: People of color are more likely to be stopped, searched, and arrested by law enforcement, and more likely to receive longer sentences for the same crimes. Race as a political category is loaded with the histories of racial extermination and racist politics in some places and less so in others. In France ‘white privilege’ could be perceived as provocative because it challenges the French universalist narrative and the modern conception of citizenship and a common will.White people are being discriminated against now.” This argument ignores the historical and ongoing systemic discrimination that people of color face, and the fact that white people have historically held and continue to hold positions of power and privilege. John: We've been engaged in a global conversation about race and racism. You've probably had discussions at home, at school or at work, and in those conversations you've probably heard the term white privilege. You maybe even had this term used in a way that felt like an insult or an accusation. Others will have told you that it's all just made up to make white people feel bad… and none of this is right. Compassion is a key to education, and, therefore, is at the heart of our trainings, partnerships, and resources. Providing experiences that cultivate compassionate learners is a key in achieving social justice. Where might this type of anger and hatred come from? I want to speak specifically to white folks here. I am one, and, for the past six years, my work for equity and racial justice has focused predominantly on educating white students in a way that impacts hearts, minds, and, as they move into the world, systems. What I have discovered is that hatred and anger that lead to violence and oppression stem from a false belief in one’s personal superiority, desire for power, and in one’s belief of deserving better. Just consider the term “white supremacy.” Derived from the Latin term supremus, meaning “highest,” is the term refers to an ultimate and evil elevation of the white race. When that belief or elevation that one puts their hope in is threatened (perceived or in actuality), anger and hatred erupt as one believes they are being robbed of something which they are owed. This, I believe, is at the root of white supremacy, and it hurts all people, even the supremacists. Undone Consulting is an educational consulting company that provides teacher and student training, curriculum planning partnerships, and educational resources to empower educators to bring about authentic and justice driven change to students, schools, and community. Undone consulting is driven by the following values:

While the concept of white privilege has gained widespread acceptance among scholars and activists, it is not without its criticisms. Some of the most common counterarguments against white privilege include: Counterarguments Against White PrivilegeConstructions of whiteness and its associated privileges are shaped by different – sometimes contradictory – histories of racial discrimination and racial justice activism. This is because understandings of race and racial categories, as socially constructed categories, remain inconsistent and unequally salient across space and time. Educators are on the front lines of the fight for social justice and should be treated with the utmost respect and integrity. There are lots of types of privilege out there, the privilege of being born into a wealthy family versus a poor family is kind of obvious, but then there's the privilege of being able-bodied versus having or acquiring a disability that most of us take for granted. I have two very close friends who are wheelchair users and I'll be honest, when I first met them I was completely ignorant about the everyday ways their lives are made harder through no fault of their own. Some of these ways are simply thoughtless, but some of them are just the way we live, just the way we build infrastructure, just the way everything works that just makes their life harder than mine. That's just one of the ways that I am privileged and understanding that, embracing that, doesn't make me a bad person, but ignoring it raises the chance that my friends will be excluded in ways that are not obvious to me and as their friend I can't allow that.