Dear Stickywicket,
What exactly is “white privilege?” I have heard that term, and as a white person, I want to know what I can do about it?
~Dave Thorsen
Cincinnati, Ohio
Dear Dave,
Numerous authors, academics scholars and social activists have debated the concept of white privilege. Dr. Peggy McIntosh, associate director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, published an essay addressing the existence and underlying principles of white privilege. She developed her thesis while conducting studies on male privilege.
In the essay, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, she defines the privilege as “an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was meant to remain oblivious . . . an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks.”
McIntosh suggests 26 rewards and conditions accompany “white” privilege. Though she admits, the conditions were developed in an “untutored way,” here are two items from her list:
“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.”
In a 1994 report, prompted by a lawsuit against Maryland State police — Dr. John Lamberth of Temple University discovered that although 17.5 percent of the population violating the traffic code on the road he studied was black, more than 72 percent of those stopped and searched were black. An analysis of Missouri traffic data showed similar results. While American Indians represent less than one percent of the population, they account for 10.38 percent of all traffic searches. Hispanics represent 2.2 percent of state’s population, but account for 14.96 percent of all traffic searches.
“If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area that I can afford and where I want to live.”
In an undercover study, the National Fair Housing Alliance dispatched agents to 12 metropolitan areas to assess the actual levels of housing discrimination. The 2008 study revealed that 87 percent of the testers were steered away, or toward, certain areas based on their race. In one example, a white male, real estate agent produced a map of Brooklyn and drew redlines around the areas where the white homebuyer should look for homes. He drew arrows to identify neighborhoods that were “changing.”
University of Texas professor, Robert Jensen, notes in a similar essay printed in the Washington Post: “I am as white as white gets in this country. I am of northern European heritage, but raised in North Dakota, one of the whitest states in the country. I grew up in a virtually all-white world surrounded by racism, both personal and institutional…What does that mean? Perhaps most importantly, when I seek admission to a university, apply for a job, or hunt for an apartment, I don’t look threatening. Almost all of the people evaluating me for those things look like me — they are white. They see in me as a reflection of themselves, and in a racist world that is an advantage.”
What can you do about all of this? We believe that’s a question only you can answer. Acknowledging its existence is a start — depending on where your beliefs stand. Whether or not you take action, searching for understanding is a good first step.