Privilege is a special right or availability to do/own something that is either granted or earned. Privileges are benefits that are often unique which other people may not have. Everyone has a privilege but privileges vary based on environment, gender, ethnicity, and economical status. Things like where you live, how much money your family has, and your racial background all have great impact on the kinds of privileges you have. Having more privileges can lead to power and it can be used in both positive and negative ways. Privileges come in many different forms for different people and play a bigger role in our lives than we believe.
One of the biggest factors that determines what privileges you have is money. The amount of money people have
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Where a person is born and where there family is from is a factor in how people percieve or treat you. The different in treatment means some ethnicities have more privaleges than others. On top of that, within racial backgrounds a gender can be more privaleged than another depending on the sitation. Today in America, white people have more privaleges than any other race does regardless of the writing that says we are all equal. A great example can be related to how cops are treating people of different races today. Many altercations have surfaced where police officers treat white people with more respect than other races like Africam Americans and Latinos. This can be described as white privale. Because whites are the majority in the United States, they have been granted better treatment. In a situation where it exists, a white person can be less likely to get a ticket and may be let off with a warning while a person of another race may actually end up getting the ticket with no warning. Another time where an ethnicity have better privaleges than another was during the civil rights movement. Whites during this time had the privaleges of better schools, better treatment in stores, and an overall better lifestyle. Many blacks did not have the right to sit in the front of the bus, go in any store they wanted, and were treated unfairly by police. On top of privalege varying between race, it can also vary between …show more content…
Your location may be more privaleged than another which means you live a better, more privaleged lifestyle. Based on your location you may be surrounded by people who are less likely to commit crimes, you may live in better housing, and may have the option to eat better kinds of food, In the United States we are privaleged compared to other countries like Africa. Here in the United States we have the privalege of using whatever whenever we want, have big houses with electricity to shelter is, and have good food available for us to buy. People in less fortunate countries like Africa do not have these privaleges. Many children in Africa starve to death because it is hard for them to ration food or drink clean water. Also, many dont live in homes which means they do not have the option of using electricity. Another way a location can be more privaleged than an other is how easy things like crops can grow. States like California may be more privaleged than states like New York because food/crops grow easier. The more privaleged a location is, the more privaleged its people
When I read “Checking My Privilege” written by Tal Fortgang, a freshman at Princeton University, it made me stop and think. What does privilege mean, how should it be used and does it affect me and my life? Fortgang never really states the exact meaning of the word privilege but goes on to complain about the mistreatment of the word and how it is a form of reverse racism; could that be true, I wondered? However, he also claims that privileges do not exist based on race or gender, and that is something I do not agree with. I imagine many people will not agree with his stance on the word privilege or mine, as a matter of fact. Mainly because the word privilege has a different
What I mean by this is that their privilege is dependent on where they are located and are dominant in that area. The example in the essay “The Unexamined” that Ross gives when he was going to Rome illustrates this very clearly. As he says that the white people have the privilege of being unexamined, it depends on how good they fit in with others in the same area. When he was in his city everyone around him had similar features so he would blend in easy. In this case nobody would examine him, or point a finger on him, hence the being in a privileged group opinion he had about himself. But all this would change as soon as he moved to another place, where people have different features then his. He would stand out from the rest, losing his group’s privileges as unexamined. So in order for Ross to maintain his group’s privilege he has to maintain his geographic location. Another example that shows that privileged groups maintain their privilege by staying in the same location is of that of people who are part of a gang. Being in a gang you have the privilege of having power over other people who are not part of your gang. Everyone is afraid of you and nobody would come against you. I’ve seen this in a lot of different movies that I like to watch during my free time. Members of different gangs taunt everyone that come in their territory. They are the ones that make the rules in that area. They have the privilege to rule other people’s lives. But if they move to a different area that’s not part of their gang they lose their privilege. They are not in control anymore. Nobody cares who they are no one is afraid of them. It’s like they don’t even exist anymore. These two examples show that groups can maintain their privilege by staying in the same geographic area, otherwise they would lose it and be no more than a regular group with no power or even a slight importance
Having privileges gives out respect to those who earned it for you, as explained in the article, “Checking My Privileges”, by Tal Fortgang. Privileges are not for people who deserve them but instead it is for people who are lucky enough to have them passed onto them. Tao explains how she was handed her privileges from the hard work of her grandparents and the accomplishments of their struggling journey to give their granddaughter the privileges she has today to be thankful for. Society judges one another based on their sexuality, and color of their skin, you may judge others of the same basis without knowing the story of how they have received their privileges, because by looking at how a person looks will not give you their background story of them or their
Privileges are things that a person receives that gives them an advantage over most people (Merriam-Webster). These are benefits that only certain people receive for being in a certain group or discourse. Peggy McIntosh, director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, wrote “White Privilege and Male Privilege” and states “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privileges, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” (605). She argues that whites and males receive certain privileges, yet they do not even notice them. This shows that different races and women are still put at a disadvantage, but the people who receive the benefits are blind to the problem. Many people will argue that she is correct while some others will explain why this not is the case.
Privilege is a topic with, any definitions and many angles of interpretation. My definition describes privilege as a step-up or positive opportunity in a specific situation or circumstance that is not available to everyone. These privileges are sometimes earned while others are totally unwarranted by the recipient. An example of what I consider an unwarranted privilege would be a child living in a certain county and being able to attend a highly sought-after school strictly due to the way an area is zoned by the county. The privilege of a military veteran having his tuition paid for by the Government is a earned privilege by my beliefs. Privilege far extends far outside the boundaries of education. You will find privilege in virtually all facets
Inequality became instrumental in privileging white society early in the creation of American society. The white society disadvantaged American Indian by taking their land and established a system of rights fixed in the principle that equality in society depended on the inequality of the Indians. This means that for white society to become privileged they must deprive the American Indians of what was theirs to begin with. Different institutions such as the social institution, political, economical, and education have all been affected by race. Sociologists use Assimilation theory to examine race and institutions. The perceived deficiencies of minority immigrant groups by white society has resulted in a generalized characterization of these different racial groups that is demeaning and reinforces the negative stereotypes towards minorities in the United States. Knowles and Prewitt argue that the cause behind the racial tension is the historical roots of institutional racism, which has prevented the minority from attaining equality. Following structured social inequality in the United States, institutions have consistently denied the minority groups through discrimination in education, employment, health care and medicine, and politics. Some ways that this has been done is the use of Jim Crow Laws. These laws created inequality in the educational institution by conducting the black schools and whited schools separately; whites used different textbooks than blacks and they could not be interchanged, and promoting equality for the races was considered a misdemeanor offense resulting in fines or prison. Because of these institutions, we see that there is an American Ethnic Hierarchy. This is divided into a three tier system: first ...
White privilege is a concept that many people are unfamiliar with, but not because they do not benefit from it. In the paper “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh argues that white people have an advantage over those of other races, though most are completely unaware of it or simply take it for granted. Her recognition of white privilege came from the concept of male privilege. She says that she looked at that concept and realized there was certainly something similar to it in regards to race (McIntosh, 1988, 11). This paper has great importance to the function of society. Because many white people do not recognize their unfair and disproportionate advantage in society, racial tensions can rise even more because there is a major wall blocking people from fixing the current issues.
White privilege is a benefit that society gives to a white person. It is embedded in and supported by institutions, where it overtly manifests and reproduces as inequality (Cox & Taua, 2016, p. 48). This translates into preferential treatment for white coloured individuals. Such injustice results in the oppression of those who are not white, leading to unequal access to education, healthcare, housing, and employment (Gorski, 2003, p. 9).
With all of these facts, the author tries to prove that racial differences and privileges appear exaggerated and unrealistic. The privileged and less privileged exist at all levels of society. Duke wants white people to understand that they are in the same position as all other races. The awareness of “white privilege” is only a fallacy that causes feel of guilt without foundation.
“Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men's skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact. ”(Lyndon Johnson). For generations in the United States, ethnic minorities have been discriminated against and denied fair opportunity and equal rights. In the beginning there was slavery, and thereafter came an era of racism which directly impacted millions of minorities lives. This period called Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system up until the mid 1960s.
Discrimination has always been there between blacks and whites. Since the 1800s where racial issues and differences started flourishing till today, we can still find people of different colors treated unequally. “[R]acial differences are more in the mind than in the genes. Thus we conclude superiority and inferiority associated with racial differences are often socially constructed to satisfy the socio-political agenda of the dominant group”(Heewon Chang,Timothy Dodd;2001;1).
Immanuel Kant was a famous German philosopher (1724-1804). His many philosophical writings influenced large population from all over the world. Even today, his works still form a major point of reference in research carried out in the modern world. His writings had a strong base such that they brought a new dimension in religion, law and history. Although all his writings were popular but Metaphysics of Morals was very influencing. Kant argued that our desires and emotions are categorically imperative, which means that they are conscience driven. His philosophy is closely related to the golden rule. It which states that an individual should always act in accordance to the outcome that will give him/her the best outcome, while Kant’s categorical imperative rule argues that actions must be universal for them to be classified as either moral or immoral. Through Kant’s categorical imperative we can distinguish between our
"The idea of privilege- that some people benefit from unearned,and largely unacknowledged, advantages, even when those advantages aren 't discriminatory."(Rothman, 2015) "Race privilege refers to the advantages that people receive because of the color of their skin."(Simpson, 2015)
1. (a) Privilege is defined as a favor or right granted to some people, but not to everyone.
One’s cultural identity consists of their race, gender, socioeconomic status, age, religion, and so on. Being aware of your own cultural identity is just as important as being aware of other’s. People’s cultural identity defines who they are, the privilege (or lack of privilege) they receive, and how society views them. It is important to understand that White individuals have more privileges than individuals of color. White individuals do not experience detriment and difficulties due specifically to their skin color and instead receive advantages. White privilege is defined as benefits that white individuals have that people of color do not (Kendall, 2012). The following walks through my personal cultural background, how it was shaped, defined, and developed, and limitations to my personal competencies.