White Privilege

Black and White Interpretations of White Privilege

Racism is one of the major issues that have continued to affect social relations and affecting prosperity in various communities. Tatum and McIntosh argue that the problem of racism has been heightened significantly by the existence of white privilege. According to Tatum, racism occurs because certain groups of people benefit from a system of privileges based on race. These are benefits that are often difficult to detect as they are subtly ingrained in the surrounding culture. McIntosh provides a slightly different viewpoint by arguing that the white perspective tends to emphasize racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage. Tatum and McIntosh agree that white privilege is systemic

She suggests that this occurs as a result institutional policies and cultural messages that place white people at an advantage and people of color at a disadvantage. Therefore, it is not that people wake up and decide to discriminate against those from other racial groups. The problem occurs as a result of an institutionalized system that combines prejudice and power to provide privileges to whites. Prejudice occurs as a result of inflexible notions that are often based on limited information. The notions are usually associated with stereotypes, omissions, and distortions. Some of the advantages that can be offered by such systems include easy access to jobs, better housing, and better housing. Tatum argues that racism is costly to everyone, including both whites and people of color. Society can incur economic losses due to the systemic discrimination of people of color. For example, racial tensions in the workplace can cause lower production and loss of profits. Besides, some forms of discrimination can lead to warehousing of human talent. Racism can also have personal implications, such as stress and other psychological challenges

She claims that she was taught to the problem only in individual acts of meanness. However, her notion as a white academic changed after she realized the significance of invisible systems that confer dominance on whites. McIntosh argues that the problem with whites is that most of them have been conditions to ignore the fact that they benefit from the system of privileges. She believes that whites are taught not to recognize white privilege, the same way males are taught to ignore male privilege. McIntosh also argues that do not think that they are racist as they taught that racism is an active element rather than an invisible system that confers dominance. She maintained that this problem is caused by an interlocking system that is ingrained in active and embedded forms. That is the main reason why Butler et al., suggest that there is the need for transformative learning if people want to understand and address race-based oppression. It is particularly important to understand the major and minor systemic advantages that whites obtain because of their race (Butler et al.). That is when people can engage in an objective debate on how to address the problem of racism in the American