Pop artist Macklemore is most known for the famous lyric, “I’m gonna pop some tags, only got twenty dollars in my pocket” which is from his hit song, “Thrift Shop”. Many people don’t realize this thrifty shopper is an activist as well. He is commonly known to produce songs about current issues in our society including gay marriage and racial issues. His song “White Privilege” is a two-part song that majority of people haven’t heard. It speaks openly about the current issue of racial injustice our society is facing. The song is simple to interpret on multiple levels, including the symbolic elements of the lyrics, reason for why the song was written, and the events happening at the time it was written. The title itself sends a strong message, …show more content…
“White Privilege”, it doesn’t get any blunter than that. White privilege typically refers to the advantages people of the white race have in over people that are not white in society. It includes having the ability to typically have a positive relationship with the police and other community leaders, learning about your race in history, not having to experience racism, among many other examples. Overall the song is attempting to open the public’s eye to the issue of structural racism. The first line states, “Now nod your head and wake up” (White Privilege 2005). This makes the listener think of a hypnotist, and in a way, I think that is a point Macklemore is trying to make. We are ‘hypnotized’ or socialized into thinking certain ways. This leads to nobody thinking about how we act because it is what we have been told to do. This all starts with our primary socialization when we are children and the way our parents raise us. Another interesting quote from the song is “Hip-hop is gentrified and where will all the people live it’s like the central district, beacon hill to the south end, being pushed further away because of white people did” (2005). Per Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer, (2009) “In many cases, gentrification results in poor nonwhites being displaced by privileged white residents” (p. 229). Gentrification was termed by sociologist Ruth Glass. It is a process of how neighborhoods change when wealthier people move into a community where poorer people commonly live. This process typically winds up driving up the housing market prices, forcing the former residents to find a new home. (Desmond and Emirbayer, 2009, p. 288-229). Macklemore uses this sociological term to show how white people are slowly taking over the hip hop and rap music scene. There are more white artists writing rap songs than before. This is turning the music industry into an institution that is controlled by whites, leaving people of color with little to no voice again. In his song, Macklemore makes a reference to a few well-known singers. In part one of the song, he mentions Aesop Rock and even goes on to say, “I’m not even dissing dude” (2005). The main point of him calling out Aesop in his song isn’t because he does not like him, but because he doesn’t acknowledge where his music style originates from and that he tries to act like the African-American culture is his own when it isn’t. This is a just a small section of cultural appropriation. In part two of the song, Macklemore mentions Miley Cyrus, Iggy Azalea, and Elvis. Saying they toy with a culture that isn’t theirs and try to make it better. He even goes on to call them “fake and so plastic” (Macklemore, 2005). Macklemore mentions these celebrities because they are popular artists, who tend to write about struggles they didn’t have to face. This easily angers people who did have to go through hard situations, because now a privileged pop artist is singing about how hard it is to live in a poor community when many of them never experienced it. In an article from NPR News (2016), the idea of hip-hop went from being a very New York-local genre of music to being a multimillion dollar industry that profited a lot of people beyond just the artisan producers involved in the creation of the music, right?” (p. 21). Although they try to portray it as it is helping more people, It’s important to realize it is another way many white folks try to take something that is not theirs. The idea of the conflict theories mostly aligns with this song.
According David Croteau and William Hoynes (2015), “Conflict theories focus on issues of contention, power, and inequality, highlighting the competition for scarce resources” (p. 20). These theories typically explain how conflicts are at the core of our society, and I feel that Macklemore is trying to prove that in his song. He highlights the issues of racial injustice and how it is prevalent in America in multiple ways. He mentions how white rappers have stolen the hip hop scene from nonwhites, gentrification, and the current “Black Lives Matter” protests. This unfair advantage many Caucasians have leads to them being able to obtain better jobs, education, housing, and food. Being able to afford all of these things puts them at an even higher level than many colored people, which many have to constantly fight and work to obtain any of …show more content…
those. The first few verses of “White Privilege II” talks about being in the middle of a crowd at a protest and being unsure on what to do. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine (2016), Macklemore talks more about his experience of being in Seattle when he happened to get in the middle of a Black Lives Matter protest. He said “hearing 'black lives matter' for the first time, not knowing what to do” (p. 1). I personally feel that this is a common feeling many white people have. We are constantly unsure of what to do when we encounter a situation similar to this. Should we stand up and protest too, or stand back because we aren’t black? It’s important that he put his own experience into this song, because it shows his audience that he too, is unsure of what to do in those type of situations, which were popular in a lot of cities. These protests are still popular, and have ignited multiple other protest groups to stand up and fight for what they believe in. Something unique about this song is how many times they rewrote it, they were fearful to offend anyone and was constantly asking for feedback from multiple perspectives before they finally produced it. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were constantly afraid of receiving backlash about the song, since they are white as well. They had a lot of different people revise it with them, to try to make it as good as it could possibly be and finally settled on the version they published in 2016. It’s important to realize how much time went into the song. It shows that the writers really wanted to speak to the audience and make them feel something, rather than just listening to the song for pure enjoyment, like many artists do. In an online interview with Colorlines News, Ryan Lewis and Macklemore discuss how they decided on some of the lyrics of the song.
One of these discussions was about using both white supremacy and white privilege and how they are a twin concept. Ryan Lewis replies with “white privilege is a by-product of white supremacy, white supremacy is you know a systematic, white supremacy is within the entire institution, all of our institutions” (2016). I feel that this is a very important statement many people tend not to think about. According the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2007), “contemporary sociologists use the term (institutions) to refer to complex social forms that reproduce themselves such as governments, the family, human languages, universities, hospitals, business corporations, and legal systems” (p. 1). Your family is the primary way you learned about how to act and treat others, until you get to elementary school, where many typically learn more rules, history and get their first exposure to people who are different from them. Many of these systems are dominated by white men in America, leading to people of color having little to no representation. This continues to allow white privilege to flourish, while demeaning other
people. When the song was produced, Black Lives Matter protests were spreading around America like wildfire. After multiple shootings of colored men by white police officers, the African American society was outraged and demanding justice. These protests have led to tension that can still be felt across the nation. This lead to a distrust between society and the police officers, as well as distrust between people of different races. This could partially be due to the cultivation theory, which states the idea of if people are constantly exposed to the media’s portrayal of events, people tend to accept those versions as reality. Since the media was only covering when white officers shot black men, it was easy to believe that majority of cops were out to pick specifically black men. It was rare to see anything about a white man being shot by a colored man. This portrayal became reality for thousands of Americans who believed the officers were now “bad cops” and were targeting specific races for their own pleasure. The way the media portrays these events has a huge impact on what people think and many people do not recognize the power it has on our society. Despite everything that was going on in the country at this time, “White Privilege” wasn’t a popular song. In fact, I have never heard of it until I was researching and trying to find a song to write about. This makes one wonder, why it wasn’t played at the amounts “Thrift Shop” was. Could it be because majority of the media is controlled by older white men? Did they not want to play a song that was calling out a whole race, specifically their own race? It could be likely, that Macklemore’s songs about controversial topics are hidden from us until we happen to come across them on our own. We will never know what goes on behind the closed doors of the music scene. Listening to the song, “White Privilege” has opened my eyes to the ways many white people attempt to steal and displace a culture that isn’t theirs. I feel that if more people heard this song, many would also change their minds and the ways they tend to think about different situations. It’s important to remember we all call this country home and that we are all different and that we need to learn to accept those differences. Macklemore took an untraditional approach to addressing racism. The lyrics speak for themselves and you can tell that this is about the Black Lives Matter protests which are currently ongoing.
Gina Crosley-Corcoran, author of Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person, informs her readers about her misinterpretation of white privilege. After being called out for her unknowing use of white privilege, Gina begins to plead her case. Beginning with her childhood, Gina explains how she grew up “on the go”. Travelling from place to place, Gina lived in a rundown trailer and her family obtained little to no money, had no access to hot water, survived on cheap, malnourished foods, and dealt with a bad home life. After evaluating her history when placed at the end of life’s spectrum, Gina finds it hard to pick out white privilege in her life and therefore argues she has none. Later, Gina is introduced to a woman named Peggy McIntosh
In her 16 January 2016 The Washington Post editorial, “What is White Privilege?”, Christine Emba asserts white privilege is a societal advantage inherent in people who are white, irrespective of their “wealth, gender, or other factors.” According to Emba, white privilege makes life smoother and is an entity that is hidden or unknown until the privilege is taken away. Although racism is still a rampant issue in society today, white privilege is a concept created by the progressive left in order to brand whites as a scapegoat for issues and adversities that non-whites face. This concept of privilege ultimately causes further dissension between whites and non-whites.
Kid cudi trying to argue about how difficult things are growing up with being Oppressed and growing up being black. Songs are one way of expressing feelings and emotion, many artist do this constantly in their music. To some it is why they make music. There are endless signs and verses that hint at many things such as problems, politics, living in racist era’s also places. I chose to focus on one main rapper and his music only.
White privilege is a term used to refer to societal privileges granted to people identified as white in western countries. These privileges are beyond what is experienced by non-white or people of color living under the same economic, political and social environments. These privileges could be obvious or less obvious that white people may not realize they have. These include cultural affirmations of one 's own worth, presumed greater social status, and the freedom to move, buy, work, play, and speak freely (McIntosh, 1990). The effects of these privileges can also be seen in personal, educational and professional contexts. In both Tim Wise’s, ‘White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son’ and Ta-Nehisi
1. What is the difference between a. and a. Inequality became instrumental in privileging white society early in the creation of American society. The white society disadvantaged American Indians 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.
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).
Because I am white, no one wonders if I am associated with terrorists or feels nervous and pulls their belongings closer if I am alone in an elevator with them. Going to school I always had a sense of safety. Having brought white privilege to my conscious awareness, it raised feelings of guilt and shame, because I was ignorant to my oppressiveness for so long. These feelings empowered me to identify various ways in which I can challenge the concept of white privilege in myself and others. On an individual level this can be done by increasing awareness of privilege, reducing feelings of guilt, accepting one’s own role in perpetuating racism. Do not assume that all differences are the same, acknowledge and validate everyone’s experience, avoid assumptions, listen with compassion, and create safety and room for everyone. Additional ways to challenge white privilege consist of exploring resources produced by or about other races, developing relationships with people across racial lines, positioning oneself in a context where they are the numerical minority, and/or exploring the field of whiteness
The term “White Privilege” has been a term that’s been used a lot not only by me but by a lot of individuals around me. It’s such a controversial word that has a long history. Whenever I hear this word used against someone else who is white that individual usually denies that they have white privilege at all and usually end up telling me about how they make the same amount as me and everyone else or they make less than other people who are also white. They bring up how there are poor whites and how they work for everything they have. However, i’m always confused why anyone who was white can’t just admit that they have this privilege that automatically puts them higher up than others when it comes to opportunities. There is never really a reason
“White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks” (McIntosh, 172). White privilege is all around us, but society has been carefully taught
While racism is usually more easily recognizable by way of comments, social isolation and stereotyping, there is another divide that many don’t recognize and that is white privilege. White privilege, also referred to as white skin privilege, is when white people are granted certain rights, privileges, positions, courtesies, etc.…over those of a different race. This is often seen in political, educational and social environments. This impacts social inequality by adding to the existing differences in social experiences and/or statuses that results in people having unequal access to valued resources, services, and positions in society (Kerbo, 2012). Throughout history white privilege has suppressed the advancement of African Americans.
The prevalence of white privilege had not occurred to me previously, but after reading White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack I have a better understanding of the impact my privilege has on myself and others. I also started to realize that this privilege can not only cause emotional distress for people, but also prevent them from achieving success. For instance, privilege can cause people from wealthier areas to receive more money for their school compared with those from poorer areas. This does not only impact the student by affecting the quality of their education, but also makes it harder for these students to rise above the poverty
White Privilege The belief that white privilege never existed or that it is no longer a problem is skewed by the selective use of facts to support this claim. How do we address this problem? We must define the what is to be privileged, acknowledge the problem and identify a means to fix it. "The idea of privilege- that some people benefit from unearned, and largely unacknowledged, advantages, even when those advantages aren't discriminatory. "
I really like economics, it is an interesting combination of math, behavioral science, and logic, that can be used to make unique observations of the world as we know it. Unfortunately, like most academic disciplines it suffers from its faults. Even though these faults are not unique to economics, instead they are pervasive in many academic disciplines. Nor are the new, as they have been around more or less since the start of modern academics. Yet until they are fixed they need to be continually addressed, so that we can take in to account the inherent bias that comes with them. These faults can be expressed in one phrase “Rich White Men.” This phrase incorporates the three biggest failings in the field of economics. Which are, that most people in the field have a greater level of means than many of those that they choose to study, they are mostly of European Caucasian descent, and that they tend to be male. Qualities that introduce an inherent bias in to their world view. This is not to say that people in the field of economics are
In the world today, racism and discrimination is one of the major issues being faced with. Racism has existed throughout the world for centuries and has been the primary reasons for wars, conflicts, and other human calamities all over the planet. It has been a part of America since the European colonization of North America beginning in the 17th century. Many people are not aware of how much racism still exist in our schools, workforces, and anywhere else that social lives are occurring. It started from slavery in America to caste partiality in India, down to the Holocaust in Europe during World War II.