White people don’t have to teach our children that others will judge them based on the color of their skin, and white children don’t have to grow up under that fear. White people aren’t expected to serve as models of our race, while BIPOC people frequently are. We can open any newspaper or magazine, watch any mainstream movie or TV show and see mostly white faces, or walk into a meeting at work knowing we’ll be in the majority there, too. White people can live in just about any neighborhood they want (provided they can afford it) without fear of discrimination, or go for a walk in that neighborhood without looking over their shoulders. In her now-classic essay on the topic, Peggy McIntosh likens that power of normal to an invisible backpack full of the benefits of serving as the default, citing 50 examples of privilege that pervade every, single aspect of our lives. That’s what Bennett calls “the power of normal.” If public spaces and goods, like “acceptable” hairstyles and relegating certain foods to “ethnic” aisles in the grocery store, cater to one race and segregate the rest into special sections, that’s indicative of an unequal society. In a thorough article, education researcher Jacob Bennett details the deep racial disparities that persist, many of which white people may have never noticed. But we are not staying silent any longer.” White privilege impacts every aspect of society “White people didn’t know how we lived because we weren’t speaking out. “I was raised in the '70s and '80s, at a time when you just kept your mouth shut and moved on,” she explains. She wrote about her sister getting called the N-word at school, being the only Black person in classes and at work, people assuming she only got into Harvard because of affirmative action, and so much more. Lori Lakin Hutcherson, Editor in Chief of Good Black News, wrote a powerful Facebook post-turned editorial that details the way white privilege impacts her everyday life. “You were allowed to retain things like being seen as innocent and worthy of protection and worthy of safety, ways that Black children and many Latino and Asian children are not.” “You never had to worry that your skin color would impact where you went to school and how you were treated in school,” Kendall explains. It’s not an impenetrable bubble, but it can be a hall pass. While some Americans living in poverty might bristle at the idea of innate privilege, white skin color does protect from many forms of discrimination. White privilege doesn't mean you don't have any hurdles, it just means you have fewer of them.” It just means that you get to start a few feet further forward. “It doesn't guarantee that you're going to win the race. “Think of white privilege as an unearned, almost randomly assigned head start,” explains Mikki Kendall, author of Hood Feminism. $23 at Bookshop Credit: courtesy of Viking But everything from the color of adhesive bandages in the drugstore, to which hairstyles dress codes forbid, to a wealth gap that transcends education and savings, says otherwise. According to the Pew Research Center, only 46 percent of white people say that they benefit “a great deal” or “a fair amount” from advantages that society does not offer to Black people or other BIPOC. Many of us have been taught since kindergarten that American society is founded on liberty and justice for all - and a not-insignificant portion of our country holds tight to that idea. But white privilege doesn’t imply that white people haven’t struggled, just that our challenges aren't related to the color of our skin. "Privilege" calls to mind silver spoons, gilded staircases, trust funds - things that don't describe how many of us grew up or the way we live now. ![]() For example, when some people hear the words “white privilege,” they latch onto the second half of that phrase and stop listening to the conversation entirely. As many of us attempt to have difficult conversations with family, friends, and coworkers about race, it can be hard to find ways to talk about uncomfortable realities without triggering defensiveness.
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