10 Ways Your Life Would Change If You Had White Privilege

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White privilege means not being affected by negative stereotypes that have been perpetuated so much that they are believed to be true.

According to an October 1999 article in the Yale Political Quarterly by Stephen Balkaran, titled “Mass Media and Racism,” mass media have played and will continue to play a crucial role in the way white Americans perceive African-Americans. He asserts the overwhelming media focus on crime, drug use, gang violence and other forms of antisocial behavior among African-Americans has fostered a distorted and pernicious public perception of African-Americans. This focus has led to African-Americans being denied equal access to employment, and essentially forced to remain second-class citizens.

 

 

Condesending Racist

White privilege means not having to worry about being penalized in society for God-given features: hair, skin color, etc.

A study out of the University of Washington and Michigan State University found that whites react more negatively toward people who strongly identify with their ethnic groups and are more comfortable with those who don’t. Most people feel comfortable with those most like them. But with today’s status quo, this preference can be dangerous to Black and brown people when it is played out on the institutional level, were livelihoods are at stake.

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