Human Diversity: Reaction To White Privilege

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Reaction to White Privilege Alisha Heinen Northeastern State University SOWK 4613 Human Diversity Dr. Eun-Jun Bang 9/12/12 Reaction to White Privilege As a white person it was emotionally complicated to read the article, “White Privilege”. It caused me to feel sensitive, defensive, and somewhat embarrassed. After reading the article a half dozen times I still am not sure where I stand. I have no doubt that white people are privileged in the United States but I feel very disgusted to think that the low paying jobs I have obtained in the past were because I am white. I was fortunate enough to graduate from high school but I worked at it. I have worked for everything I have, which is not much yet, and have made it to where I am…show more content…
The state of our countries economic status does not discriminate (Campbell, 2010). It has affected white people as well as people of color. Could it be that we are fueling our own fire by being so overly concerned with skin color instead of being concerned with one’s abilities and attributes? Campbell also states that the “myth” of white privilege should be opposed and challenged as well as every other stereotype. I am not comfortable with calling white privilege a myth because it is a real issue that needs to be dealt with but I do know that we have to start somewhere. We have to put an end to racism. We need to educate each other on the importance of embracing differences, not hating them. McIntosh (1988) states in her article that white privilege takes on an embedded form in which white people are taught not to see the advantages and I will agree that seems to be true. Since it is 2012 now, I feel that there have been genuine changes made to the attitudes of white people. I do hope that racism and white privilege are truly diminishing and not just being harbored by people. I can see positive changes in younger generations. I have had some younger African-American classmates that have never had an issue with racism and I think that is wonderful. I am extremely happy that they do not have to go through the hell that their former generations had to go through. There will come a day of crisis when race is going to be the least of our worries and what will happen then? What will happen when our country is in a crisis and we have to join together to survive? Maybe we should start thinking about that now rather than when it is too
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