It seems that these days, whenever we have a discussion about racism, economics, and social welfare programs, whenever white people speaks up who lean politically to the right, who call themselves conservatives, they are immediately criticized by some African American as practicing white privilege. With this in mind, we need to talk about it in more detail. In this article I am going to talk about white privilege, four important things to understand when thinking about this concept, and some conclusions that I came to when thinking about this concept. Black and white people, and other people of color, please take note. This article concerns everyone.
Definition of White Privilege
Generally, white privilege is a term used to describe the advantages that white people have historically had in our society compared to non-white people. It is based on the premise that racism is prevalent in society, so being white gives you an advantage, a benefit, a position of privilege, over people of color, who suffer from the racism that is so prevalent in society even today, so we’re told. This benefit is economic and social in nature.
Historically, it has meant that white people have always had cultural affirmations of their own worth, whereas black people have had constant denials of their self-worth. It has meant white people have had a much easier time and freedom to move about the country or their community, an easier time finding work, a wider range of ways they can enjoy their leisure time, and an easier time getting a college degree, than black people. It also meant that white people could easily and freely speak their minds, whereas black people had to be very careful what they said for fear that it would get them lynched, etc. And this only scratches the surface of all the ways that white people were historically advantaged and privileged in society compared to black people and other people of color.
I am not doubting the historical accuracy of the existence of white privilege. It existed, and still does to some extent. The questions I am going to answer in this article are: to what extent is white privilege still a problem in this country, and is it still being used in the same context as it was used by academics in the past?
With this in mind, there are four things that are important to understand concerning this concept of white privilege and how it’s applied in conversations, used in debates, perceived by white people, etc. in discussion these days. So, let’s begin.
1. Based upon the general definition of white privilege, it means that the level of privilege that white people have in society is directly related to the level of racism found in society. If racism is prevalent, then the level of white privilege is high, but if racism is minuscule, then the level of white privilege is minuscule as well.
So, we need to see what the levels of racism really are in society to determine if white privilege is as prevalent a problem as people on the left claim it is.
2. Although there are many people on the left that disagree initially with this statement, the level of racism in our country has been decreasing for more than half a century now, and today is at an all-time low. This means that white privilege is today minuscule, and that black people enjoy advantages more equitable and comparable to white people today than at any other time in our history.
Let me give you an example. A researcher named Brian Boutwell, and his team of academics, asked 14,000 Americans how often they had been the subject of discrimination, and why. Most of the subjects reported experiencing little to no discrimination in their lifetimes. Of the black Americans who were questioned, only 31%, a little less than one-third, claimed they had experienced discrimination “sometimes” or “often.” And most of those people didn’t blame their discrimination on race, but on other things, such as their personal appearance (sagging pants maybe?), their education, their age, or their political views.
Think about that white supremacist march a couple of years ago in Charlottesville, Virginia. Do you remember that? There were about 500 white supremacists from around the country that coalesced to form that march. They were vastly outnumbered by counter-demonstrators. Also, compare the number of people that day to the millions, or tens of millions, of white supremacists that used to be part of the Ku Klux Klan three-quarters of a century ago or more. That should tell you something – racism is shrinking, continues to shrink, and is now at an all-time low.
Here’s another example: intermarriage. Opposition to intermarriage between two people of different races had declined dramatically. Only 9% of Americans today think interracial marriage is bad (according to Pew Research). Intermarriage rates have risen to an all-time high of more than 17%. In fact, I am one of those white people who is married to a person of color.
The black unemployment rate reached an all-time low in 2018, based on the present way in which we calculate unemployment, which began in the early 1970’s, and if we look at these numbers, it could be easily argued to prove that black people suffer from less economic disadvantages now than ever before. Heck, even the most powerful and prominent job position in the entire country – the presidency – is not off limits to today’s black people.
For more than three decades now, surveys being carried out across our nation have noted and documented that there have been significant reductions in expressions of prejudice, in negative stereotyping, and in resistance to equality by white people.
If racism and racist expressions are at an all-time low, then that means that white privilege is at an all-time low. Does racism still exist? Yes, it does, but as time moves on, its frequency is becoming fewer and farther in between. In my opinion, when people on the political left push the idea that white privilege is really high, they are ignoring the facts and perpetuating a false narrative, a myth, for their own beneficial reasons, which will be explained later.
3. There are many of us white people who don’t “see” white privilege and question whether it really is a “thing.”
For example, let’s say I get hired on with a company at the same time as a Latino and a black person. The Latino does a great job, has higher productivity than me, and gets a raise and a promotion; I don’t. I make a stupid mistake and get fired; my black co-worker doesn’t and still has the job. When we white people have experiences like this, and we ask the question, “Where is the white privilege?” – we honestly can’t see it, and in fact most of our personal experiences suggest that we really don’t have any advantages these days by being white, but that we are all on equal ground and judged by the same standards when it comes to opportunities and proving ourselves – do good and we get rewarded, do bad and get punished.
On top of this, there are a great many of us that have been taught from childhood (maybe because they’re Christians like me) that racism and sexism is wrong, and that we are to treat all people the same as ourselves regardless of race or gender. So, not only do we not treat other white people in a better manner than our African American neighbors and co-workers, which would be white privilege in action, but we don’t have experiences that prove and validate that white privilege exists, but precisely the opposite. So, when a black person gets mad at us and tells us they believe it’s everywhere, we think they’re just making it up because we honestly don’t see it or believe we experience it.
For example, many people on the political left look at the election of Trump as our president as proof that racism is on the rise, despite the fact that many people, including a growing number of black people, vote for the Republican party because they see their policy platforms of lower taxes and less regulation and smaller government as better for business and economic growth, which leads to more widespread prosperity, including for black people. Since the Trump election, many Democrats have begun complaining about how racist white people are and they have become increasingly hostile towards white people in general, especially white conservatives, and as more and more white people are leaving the Democratic party and are starting to associate with the Republican party, see that as proof that white people are becoming more racist, and vilify white people even more.
But here’s a question: if a political party, every time they opened their mouth and spoke, said openly hostile things towards people of your race, and tried to tell you that you need to hate yourself because of your race, would you continue to vote for that political party? I don’t think so – over time you would see more and more people of that race leave that political party. And when that political party that was openly hostile to your race would take that as proof that our country is becoming more racist, they would in fact be correct, although the racism in this case would be coming from them, not their opponents.
4. The term white privilege gets used a lot in an abusive and divisive way by the political left, that is, in a way that’s actually inherently racist itself.
Think about how the political left uses the term white privilege. If you are white, and you are politically conservative, then an attempt is made to both silence you and disqualify you, and the facts you’re giving, by claiming that you are practicing white privilege. They’re really trying to get people to judge you and ignore you based on your skin tone, or race.
From this standpoint, the concept of white privilege is a way to attack a group of people and disqualify them because of their race. Think about this – the very political party that claims that it is the bastion of equality, and the organization that stands and fights against racism (against those dastardly Republicans, all of whom are deeply racist, according to the left), is constantly attacking people because of their race by using this term (in this case, the race is white not black).
Seriously, if I, as a white person, came up with a term to disqualify what black people are saying because of their race, I would immediately be labeled as a racist. But apparently its okay for black people to do that to white people? It’s okay for the political left to do that to white people? Talk about a double standard. If racism is wrong, immoral, and evil, shouldn’t we try to stop ALL of it? All this situation does is flip around who the victims and perpetrators of racism are rather than eliminate it in its entirety, which we need to do as a nation to get rid of our divisions and heal and move on.
A generation ago African Americans were fighting for their civil rights – they were treated as second-class citizens, and much worse, and wanted to be treated with equality, feel safe, and have a better life. They wanted to have the same opportunities to prosper as white people do. If I were in their shoes, I would have wanted the same thing. They believed we needed to get rid of racism in our country to heal our divisions and make us more unified. It would make us a better nation, allowing us to forge ahead into a brighter future if we could just move past this issue and move on. They were right. That argument is still right. I completely agree with that.
Today’s African Americans seem to have forgotten what the Civil Rights Movement was all about – they are not trying to bring equality and healing and unity to our nation, something we desperately need, but as our county is becoming less and less racist, as black people are being treated by most people better than ever, as the number of racist white supremacists are dwindling to an ever smaller and minuscule amount, and as the opportunities for black people to prosper have reached an all-time high, they’re constantly trying to find ways to attack white people, they’re constantly trying convince other black people that “racism is just as bad as its ever been,” and keep that division and animosity going.
Think about how they do this: the African American community (at the behest of the Democratic party) creates a standard that they want white people to work towards to eliminate racism; once white people get close to accomplishing this standard, the standard is moved. Once white people get close to accomplishing this new standard, the standard is moved again. They keep doing this over and over again. And, every time they do this, they keep coming up with more and more mundane and subtle things just to try to prove racism is everywhere. This is why the notions of “structural” and “systemic” racism were invented. That’s why we now have “microaggression.”
For example, in Dr. M.L. King’s famous Dream speech, he dreamed of a day where people were judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin; today, if you try to practice that as a white person, it’s called being color blind, and the left is now pushing the notion that practicing color blindness is inherently racist, and that we now need to practice anti-racism, something that is itself inherently racist. Geeesh! Talk about slapping Dr. King in the face and forgetting everything for which he stood just to try to propagate the notion that racism is still everywhere!
By the way, if you’re not aware of this, all of the disparities in the black community that are listed under the term “structural racism” can be traced back to the effects that our social welfare programs have had on causing large swaths of the black community to stay chronically poor, and the effects they have had on decimating the black family. Seriously, all of these disparities referred to as “structural racism” can be much better explained by type of household as the differentiator than they can be explained by using race as the differentiator. Who created these social welfare programs? The political left, the progressives, who push them the most on our black community as a form of “racial justice.” It seems that that political left creates programs that cause problems, and then turn around and claim to be the saviors of the very problems they caused. Any attempt by outsiders, particularly conservatives, to call out the political left on their terrible schemes that work to subjugate black people is immediately attacked as racist.
Of course, we really can’t blame black people for this “you’re racist” rhetoric. We need to blame politics. More specifically, we need to blame the Democratic party for pushing this false narrative. You see, politicians who are Democrats know that as long as they perpetuate the illusion that racism is alive and well and “as bad as its ever been,” and as long as they keep us divided, they can claim that they will be the saviors of the black community against those “racist Republicans,” and by using that fear tactic, manipulate black people to keep voting for them. They have too much invested in the racism narrative to let it die out.
The status quo Democratic politicians need the black voting base so they can stay in power, and that’s why they perpetuate the illusion that racism is alive and well. That’s why white privilege no longer represents a historical advantage that whites truly had over blacks in the past, but has evolved to become a form of racism directed at white conservatives to help perpetuate that animosity and division to keep themselves in power. All at the expense of the black community, and the unity and healing of our nation. That is, moving past racism and healing as a nation isn’t in the Democratic party’s best interest – they need to keep perpetuating the notion that racism is alive and well so that they can keep getting the black vote and stay in power.
This need for division also explains another thing. The Democrats, at the behest of the progressive left, keep trying to push the idea that black people have a basic human right to be taken care of, and based on this notion, try to convince black people that they’re entitled to their social welfare programs – that is, they are entitled to become dependent on government programs that keep them chronically poor – because as long as many black people stay dependent on those programs, they won’t go out and do the things they need to do to become prosperous, but will instead stay poor.
When large portions of the black population become dependent on government programs that keep them chronically poor, the government can then write them off in their statistics manuals as living in poverty, and the Democratic party can talk about this disparity between prosperous white people (a majority of whom are not dependent on government programs that keep them chronically poor), and the poor and disadvantaged black people (a larger portion of whom are dependent on Democrat-pushed government programs that keep them chronically poor), and show this disparity as proof that our country is still racist and out to keep the black person down and out. Then, they convince black people that they will stand up to this racism, which they blame on Republicans, and convince black people that they will take care of them, even though they are the ones responsible for keeping them poor, they are the ones perpetuating this division, and they are the ones creating terms like white privilege to help perpetuate that division.
From this standpoint, the Democratic party is inherently anti-black. And not only are they inherently anti-black, they are inherently anti-white too. They are racists towards both the black people and the white people.
Conclusion
You probably didn’t know where I was going to go with this article, but here we are, at the end. So here’s what I want you to think about whenever you hear someone attacking a white person as practicing white privilege: I want you to be reminded of how desperately hard the Democratic party is trying, and the lengths they go to, to keep the division going, the hate going, and stop us from healing and being more unified as a nation, by using this term – because it’s in their political best interest. Progress would be to heal from this issue, and move on; from this standpoint, the Democratic party is anti-progressive.
Question: how can I, as a white person in good conscience, who does truly care about the well-being of black people, support a political party (the Democratic party) whose entire goal is to keep black people chronically poor, and to perpetuate division in this country, at the expense of black people, for their party’s own well-being and political expediency? Wouldn’t supporting that party make me a racist?
