Defined as "a term for societal privileges that benefit people identified as white in Western countries, beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances", white privilege is recognized by many, especially minorities, as a source of biased power. In the same manner, it's identified by many, mainly the one's benefiting from it, as a myth or "internet term". The danger in that is that it's presence has strongly effected recent and past events. It will continue to have that same influence as long as that ignorance is fed into.
Being that mass amounts of people want to deteriorate the system put in place by aforementioned bigotry, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr are full of proclamations for change. Yet, those efforts can't overshadow the ones who insist on us addressing white privilege as a cause of hatred. What these people fail to realize is that privilege doesn't always entail receiving free gifts on a silver platter or being hand fed. It's about the fact that people get away with things, simply because they're white.
Some instances are extremely recent, and somehow the reality of it still hasn't been grasped. This year, 2016, the Olympic games held in Rio de Janeiro hosted competitive swimmer Ryan Lochte. Even though his ranking labels him elite, his actions speak of him otherwise. Lochte, falsely reported a robbery offense that involved extremely fabricated lies and could possibly get him one to six months jail time. Nevertheless, Lochte is getting the benefit of the doubt, so it's possible the judge will be lenient on him. Had it been a person of color following through with Lochte's actions, no hesitation would have been made labeling them with harsh stereotypes. There are countless cases with similar closure, leaving the public confused and angry.
Incidentally, earlier this year the case of "People v. Turner" ended horrendously smothered in white privilege. Brock Turner, a former student at Stanford University, sexually assaulted an unconscious young girl on campus while he was intoxicated. Turner was convicted with 3 (formally 5) counts of sexual assault. During the process the time given to Turner's for jail reduced dramatically, the judge's reason being that he's a young man who's reputation and future would be ruined if he would get extensive jail time. Now imagine a person of color's fortune with a situation such as this.The case proved how alive rape culture and white privilege are in the justice system. Disappointingly enough, this sexual assault case is one of the thousands with the same outcome; little to no jail time and a pat on the shoulder.
These aren't coincidences in the system. They're intentional and political statements that are thoroughly conducted by people in charge. They're blinded by bigotry and their possible need to live vicariously through every single individual they can identify with. It's real, alive, and thriving.
