We live in a country where we believe in the happiness of the people and equal opportunity. That's all find and dandy, but is there really any equal opportunity in our world? Women make 80 cents for every dollar a man makes. Black men are more likely to be charged worse for the same crime committed by a white man. Children born into lower income families only complete college nine percent of the time whereas those born in a top percentile economically complete college at 54 percent. That means top percentile children complete college at 600 percent. But an issue not being addressed as much as it should is white privilege. I wonder why that is..
White privilege the belief that being white comes with unearned advantages and everyday perks that its recipients are often unaware of. You see this at job interviews where those with names sounding more "fitted" for white people are more likely to get called back to an interview than those with a name more "fitted" for a black person or someone with different ethical background. Or when you look at the news and hear another unarmed black civilian being shot down by the police. But there are people out there who truly believe our country is about equal opportunity. How can we be about equal opportunity, but not practice it? There are people out there who deny the existence of white privilege, but can you guess who those people are? The denial of white privilege just proves that it exists. When you're black, Mexican, Asian, or anything not white, we don't even get the opportunity to defend against the unearned advantage.
When it comes to racism, white people cannot say whether something is deemed racist or not. Racism is disadvantage in the system of life. White people don't experience racism, but they do experience prejudice. Recognizing privilege simply means being aware that some people have to work much harder just to experience the things you take for granted. When you're a straight, white, middle-classed man you don't have to worry about walking through a parking garage at night with the fear of being raped and then having an attorney throwing blame to you because of how you were dressed. Or worry about making less than anyone else because of the color of your skin.
Until we can make more people more aware of the white privilege, our country will continue practicing hypocrisy. Women will continue making less than men. Black people will continue facing the hardships of police brutality. And the white men will continue progressing socially and economically further than anyone in this country.
