Her article began, "Heads up. I am white and do not consider myself privileged."

Well, heads up. I am white and do consider myself privileged. I have grown up in a culture that perpetuates my own white privilege, and I have begun to see what it truly is: Ignorance.

I would like to first establish that I am not attacking the author of this article, that I understand her right to hold this opinion, but an ignorant opinion is still an ignorant opinion, which means it can not go unrefuted. But this isn't just a case of an ignorant college student. No, our entire society needs to take a look at who we've become because even our policymakers and legislatures are still arguing if racial privilege exists.

The author's article falls into four categories of arguments:

1. The only people who are privileged are those who make up the upper class.

2. Hardships are not limited by skin color, which means that not all whites are privileged.

3. White privilege isn't really always an advantage.

4. White privilege is, in itself, racist.

I'd like to discuss each of these and respond to her arguments.

Argument #1

Though the author may not believe in white privilege's existence, her understanding of its definition is skewed. She opens with the statement, " In fact, I don't consider anybody of any color (except maybe the super famous ones) privileged..." But here's what's wrong with this statement. She's talking about class privilege, not about white privilege. And that's an entirely different discussion. See, class privilege finds influence in white privilege, but the two are different societal problems.

The author concludes her essay by saying, "So unless you are born into money, which can happen no matter what race you belong to, you're most likely part of the struggling middle class along with people of every color, including whites." Though this is true, the author has a fundamental misunderstanding of what white privilege is. White privilege is not a discussion of ones class or societal status, rather it is a discussion based in the benefits and advantages that whites receive from years of societal racism.

Argument #2

Her argument progresses. The author says, "Hardships and struggles do not care what color we are." Though it is true that hardships are not limited to a specific race, this argument is irrelevant to a discussion on white privilege. It's as if saying, "well, I struggle, too" will protect the white individual and cast off any sense of personal attachment to white privilege. White privilege doesn't mean that you haven't struggled. It means you have been (unfairly) steps ahead because of your skin color. Blacks are born into a society where their skin color is already a hardship.

To back up this point, L. Taylor Phillips and Brian S. Lowery, in a study for the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, wrote, "We hypothesize that claiming hardships allows Whites to deny racial privilege extends to them personally while accepting its existence for the group as a whole. If people believe that racial privilege entails a lack of hardship, then the presence of hardship would signal an absence of personal privilege. By claiming life hardships, Whites can protect their sense of self from threat associated with racial privilege."

Argument #3

The author grants that "...to an extent..." there are some things she does not have to worry about because she is white, but even this is an example of ignorance. She discusses how whites also experience racism from police officers and claims that it's not just whites on the television anymore. Immediately, the author follows this paragraph with "there are some 'privileges' that are said to be exclusively for whites that aren't true" and lists the difficulties whites possess under diversity programs in schools and work.

Though these are all entirely separate responses and discussions, it is unimportant to a discussion of white privilege for it is just another way to detach whites from any personal connection to privilege by claiming our own hardships. And by doing so, it lessens the gravity of the struggle that racial inequality creates for blacks.

Argument #4

Finally, the author claims that the idea of white privilege is racist because it deems that "...every single white person has these 'privileges' and that those give us an advantage in life," however, white privilege is not a racist idea. Acknowledging that white privilege exists and that you benefit from it does not make you racist.

Because racism is written into our government and woven into our society, white privilege is an unfortunate reality, but it's one that, as a culture, we can work to amend so long as we begin to acknowledge its existence. So next time someone tells you to "check your privilege," don't take it as an insult. Listen, see your ignorance, and become conscious of your own privilege. Because the reality is, it's hard to self-examine and we are all in need of someone to tell us when to check our privilege when we, ourselves, are blind to it.