Are all “whites born into privilege”? Are all men born into privilege? Are all heterosexual born into privilege? Write down and reflect on some examples? Over the next several days keep a log of unearned advantages/privileges that you experience Last day – October 10 A very extensive (many entries) “privilege journal” can earn up to 15 extra credit points along with online writing points
This should be a list of 7-10 privileges you experience along with discussion
Last day October 15
CES 101 - Fall 2014, Washington State University 
Are all whites born into privilege? No. When people assume that whites are born into privilege, it is because they are white, they come form wealth, they will have no obstacles to overcome as they go through life. Consider the poor whites. They come from a poor family, maybe live in a run down area of town and go to a poor school with fewer opportunities. They are not privileged and neither are those who share their wealth class. To pick a race and say that that race is more privileged than another is just ignorant of what their economic wealth is and how it affects the opportunities that they are provided. For these reasons, I think that privilege is associated with wealth, not race. If anything, its these lower income families which can apply for handouts and government help which makes them have more of a privilege in that aspect.
On the subject of whether men have a higher privilege over women, yes, I do agree with this statement. In 2012, women earned on average $10,000 less than men with the same jobs. This was also the case with acquiring jobs, the gap resulting from the likelihood that women are to take a maternity leave and be absent from the work field. This absence is taken into consideration from the company which is a form of discrimination.
When it comes to heterosexuals, I do not believe that they have any privilege over anyone else. The company cannot ask whether you are heterosexual or homosexual, however they can judge you based on your appearance. The state of your personal life should not affect the work that you will do for any company or job. Therefore this is inadequate in referencing who would better fill a position in a job. Homosexual people may be discriminated against in many other ways from people who do not believe in their lifestyle of beliefs. However, this in no way should affect the privileges that these people receive or don’t receive.
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Hello kira woods
while reading your post you said that “privilege is associated with wealth, not race” and i have to highly disagree with that because every race in united states has their own privilege some more than others. The word privilege means having a special right or an advantage. If your white and born in the united states you are ” 50 percent more likely to get a job” than a black person with the same resume, that right there is a privilege coming from the color of your skin. Another example is the “stop & frisk” in new york in which blacks and Latinos are 80-90 percent likely to be search in these stops because of the color of their skin. But i do believe different privileges also comes with wealth and are very related to one another. “Whites families are 8-11 times more wealthier than a black family” thats a privilege but we also do know there are poor white families that exist.
I do agree that men have more privilege than women’s in today society
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“Even if all people everywhere in the US were to stop intentionally discriminating tomorrow, those racial gaps would still persist, because those gaps are produced by the everyday decisions that structure our social, political, and economic interactions.” -Reproducing Racism (pages 4-5). Whether you want to believe it or not white people, poor, rich or in between are all at an advantage in America and are most definitely born into privilege. The biggest and most persistent gap between white women and black women is the infant mortality rate where black babies died 2.4 times more frequent than white babies. If still, you don’t believe that whites are born into privileges check this out: “the middle-income white family owns more wealth than the high-income black family. THE POTENTIAL FOR CONFUSION IS ILLUMINATING” -Reproducing Racism (page 2). I don’t know about you but as for status goes that seems a bit unfair in my eyes.
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Kira,
I would disagree with your statement about whites not being born into privilege. The reason for this is because even if whites aren’t born into wealth it is much easier for white people to be hired for a job then lets say a hispanic person. This was shown in class when we talked about the guy named Jose who couldn’t get hired based on his name but when he changed his name to Joe he got hied much easier. Money had nothing to do with him getting the job. It was mainly based on how white his name sounded.
As for women, I agree with you. All though the “playing field” is a lot more even than it was a couple years ago men still have the upper hand in many cases when is comes to jobs just because they are men.
Now, onto heterosexuals. You’re focusing on one point of privilege in your arguments, if they could get a job or not. I think it would foolish to say homosexuals have the same opportunities as heterosexuals. Homosexuals still can’t get married in states, and are still looked down on in some groups.
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After reading all of the readings and watching all of the videos as well as attending lecture focused on privilege, my eyes have been opened. To amend my thoughts on the privilege matter I will discuss why whites are born to privilege, why women fall under men to privilege, and why homosexuals all feel the pain and guilt that privilege causes.
Nobody wants to admit that they have been dealt privilege over another human being. It is downright humiliating, unethical and indignant. This term ‘privilege’ is associated with advantage or a hand out, which means that people who are called privileged can take this negatively for it implies that they may have not worked hard or deserve what they have. There are many different types of privilege, but the most prevalent type is white privilege. White people have the privilege of being totally unaware of their white privilege, but be sure every other race will notice it. A personal example; I have always had a fear of fling in planes, but after 9/11 this fear increased exponentially. To this day as I take those steps into the plane to walk down the aisle I check out EVERY PERSON. Now I have different thoughts for each of these people but to sum it up, the white people look innocent, the middle eastern people look suspicious, and everyone else is void. Not singling someone out as a potential terrorist on a plane is white privilege. White privilege is a sad, real piece of baggage that is lugged around. When you are ignorant to white privilege, you may feel happy, hard working, and may look down upon other races. When you are conscious, you have a guilty feeling in your stomach, an feeling of pain for those less privileged, and your self worth lessens because whites have unknowingly been dealt the better hand and were involved in playing the game. White privilege puts whites at an advantage, at the same time putting other races at a disadvantage which is a horrible hierarchy to be apart of. The feeling of guilt of involuntarily being a part of white privilege is very real, and something McIntosh hit home for me; “If these things are true(white privilege), this is not such a free country; one’s life if not what one’s makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.”
I have recently come across a video making light of what females have to go through that people really do not think about(Linked; http://aplus.com/a/13-things-women-have-to-deal-with) The effect of male privilege is real but unspoken. Even when the subject is brought up to men they will refuse to alter their habits. Wage gaps, security, criticism of emotion, viewed as the weaker sex and being harassed are all parts of sexism. When women react to these acts of sexism people get defensive simply playing it off as a joke. Sexism can hurt and make people feel unworthy. An example; simply said my friends expecting me to be good at cooking. I like so many other people, do not have time to practice a skill that will not secure me a decent job in my future, that is not what is important to me at the moment. So no, I cannot cook, and after burning bacon every morning for the past two years, I will not take the criticism from the expectation that I should be able to perfect this skill to a T.
Homosexuals. These people are under the constant critique and judgement from everyone every single day of their lives, and every heterosexual is privileged enough to not be judged, ever. Homosexual appearance, beliefs, religion, way of life, these people have to go through so much just because they are not following the social norm of what is regular. Heterosexuals are very privileged, they are secured jobs, a place within the church, a spouse in all states, while others are not. I am tired of seeing people being treated poorly because of their own personal preferences on sex. These things should not matter to anyone but your own self for the decisions of others about their sexuality has no effect on yourself.
Lets realize our privileges and stand up for those that do not get access to them, so that they may be erased and a fair system may be set up. Progression of equality comes with the realization that everyone does not start at the starting line but some are placed ahead. Privilege is something we do not seek out but we need to be aware and watching.
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Hi Kira after reading your post I had to disagree with your first statement of whites not being born into privilege. Being wealthy is only a plus to being privileged meaning you can still be born into being privileged without being wealthy. When I talk about being privileged I look at it as someone having a special right or advantage over someone else. In America it is very clear that whites are born with a privilege over blacks.
In America whites are the majority. When it comes to jobs people with white names or white sounding voices are more likely to get called back for a job interview over a black person. This is clearly an advantage because since they are more likely to get called back so they will get better jobs which leads to a higher cost of living. Also whites are more privileged because even in New York blacks are more likely to get stopped and frisked.
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How are you defining “privilege” and how does that fit with the definitions from reading. How does Reproducing Racism or discussions of housing discrimination. How does policy and law fit here – check out this article – http://goodmenproject.com/ethics-values/explaining-white-privilege-to-a-broke-white-person-shesaid/
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Kira Woods,
I disagree with your statement saying whites are not born in privilege. Although I think these days the privilege isn’t as big as it use to be, but it definitely is still out there. As we have learned in class, whites have a much greater chance of getting a job then backs or hispanics. We learned from the Jose example, that after he changed his name on the application to a more white sounding name that he was able to get the job. It was the exact same application the the exact same employers, just a white name instead of an hispanic name. Like Marcus said, if you are white you are “50 percent more likely” to get a job over a black person. That is definitely a white privilege.
Discussing men vs. women. I would say that men still have a little more privilege over women. Especially when it comes to the work force. If you look at the head of companies, the higher positions are mostly occupied by men. But also like the white privilege topic, i believe that this is also changing over time. As time goes on i think it will become pretty equal for men vs women. In politics, things are already changing with Hilary Clinton running for president.
I do still believe heterosexuals still have a privilege that homosexuals don’t have. The same sex marriage is something that is so fresh it really hasn’t had that big of an impact. And it’s only legal in some states. Homosexuality is still frowned upon by many. It will take quite some time for homosexuals to become equal to homosexuals.
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Are all whites born into privilege? Well it depends on what perspective you look when you are trying to answer this question. If you are looking at it from a wealth perspective then no “all’ whites are not privileged. All whites are not privileged in terms of wealth because even though a lot of them are rich, not all white people are rich so the ones who are not rich are not privileged in terms of wealth. Now in terms of race then yes all whites are born into privilege. Now the reason I say this is because of their skin color. There skin color matters because that’s when stereotypes are more likely to take effect. For example whites are more privileged than blacks in terms of race because they don’t have to deal with someone automatically thinking that when you walk into a store that your going to steal something. Also whites are more privileged because just for having a white name/white sounding voice they are more likely to get called back for a job interview meaning just for being white they get more opportunities making them more privileged.
Now if someone asked me are men more privileged? I would say yes men are more privileged. In terms of getting jobs, than are more men employed than women. Also if a man and a women hold the same job the man is more likely to be paid more. Even in terms of stereotypes men are looked at as providers and women are looked at as the person who cleans the house and takes care of the kids.
Lastly in terms of all heterosexuals being born into privilege is not true. There are a lot of heterosexuals in this world who are not privileged. However if you asked are heterosexuals more privileged than homosexuals then I would say yes. I don’t think that they are more privileged as much as them being preferred over homosexuals. For example in the NFL with Michael Sam a lot of teams didn’t want to pick him up even though he was good because of the conflict it would cause in the locker room because of him being gay. So they would rather pick up a player who isn’t as good but is homosexual in so they wouldn’t have as much conflict in the locker room showing you that heterosexuals are preferred.
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Everyone is born into privilege it’s who they associate themselves with and what groups they choose to be around when they lose those privileges. Some types of privileges include male privilege, white privilege, racial privilege, and privileges based on social status. For example when a homosexual individual is born they have the same equal rights as everyone else but when they associate themselves in the homosexual society that is when they are discriminated against and lose their rights. Heterosexuals are given the privilege of marriage however homosexuals are not given that privilege.
As a white person I never really thought about why people of color were excluded until this year. Being in a new environment where there are many different diverse people has opened my eyes to other surroundings and how others are treated. White privilege is often difficult to address and can be seen as hidden or transparent. When we look closely at situations that present themselves that is when the advantages for white people can be seen in our world. For example those who have a white sounding name are 50% more likely to get a job interview and are given more opportunities for advancement. White privilege is horrible because it puts other races at a disadvantage. However as time goes on things are starting to change slowly. As a society we need to stand up and see the privileges that present themselves around us so that we cannot be influenced by them.
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It is a common question. “It” being whether or not whites, heterosexuals, and males are born into privilege. How come individuals of color are given a smaller chance to get a call back from a job than whites just because of their name? How come in some states same-sex marriage is illegal? How come women cannot simply walk to their car in a parking garage without carry along mace spray? All these are questions that many Americans ask in every day of their lives; why is life unfair? I have certain opinions of my own, where I realize how those privileges are carried out, but not why. Over the past few days I have closely observed anything that I can find, and thought back to situations I may have encountered that can represent some sort of advantage or privilege that an individual may have over another, based on these three concepts.
1. My friend’s mother (who is Hispanic) had hurt her back while at work about a year ago. She was fired from her job because they suspected she was “faking” her injury. After even attending a doctor’s visit, the doctors did not find a reason why her back was hurting, and they even accused her of faking her injury as well. After I had watched her suffer, she was taken off of LNI and had no job. Recently, on the news, their has been a man (white) who had pleaded he had gotten hurt at work and was still being paid by his work and through LNI, but after a few years they found video records on his Facebook showing him riding BMX bikes while he was supposedly hurt. Although this is a little different, how can that guy get away from faking his injury for that long when the woman I know was being accused and was actually hurt? This is an example of both a white privilege and a male privilege because the white male was able to significantly get away with faking his injury for more than a year while the Hispanic woman I know was accused of lying right off the get-go.
2. Recently on line I found an article that pertained to girls being the victim in school because of their clothing, and that they were enforced to wear “appropriate clothing”. In this article it talks about how this woman (who has graduated from college) was humiliated in high school for the clothing she wore, because “it was distracting to the male students and they could not pay attention in class”. I am a representative of this fact because a similar situation like this had happened to me. My senior year of high school (just last year) my high school had just hired our first female principal. I came to school one day wearing soccer shorts, SOCCER SHORTS, the long silky SOCCER shorts you wear when you play soccer. I was told to drive all the way home (30 minute round trip) back to my house to change my clothing, yet I walk around school and there are male students wearing the t-shirts you cut each arm off of so their whole stomach shows, t-shirts with pot-leaves on them, t-shirts with naked woman on them, and please tell me what’s more inappropriate? A girl wearing soccer shorts or a bunch of male students wearing shirts that have sex and drugs all over them? And while I had to drive home to change, I was missing my AP exam for my government and politics class that I had to pay $89 for, but yet those other students had dreaded to go to each class. This has male privilege all over it! Not to mention other problems that the female principal may have had with me for no reason. I was the student in high school who was involved in everything, did everything I could for everyone, yet she had judged me in that way. But what about those male students? Why didn’t they get told to go home and change? It is not like she did not see them because I came from a small 1A school.
3. I noticed when I walked into Wal-Mart that most of the white employees are working the cash registers/check out lanes but all the colored employees were working in restock in the back of the store or away from the front. This is clearly an example of white privilege because the whites were given the opportunity to work in the front of the store where they can be around people and check out for people whereas the colored employees were not given the opportunity and were being pushed to the back of the store away from everyone. Why is that? How is that fair? This is an example of white privilege.
4. I remember when I was in high school their was a homosexual couple that were not afraid to show it (and should not be!), and they were criticized and humiliated by teachers and students for kissing. Granted that maybe what they were doing was not the most appropriate thing, but the many other heterosexual couples who did the same inappropriate thing (and even worse) were almost never talked to or humiliated because of it most of the time. Now the right place at the right time may have been a contributing factor, but it was apparent that the homosexual couple was being targeted over the heterosexual couples, and everyone who was aware had an idea of what was going on. It is hard to point out the different things that you see in life, even though it is becoming more common to see. It was difficult with how small of a school I attended, because it was the kind of community where everyone was always in your business (one out of the small group of downsides of living in a small town). However, it does not make this right! This is an example of heterosexual privileges, because the homosexuals and heterosexuals were not given the same privileges.
5. My first week of school here, I sat by a girl in my economics class (the first day of class), and she was telling me how she had taken the class before and she was hoping she would have had the same white professor she had previously. The Hispanic professor I have, walked into the classroom, and she remarked, “Wow this teacher really could earn his doctorate? Lets hope he can even speak English fluently”. This bothered me tremendously and I think about it every day, because the teacher I have for that class is extremely smart, can in fact speak fluent English, and has earned his suffix in front of his name! Now, would she have said this about a white professor? She made the assumption that the professor I have would not be as smart or as good of a teacher as a white professor, or the white professor she had before. The girl who had said this to me was of white ethnicity, and had in fact, failed the class TWO times previously. And she really thought that my Hispanic professor was not smart or could not do his job? To me that was very ignorant and judgmental on her behalf. I had to get up and move seats. This is a perfect example of white privileges because white professors can walk into a room of 200 students and realize that his students must know that he earned his doctorate, whereas there are students who can sit their and make that assumption to those professors of color where the professor of color may be aware of that.
6. The other day at work I was working with one of my friends (who is of African American ethnicity) and together we were making lasagna for the cook who instructed us to do so. I messed up part of the directions, not knowing, and we both ended up walking away to get something. The cook saw that their was a mistake and got really impatient and angry and yelled at my African American friend, assuming it was her who had messed it up when it was really me. Once I saw him yelling at her, she walked away to go get something else I had told the cook that it was me who had messed it up, and he politely said, “Oh don’t even worry about it, its totally okay!” This is a perfect example of white privilege. Not only did he assume that my friend was the one who did it, he also lashed out towards her and not to me. (FYI: I did point this out to him.)
7. About a month ago I was in line at the Wal-Mart customer service line, where a woman of African American Ethnicity had cut right in front of me after everyone behind me and myself were patiently waiting in line for what seemed like forever. I politely told her that I was in line and so was every one else behind me (whether she was African American, Hispanic, Asian or white I would have said something; I was not being racial whatsoever) and she simply remarked that I was being racist. I feel like this is something that people like that woman want to take advantage of and try to use as a privilege. It is not necessarily white privilege but it was certainly a privilege that that lady was holding accountable to try and stay in line where she was. Because that lady was aware of her color and had possibly gone through racial situations (that may have benefited her?) she used it against me so that I would feel guilty, nonetheless, so she could hold her spot in line.
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Remember, “employees of color”; colored is a dated term. In terms of your #7, is there a difference between a privilege that is situated and resulting from law, ideology, institutions etc and what happened here.
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I believe all straight white males are born into privilege to some degree. It is not always a huge privilege, but there is definitely an advantage white males who are attracted to women have over the rest of society. It is clear that white people have privilege, just look at the statistics that a white sounding name is equivalent to eight years of work experience. Heterosexual males have privilege over both women and gay men due to the fact that heterosexual males are usually the people in a position of authority. Myself as a straight male I know I am more likely to associate with other straight men due to the fact we have some sort of common ground. If a straight male is in charge of hiring new employees I believe he is more likely to hire other straight males than women or gay men.
The seven areas I have experienced privilege in my everyday life.
1. I went to the Walmart in Moscow with my brother and his roommate who is black last week. While at the Walmart my brother and I went down a different isle than his roommate and an employee of Walmart followed my brother’s roommate until he met back up with us about five minutes later.
2. I was going to the football game last weekend and one of my black friends I was with got asked to empty his pockets when all he had was his cellphone and they let me walk right through when I also had my cellphone bulging out of my pocket.
3. I have realized that I have never been asked specific questions like “do white people enjoy watching football also?” I have seen black people get asked questions that are broadened over the whole race rather than just an individual’s preferences.
4. I realized as a man I have privilege because I am never feel uncomfortable walking home late at night alone. I understand Pullman is a very safe place, but back home in Tacoma I never worried about walking around late at night. However if I was a women I would probably feel differently.
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Are all whites born into privilege? Yes, all whites are born into privilege weather they like it or not. Here is a little list of white privileges
1. A white person can act and wear whatever they like without being labeled a thug, low life, or a gangster
2. Because of white privilege, white people never have to worry about becoming the victim of law enforcement officers.
– 80-90 percent of stops in the “frisk and stop” in New York are black and Latino’s
– White’s receive less attention from the police than other races
3. White privilege is unlikely to get followed around in a store rather than a black person
4. White privilege means not being affected by negative stereotypes that have been perpetuated and ingrained so much into American society that people believe them to be fact.
I also believe that all men are born into privilege like Kira Woods mention above that in “2012 that women earned on average $10,000 less than men with the same jobs”.
My 7 black privileges that I noticed or I think are privileges
1. Black privilege provides more athletic scholarships to black students & if your black and attend college people think you’re on a sports team
2. Being black your able to connect with other black people without even knowing them (black power)
3. Black privilege enables us to use the word Ni*** but whites cant
4. Because I’m black other races fear me because they believe that all blacks are violent and crazy
5. When I was going through high school there were many different programs for black students to help us in school and get to college
6. Blacks are able to use history of racism as an excuse for things. Almost like pulling the “race card”
7. Blacks attracted more attention from the police
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Looking at white power in this country. I will say white are born in privilege but some people don’t accept the fact they are born in privilege. Let me give an example; imagine black person with tattoo and white person with tattoo. The first thing that come to your mind looking at black person “criminal”, compare that with white person. Our societies obvious think black as bad and white (angel) as a good. Person with white sounding is more likely to get job than minority sounding name regardless of their qualification. Of course white people have privilege in wealth, education and housing. Men dominate over women in term of strength. Sexiest and racism have common structure. Let go back to 1900 how American had sexiest advertise. I was looking at 19-century advertise about some kitchen products. All of advertise had sexist way of describing women. For example “women! Know your place,” I think this advertisement was tried impose the idea that all women should be in kitchen cooking food and washing dishes. Which explain how poor we treated women in past. Another example, “ The chief does everything but cook that’s what wives are for” this show how men dominating women. This quote refers men as boss and women as men worker who cook for them. Even now in some counties, women are not allow to drive and vote. You people tell does men have privilege over women?
When it’s come to homosexual and heterosexual. Heterosexual have privilege over homosexual because people judge their way of life. Some fact, our law passes same sex marriage recently but it really had no impact. Some disadvantage for homosexual is they are unable to make friend and unable make connection with people because some people judge by their appearance and life style.
7 privilege I seem and read
1) When I was in high school soccer team. My coach places me in JV team just by looking at my appearance. I am skinny person maybe he thought I am strong enough.
2) There is more help for first generation students.
3) Privilege in looks and appearance.
4) English is my second language and I have difficulty speak in class, so people speaking English have privilege.
5) My religious doesn’t allow beef so people who can eat beef have privilege.
6) Students siting infront have privilege to know their professor better.
7) Color people more likely be victim of criminal justice system.
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Remember, “colored people” is a term we no longer use. You note, 2) There is more help for first generation students; what sort of help for 2nd or third generation students is present yet invisible: legacy admissions, social capital, networks, etc. How are those “unearned advantages” locked into system and invisible
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what is correct term use instead of “colored people”?
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People of color; as noted in class, the historic meaning of “colored” is one connected to segregation, Jim Crow, and much more
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Are all “whites born into privilege”? Yes. I would say whites are born into privilege because whites have a better chance of getting jobs over African Americans and Latinos. For example, the guy named Jose who changed his name to Joe because he could not get a job without changing his name; this shows that people judge him on the sound of his name. According to Peggy McIntosh an “invisible package…of special provisions” invisible because we might not know that we have them but we do have benefit from special privileges. Whites receive extra privileges and they are not even aware of it. Whites do not have to worry about walking into a store and people following them wondering what they are doing, other races such as African Americans have to worry about that. For example, Joy DeGruy went to the store with her sister-in-law and she had to show the clerk more than her sister-in-law because she was African American. Her sister-in-law was half African American but she looks white, and she used her white privilege to confront the store clerk about the discrimination that just took place.
Are all men born into privilege? Yes. I would say all men are born into privilege because they get jobs over women and they make more money than women do. On average in 2010, women only made 77 cents to every dollar a man earned. This statistic shows that here is a gender inequality. Men also don’t have to worry about walking alone at night; women have to worry about walking alone and are always told to have somebody walk them home. This shows that men have the privilege of walking themselves home and not have to worry about getting hurt. Women today are still looked at as the person who takes care of the kids and cooks the meals. While men on the other hand is considered the “breadwinner”, the one that goes to work and is the provider of the family.
Are all heterosexuals born into privilege? I do not believe that heterosexuals are born into privilege because people’s first judgment of you is based on your looks. Nobody can tell by your looks if you are heterosexual or homosexual. So if you were applying for a job they are not going to decline you the position because you are heterosexual. The only way heterosexuals will be discriminated against is if somebody doesn’t agree with that kind of lifestyle.
The 8 privileges that I have experienced in everyday life are:
1.) I am a golfer and it is primarily a white and Asian sport. I have never golfed with an African American. This is a privilege to whites and Asians because we fit into golf world and African Americans may not.
2.) I am a student athlete and we get free clothes, shoes, IPad, and free travel. We also get to eat in the football complex which is completely free for us. This is a privilege only student athletes receive.
3.) I was going through airport security a couple of years ago and an African American were in front of me and he got searched after going through the scanner and I went through and did not get searched.
4.) I got on to a crowded elevator and the atmosphere was fine and then the next floor an African American got on and the atmosphere changed drastically.
5.) The other day I was at Walmart and I had cart and a man came over to me and took my cart from me so I didn’t have to take it back to the store. That is a privilege that white females have.
6.) A few years ago me, my mom and my friend were driving and my friend got a really bad bloody nose and a white police officer stopped and asked us if we needed any help and was not suspicious at all. He probably was not suspicious because we were all white females.
7.) When I was little my Mom locked the keys in our car and a white male came over to my Mom to check on her and he went to a neighboring business and got a wire and opened our door for us. This shows that because of the color of our skin somebody that we don’t even know will go out of their way to help two white females.
8.) I went to a restaurant and there were a lot of people waiting to be seated and I was standing in the entry way a male got up and offered me his seat. This proves that because of my whiteness I deserved to sit not stand.
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Watching Hollywood and Disney movie is a best example of social construction. Disney princess is always saved by princess. It implies a message that women are all weak; men are the only creature can help them. One of the reasons that the latest Disney movie “Frozen” becomes so popular is “Anna” did not need a hand from the guy. She was rescued by her own sister. It has been an issue that Disney movies are kind of discrimination. In my opinion, privilege is one thing that bounded with race. Probably sometimes it is not racism but usually race and gender are common in privilege.
I am from Taiwan; I am Asian; I am a female. These are the characteristics that sometimes I get privilege from. There is one incident that happened to me the first day I lived in Seattle. I cannot forget how grateful I am when those strangers help me. It was my first day taking bus to my language school and went back home-stay by myself. That morning I made a friend in my home-stay begging her take me to the school. Therefore, I was there in school safe and sound. However, while the time I was planning to go home, my new friend already had gone phone. All I knew was which bus I should take. I had no idea where I should get off the bus and it was getting darker and darker outside. It was my first day in united stated; I did not even had a cellphone. There was the plan: I got on the bus. Then I told the bus driver where the address was. He told me which stop I got off. Perfect. I would be safe in my home. However, things did not go that well.
The bus driver actually told me which stop to get off but that was not the right one. When I got off bus, I could not find my home. I started to panic. My homestay address was “White Center” region. I was just walking down the street had no hope. Then, I saw two “white women” coming out their house and there were a kid playing outside the garage. I immediately ran in front of them. I told them I was lost, asking for their help and gave them the address. They helped me without any doubt. And, I got in their car without any second thought. Yes, I actually arrived home in one piece. Even I could not believe how I could trust strangers so easily. I realized that after I got home, my mind told me three reasons. First, they are two women. Women are not capable of kidnapping things. Second, they are whites. I knew there were lots of black people passed through during the time I got lost. What I did was asking help from white people. Last, there was a kid playing outside the garage. If they have a child, I believe they would understand how parents feel. They will not hurt a person like me. However, why did they help me? What is their reason? I knew it was not luck; I could tell it was my privilege.
What if I were black? What if I were a male? What if my clothing style were hip hop? What if I were not 17 years old? Maybe 30 years old? These factors might lead into their unwillingness helping me. Everyone is avoiding being racism. However, there are some concepts already encoded in our brain. It is not easy to remove. I know I have received a lot of privilege since I were born. Of course it is not as much as being white; however, the advantage I had taken is also plenty. For instance, going to club, being women, you did not pay for the admission fee. Also, being Asian, I have always been considered smart. Being Taiwanese, sometimes I could get discount from Mandarin House in Pullman downtown. Furthermore, when Taiwanese go to Japan, Japanese often are friendlier to Taiwanese because we donated lot of money to their earthquake foundation. If you asked me whether I help them with that disaster, I would say yes. However, I did very little; all the Taiwanese are benefited from those kind Taiwanese donator.
Yes. Whites are born into privilege. Yes, all men are born into privilege. Yes, all heterosexual are born into privilege. Sometimes, I wish I were whites. Sometimes, I wish I were men. Even though whites, men, heterosexual are born with privilege, it does not mean from the bottom of root they are superior to the rest of people. The only reason everyone is receiving different privilege is not one person is better than the other person; it is the social construction already built into these format. It will take a lot of effort to change. No one should feel worse for being black, Asian, homosexual or women. It is not something people should be ashamed of. Nobody is inferior. Maybe some of us were not born into privilege. However, it does not mean we deserve worse. Always remember human are essentially the same.
1) Asian professor is easier to communicate.
2) Talk to the waiter in Chinese in Chinese restaurant and they have special Chinese menu for people who read Chinese
3) Always being seen young
4) considered as polite
5) while carrying a luggage, airport service people help me
6) getting in club without paying any money
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Yes. I do believe whites and men are born with privilege. I actually had this conversation on the phone with my mom. Not all whites are rich, I agree, but just being white it’s pretty much a privilege. Of course it’s not only whites that have all the privilege, it all really depends in what circle you’re in. For example, my mom had said at her job her boss actually refuses to hire white people. The job pays minimum wage but the reason why he refuses to hire white people is because most Hispanics and blacks have low income. Low income people will work and are desperate for work meaning that no matter how unfair the boss is, low incomes will continue to work whereas whites have the privilege to get a better job easily. In the situations I have been in:
1) I used to work in a warehouse, It was only me and another lady who were the only ones who were working the warehouse. We did exactly everything some men did yet we did not get paid the same. Of course there were other men who did way more than me because I obviously cannot carry a 175 LB bag, but for those who did do exactly the same job I did got paid more still.
2) My friends and I applied for a marketing internship last summer. I had much more experience in resume than my friends, I actually worked for other marketing internships and planned on double majoring in sports management and communication to become a sports marketer whereas my other friends either worked in retail stores or didn’t have any work experience at all. I did not get a call back for an interview but my friends did who then got hired. I was very upset, not because my friends got the job but because I felt that they only took a look at my last name rather than my qualifications.
3) The man who came into lecture saying that he got accepted on the spot in Washington State University. That just comes to show that white people indeed have a huge privilege. It blew my mind because anyone else of color who would’ve done that would have no absolute chance in getting admitted.
4) If you are a woman you are weak, if you are a man you are strong. You never hear anyone say “You hit like a man” or “Don’t be such a man.” Being a woman is an insult. During sports, I am usually the only girl to hang around with guys and participate in little sport games such as soccer. Once when we were playing a scrimmage and we had to choose teams, I was one of the first picks to be on my guy friends team because they know how I play. A guy on our team who did not know me asked my friends “wait she’s a girl dude.” This angered me. A woman has the right to be strong as much as a guy does.
5) Being Mexican, I have the privilege of “being good at soccer.” About a year ago I was trying out for a soccer team. I was the only non white person trying out. I overheard a girl say “wow a Mexican is trying out, welp she’s already made the team.” This kind of upset me. I felt super uncomfortable; whether it was a compliment or meant to hurt me I did not like this comment one bit. Instead of judging me by my race I wish they would’ve judged me by skills and character instead.
6) Buying a new house was very hard for my family and I. We had the money for it, it was just weird how every white agent didn’t want to sell us any houses. We actually had to get a Hispanic agent to get the house we currently live in. This comes to show that not everyone has the advantage to buy a house like whites do. It made me mad because my parents were so upset that they could not get a house.
7) Being Latino, I would say I do have privileges to scholarships. I’ll be honest, most of the scholarships I have are indeed because of my race. Although I do have these privileges I also have had tough obstacles to go through to get me where I am today.
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To an extent yes, I would agree that whites, men, and heterosexuals have some degree of privilege. Statistically speaking if a white and black man walk into a job opportunity with the same qualifications, the white man will be more likely to walk away with the same job than the black man. The same statistic applies to men and women, and I would guess that if an employer knew a possible employee was homosexual they would rather hire a heterosexual. If you look at people of any social economic levels, white people will have advantages compared to people of color in the same economic level.
1. I went to the career fair last Tuesday. I would estimate that at least 95% of the employers there were white. A majority were male as well. Being a white male this was a very comfortable setting for me to interact with employers but I could imagine that it would be intimidating for some that aren’t white males.
2. I love to go jogging later at night when it’s dark. Being a male, never once has it crossed my mind that I may be raped or robbed.
3. The staff I currently work on is all white including my supervisor. And the hall I live in is practically all white students.
4. All of my professors are white males. Considering that these are the people that I’m seeing every day and getting all my information from this is huge.
5. Whenever I have gone to Wal-Mart or another store, never once have I felt like I was purposely being watched or followed.
6. In the field of engineering, which I study. Men dominate the field of engineering and many of them are white. This I think is one of the biggest advantages/privileges that I will have. The engineering field really wants to make a push for including women to be engineers since the field comprised of white males. And as a white male I feel like I will have an advantage finding employment in the future. When I went to the career fair I really hit it off with another white male who was the head engineer at a firm near I live and he told me I’m probably going to get the internship this summer.
7. As a guy I can literally wake up every day and put clothes on and go to class. I don’t spend more than 10 minutes a day trying to make myself more attractive.
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Yes all whites are born into privilege even if they are poor, rich or in between they all are at advantage in America and are definitely born in to privilege but nobody wants to admit they have dealt with privilege over other human beings because it is downright humiliating. It also makes them question the factors behind their success in life – was it how hard they work or was it simply because they were white; some success in life came to them not because how hard they worked but because of their skin color. Some people believe that privilege is associated with wealth, no race but it is not true because I believe every race in America has their own privilege some more then others. For example a white person in United States is 50 percent more likely to get job then a black person with the same qualification/resume but the white person is privilege because of his skin color or how white his name sound. This quote from the book Reproducing Racism shows the reason behind inequality and notions or privilege “even if all people everywhere in the US were to stop intentionally discriminating tomorrow, those racial gaps would still persist, because those gaps are produced by the everyday decisions that structure our social, political, and economic interactions.” -Reproducing Racism (pages 4-5). One of the video we watched in class shows a guy name Jose who couldn’t get hired based on his name but when he changed his name to Joe he got hired much easier. In this case money had nothing to do with him getting the job. It was mainly based on how white his name sounded. Skin color matters in terms of privilege because stereotypes are more likely to take effect – whites are more privileged than blacks in terms of race because they don’t have to deal with someone automatically thinking that when you walk into a store that your going to steal something. Other example of white privilege is white people worry less about becoming the victim of law enforcement officers because 80-90 percent of stops in the “frisk and stop” in New York are black and Latino’s. White’s receive less attention from the police than other races. I do acknowledge the fact there are some poor white families but I also know they have skin color privilege and “whites families are 8-11 times more wealthier than a black family” that’s a privilege. We talked about many different types of privileges in class and I think white people are not aware of their privilege or they don’t want to acknowledge the fact they have more privilege than people of other races, but are sure every other race will notice it.
On the subject of whether men have a higher privilege over women, yes, I do agree that men have more privilege over women. I believe the effect of male privilege is real but at the same it is also unspoken. If we look at wage gaps, security, criticism of emotion, all of this are viewed as the weaker sex and being harassed are all parts of sexism. If we also look at head of corporations/companies men mostly occupy the higher positions. Also if we look at statics of workingmen vs. women, I think men are more employed then women. Another privilege men have over women in work field is that men are paid more than women even if they have the same job or hold the same position. If we look at history and also in terms of stereotypes men are looked at as providers/hunters and women are looked at as the person who cleans the house and takes care of the kids. According to a survey on average in 2010, women only made 77 cents to every dollar a man earned. This statistic shows that there is a gender inequality in our society. Another privilege men have over women is men don’t have to worry about walking alone at night; women have to worry about walking alone and are always told to have somebody walk them home (this is also talked in orientation and first week of college workshops to female students to be with some trustable after party returning to their Resident Halls). This shows that men have the privilege of walking themselves home and not have to worry about getting hurt.
I think it would be unfair to say homosexuals have the same opportunities as heterosexuals. Even though company don’t ask whether you are heterosexual or homosexual, however they can judge you based on your appearance. Homosexual people get discriminated against in many other ways from people who do not believe in their lifestyle of beliefs. Homosexuals still can’t get married in many states, and they are still looked down by majority of the population. Heterosexuals are privileged, they are secured at jobs, a place within the church, a spouse in all states, while others are not. Another privilege heterosexuals have over homosexuals is going wherever you wish and know that you will not be harassed, beaten, or killed because of your sexuality. The ability to belong to the religious denomination of your choice and know that its religious leaders will not denounce your sexuality is also one of the many privileges heterosexuals have over homosexuals.
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Im trying to comment on the actually online assignment, but its not letting my so I’m just going to post in a reply. All whites no matter what the appearance or background info are born into privilege, but I also believe every race can be born into privilege. For an example, lets say there is a basketball tryout somewhere. There is one white guy and one black guy trying out and only one can make it on the team. We all automatically think that the black guy will be the one to make it because we all think that all black people are better at playing basketball than white people. So the black guy gets that privilege and makes it on the team and the white person does not. Another example could be the story that was told in class when a Hispanic wrote down Joe as his name rather than his real name José. He did this because when he put his real name on a resumes he never got a call for an interview, but when he started to put his nickname Joe he instantly got calls back for interviews. That tells us that there is defiantly a white privilege there. As for men, of course they are born into privilege, but so are woman. Lets say, there is an emergency at a fashion show or something and the director needs a new hair stylist. Someone puts two people in front of the person in charge, one of the two people being male and the other being female. The person in charge automatically picks the female because he believes all female hair stylist are better than all male hair stylist. YES, all whites are born into privilege, all men are born into privilege, but this is all to a certain extent. Everyone has their own privilege depending on the situation.
1)At the gym a girl tried to get in a game of basketball, but the guys wouldn’t pass the ball to her so she eventually walked away
2) Walking into a clothing store with one of my black friends and the manager was following us everywhere because he was scared that maybe my friend would steal something. I don’t think I have even been looked at like how my friend was.
3)in the tutoring center, there was a Hispanic gentlemen that was one of the many students that raised his hand. He was the first hand to go up. The tutor completely ignored his hand through all of the pale hands. He even went to a student twice then finally went to him.
4) I was talking to my guy friend and asked him how early he has to wake up before coming to our 9am class. He told me 8:40. I was shocked and told he I woke up at 7:30. Men have the privilege to get up and get ready in 10 min with out getting negativity thrown towards them through out the day where as I fee like I need to make my self look good or I feel like I might get looked at differently.
5) Walking how alone I feel unsafe, because I’m female. I need someone to walk with me. where as men don’t feel like that because they know they have a safer chance walking alone than woman.
6) The most shocking thing that had happen to me that has to do with privilege was when I went to Wal-Mart. I was in line to check out, and there was a black woman in front of me. The cashier closed the register by turning of the light and putting the sign up. He told the black woman that she had to go to a different register because this one was now closed. She started to walk away and I started to gather up all my things back into the cart. Then the cashier turned back on the box and said to me,” I can help you” and started to scan my items.
7) In state tuition v. out of state tuition. If you live in Washington and attending WSU its cheaper to go to school there. It you are from California and attending WSU, you pay more for going to the school. Washington State would have that privilege
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Loundyne Hare
Yes, I believe that all whites are born into privilege whether they know it or not. Roth talks about how America is systematically organized as a social construction to benefit those who don’t identify with people of color. In other words, whites have advantages in how their daily life plays out. They don’t live with the negative stereotypes created by institutional racism: blacks account for the majority of people in jail so we are viewed as the opposite of a law abiding citizens. As a result, police have been known to pursue colored people rather than whites. This is the reproduction of racism that roth discusses in her book.
To put this into perspective, 70 percent of drug dealers in Seattle are white but 70 percent of people arrested for drug dealing in Seattle are black. In New York, over 60 percent of the people stopped and frisked are young black men. This is a reoccurring cycle due to stereotypes integrated into our society dating back to the days of slavery. My main point here is that whites are born with the privilege of comfort. The comfort of not worrying about police brutality, the comfort of not being followed in corner stores, the comfort of living in a society tailored to the wants and needs of white people. On the other side of the spectrum, we minorities live with daily discomfort. We fear the law enforcers who are supposed to protect us, we live in impoverished communities and we are forced to live by rules that white people created. This daily discomfort results in the vast number of infant mortalities within the African American population. Infant mortality is more than 4 times as prominent among African Americans compared to whites. All of this data is recent, so it is evident that contemporary institutional racism is practiced in America.
Men have unearned privileges that women don’t have. Although the following privileges seem insignificant, these inequalities speak to how beneficial it is to be a man in today’s society.
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