Reading Reflection #2

"I Know I did not get where I am by merit alone."

This is certainly a thought provoking quote. How did you get there, then? Surely Robert Jensen is not the only one who has thought about white privilege, but he is one of the few to bravely expose his opinion on the matter. Indeed, he does challenge a enduring point of view: That hard work is the measure of how far gets in life. In fact, he refers to it as the "mythology" of the culture, the deception, and the false belief. The idea that hard work produces results does hold true with many people; many white people do not have the privilege of being affluent or oriented to wealthy white society. On the other hand, can we truly argue that it is easier for a white person to get a job than, say, a black person? Will whites typically be tailed by a security guard when they walk into a department store? I think the answer is pretty apparent.

After reading the article, my view have not necessarily changed but, rather, modified. I was always aware that white people definitely held an advantage in American society, but I never paid close attention to that belief. I never looked at the world around me and said, "Gee, the color of my skin has certainly gotten me somewhere." The fact is, however, that yes, my "race" has entitled me advantages that perhaps should not be entitled. Why should I get a job if a Hispanic man has worked even harder than me to earn? I hope my recommendations by other people, appointments to certain positions, or simple respect is not determined by the fact that I am basically a WASP. On the other hand, in some point in my life I know I have encountered just that kind of thinking, though I may not have been aware of it. The sad thing is that it is not the microcosm that I live in that determines these things; it is the macrocosm, the enitre society of America. As David Newman says in his text, "As long as people continue to believe that race differences or gender differences are rooted in nature, however, they will continue to accept social inequalities as natural." Should American society be tricked into believing "the American dream"? Should we ignore that question of race is as much a problem today as it was 50, 100, 200 years ago? How are we expected to move on as a society if we cannot overcome that which has plagued since the inception of this country?

Perhaps the one problem with Jensen's article is that he is speaking from a point of view that addressed white people alone. But what do minorities have to say about such an issue? It would be interesting to know what people who are victims of white privilege have to say about the issue themselves. Undoubtedly, such people probably notice it more than the average white person, but I want to hear what they actually have to say. Do they feel wronged? Hurt? Angry? The answer is probably yes, but we cannot let the assumptions of article's author let us know how everyone feels about this topic.