Privilege

Looking at White Privilege

Historically, most research on race has focused on the victims of racism. Courses on race have taken minority groups as their focus, and the field of ethnic studies arose to bring the lives of people of color out of the margins and to counter their exclusion from the disciplines of literature, history, and other fields. During recent years, the study of race and ethnicity has expanded, and there is now a growing field of research that examines whiteness and racial privilege. Just as men's lives are shaped by gender, White people's lives are shaped by their race.

In one of the first examinations of White privilege, Peggy McIntosh offered a long list of examples of the White privilege she experiences. She noted, for example, that White privilege includes being able to assume that most of the people one studies in school, or one's children study in school, will be of the same race; being able to go shopping without being followed; and never being called a credit to one's race or needing to represent one's entire race. It also includes simple details such as finding flesh-colored bandages to match one's skin color.

Other scholars have followed this lead and documented privileges based on gender, sexual orientation, and ability. For example, Allan Johnson observed that heterosexuals have the privilege to marry, to be openly intimate with their partners, and to know they will not be fired from their jobs based on their sexual orientation. Gender privilege ensures that men can assume their failures will not be attributed to their gender; that if they work hard and follow the rules, their merit will be rewarded; and that they will not be held to a higher standard on the job. The able-bodied can assume that they can travel freely without needing to worry about access and mobility issues and do not need to deal with others treating them like children.

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