Are Americans In Denial About White Privilege?

2012-10-20 17:40:18 UTC

I was born with a reality that I am African American and life would be ten times more challenging in a place where I am a minority. But I’m proud to be African American and love every struggle that comes with being Black. It makes me feel even more powerful to start with disadvantage and to exceed limitations of many of my peers. I wasn't born with any privileges and worked ten times as hard to earn and keep my wealth. In all honesty I feel like with all the barriers I had to roll over as an African American in the U.S that my dollar is worth ten times as much as anyone else’s. Which makes me very choosy with whom I share my wealth.

With the given facts below do you think Americans are in denial of White Privilege? Or are the challenges that are a Reality for minorities a far off unimaginable Idea that could never be understood thru the norms created by White Privilege?
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Statistics:
WEALTH: Social Security Act
Wealth is passed along from generation to generation, giving whites a better "starting point" in life than other races. Many whites receive financial assistance from their parents allowing them to live beyond their income. This, in turn, enables them to buy houses and major assets, which aid in the accumulation of wealth.

JUSTICE: 2002 Department of Justice Survey
Young white offenders are likely to receive lighter punishments than minorities in America. Black youth arrested for drug possession for the first time are incarcerated at a rate that is forty-eight times greater than the rate for white youth. In 2007, the incarceration rate was 4,618 per 100,000 for black men and 1,747 per 100,000 for Hispanic men, compared to 773 per 100,000 for white men. When pulled over by police minorities are five times more likely to have their vehicle searched for no reason other than racial profiling.

EMPLOYMENT:
2003, sociologist Deirdre A. Royster compared black and white males who graduated from the same school with the same skills. White graduates were more often employed in skilled trades, earned more, held higher status positions, received more promotions and experienced shorter periods of unemployment. Since older white males predominantly control blue-collar trades, they are more likely to offer varying forms of assistance to those in their social network, often other whites. A Boston and Chicago survey proved that people with "white-sounding" names are 50% more likely to receive a call back than people with "black-sounding" names, despite equal résumé quality

HOUSING:
The 1934 Federal Housing Act allowed private lending for homebuyers allowing them to channel all the money to white homebuyers instead of minorities.
Whites are offered more choices; 60%–90% of housing units shown to whites are not brought to the attention of blacks. 46% of whites had help from their family in making down payments on homes compared to 12% for African Americans. Whites pay on average an 8.12% interest rate on their mortgage; lower than the 8.44% African Americans pay on average.

EDUCATION:
Schools in wealthier neighborhoods receive more funding per student. European history is taught as the core norm. Although minority history such as the wealth in African pyramids, oil, diamonds, wildlife and kingdoms are ignored as if it does not exist. And still presented as if it is a poor culture through media today. The majority of the majority pay for their children’s education with ease of savings past down from generations.

SELF IMAGE:
Most white people do not think of themselves as white. Whereas people of color usually use racial or ethnic identity descriptors. Beauty products marketed by major companies are promoted as "flesh" colors that image pink colored skin as if this is the only norm. Media brainwashed minority athletes have used skin-bleaching creams for lighter skin to reap the false sense of "White Privilege".