White Privilege

Andrea Burns A major idea discussed in class was whether white privilege can exist for people who are not white. I do not think that it can. The white privilege we discussed was that white people never need to consider their race. I think that is a very true statement and unfortunately disagree to the idea that those of color have attained that. The example for white privilege occurring for more than just whites mentioned was being a member of a predominately white school and still not needing to think about race in that setting. Does that mean a white privilege existed in this instance because race was not thought about? I'd say no. Even if race was not the focus in the setting and the individual was able to focus entirely on being a student, I personally think a white privilege did not exist. We discussed the white privilege to be never having to consider their race. It may have been that in this predominately white school, the race difference was not considered. The individual could exist there and have her primary focus being that of a student rather than being one of the few black individuals. Her race there was not the main focal point. However, overall situations are bound to arise where the race is brought up. She may not consider her race whatsoever, however an ignorant person could create a situation that could then cause her to refocus on the race difference. Unfortunately until ignorance is eliminated, the white privilege is still going to exist.