White Privilege and Racial Identity

I never wanted to go to an urban school. I felt as though I wouldn't fit in, wouldn't be able to feel safe. Obviously, I overcame those "fears" and chose Marquette University at the end of last school year. However, when I was first deciding on a college, I went on quite a few college visits. They became quite repetitive and dull. One of them, however, was quite unique. I had to choose a professor (one of three) in my major and he would show us what a typical college class would be like. I chose a political science professor and took a seat in a hot and humid classroom. It was middle of July of my Junior year and I wanted to go home then decide my future. However, once the professor began lecturing he talked about something that ws particularly interesting. He talked about doors and how as soon as you're born they begin closing. For example, he mentioned if you are born a male, certain doors are closed. A female, same thing. He continued through a natural progression of childhood and mentioned a few very important factors. One of which was race.

The professor mentioned the drastic differences in the "number of open doors" for caucasians and african americans. In particular, he referred to the perceptions that people have versus the actual truth. Studies have been done and theories have been tested in all ranges of society. Psychological, economical, and sociological angles have been studied and they have only added to the evidence for one thing: white privilege. Sure the professor in this lecture never said that "whites" had it easy, but he said that perceptions were so different that, in the eyes of society in general, that was the fact.

Living in the south suburbs of Chicago, I had the unique opportunity of going into the city quite a bit. Besides just on field trips, my parents would bring me downtown a few times a month and, as I grew up, I noticed a few things. I noticed that, whenever we were in a "not so good" area, the car would be still and all of a sudden, the doors would be locked. Now, its important to understand that this was not just my parents and definitely not only in the area that I grew up in. This is an example of a perception and a perfect reflection of what that professor was talking about.

Perception links back to White Privilege in a direct way. Employers, government officials, and other people who determine someones future are not blind to race. In fact, it is something that, in college applications in particular, it is suggested to embrace. Show who you are, how you overcame a difficulty, how your race did or did not define who you became. Why they focus on these things and treat them with such importance is because they realize how difficult it may have been to overcome the events of their childhood. Overcoming social inequality and perceptions. White privilege surrounds the idea that whites have much more likely to be successful in life. They are thought to have many more opportunities than blacks or Asians or any other race have. Even in today's society, white privilege is still prevalent. While it is not (and should not be) a brush stroke across the Caucasian population, white privilege is readily viewed as one of societies inequalities.