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JoseleneEnriquez

Sociology1
ProfessorOrtega
December20,2015
WhitePrivilegeintheUnitedStates
White privilege is a term that refers to the societal privileges that benefit white
people in theUnited States whencomparedtononwhitepeople inthesamesocialand
economic conditions. The effects of this can be viewed in business, education, and
personal contexts. There is a presumed greater status placed upon white people,and
the reason for this may be due to underlying problems of inequality or due to other
social privileges interconnected with it. Nonetheless, white privilege is an aspect of
Americansocietythathasbeenprevalentbothinthepresentandthepast.
In the year 1935, W. E. B.Du Bois wrote in
BlackReconstructionin Americaof
the concept ofapsychologicalwage, inwhichlowincomewhitepeople felt superior to
lowincomeblack people.Theconceptofwhiteprivilegecameaboutinthe 1960swhen
historians claimed that the white race was a ruling social class since the seventeenth
century and during the time of imperialism. This concept of white privilege was only
magnified during the eras ofslavery and segregationin the United States. It appeared
that for whatever reason, white people somehow ended up on the higher end of the
socialclasswhilenonwhitesendedupeitherinthemiddleornearthebottom.
Theconflict paradigm isclearlyevidentwhenspeakingofwhiteprivilege.Conflict
theory comes from the economist Karl Marx. According to this theory, a society only

functions through the domination of the people.In a society, thereare alwaysthose in


powerand those subject to thosewhohavepower.Whentheconcernofwhiteprivilege
isintroduced tothis paradigm,onecaneasilyconcludethatthosewhodominatesociety
are white people. Those in power have the greatest economic, political, and social
resources. They have the mostinfluenceover other individuals as wellasoversociety
itself. This paradigm exists insociety,according toKarl Marx, becausethosein power
have advantages over the rest. Therefore, they do what they must in order toprotect
thoseadvantagesbyinfluencingsociety.
Society can be viewed as a stratification system subject to hierarchical
classifications. This hierarchy of power applies certain definitions to power, which are
the ability to control others, honor, and wealth. In American society, it is not only a
common stereotype but an actual fact that mostly everyone inthe top 1% ofthe class
structure is white. In fact, to be a bit more specific, the top 1% is mostly made up of
middleaged white men. 91% of theone percentersare actually mostlikelytobewhite.
Only about 1.8% of these one percenters are Hispanic 0.2% are black. There is a
growing social inequality. The gap between the high class and the middle class is
becomingincreasinglylargeasthedaysprogress.
Itis interesting toviewthesenumbersbecause it makesonewonderwhyitisso.
Why isitthat the wealthiestpeoplein Americaare mostly always white.At thispoint,it
isdifficult toidentify thereasonfor that. Isthereasonforthisfactduetoprejudice,oris
it simply due to a combination of circumstances that somehow ledto the outcomewe
see today? Whatever the reason, one can say that in America,nonwhitesareviewed

andalso feelslightlyinferiorto white people.Itis notbecause they are.Thereisinfact


a growing sense of equality between different ethnicities in America. However, even
frommyownexperienceworkinginthecustomerserviceindustry,Ifindthatsomewhite
people do hold an air of superiority. This may be due to their own sense of self or
becauseoftheirwealth.
Social inequality is most often tied to things such as race, gender, and class.
Those at the top mainly being welleducated white males. Different groups of people
receivedifferent advantages over others, andthisiswhatcreatesthatinequality.Social
constructs such as discrimination only magnify these differences among groups and
isolate the groups from one another even more. This,in my opinion,maybepartofthe
cause to why there is a growing social inequality. Think of, for example, the gender
wage gap.Femalesaregenerallypaidless thanmaleseventhoughtheyareperforming
the same work. Besides this, men have a much higher overall average income than
when compared to women.Most people in business settings are white. Nonwhitesare
usually viewed as misfits or outcasts in these settings. Racism and discrimination is
veryingrainedintothewaysocietyfunctions.
It is evident that the upper class in America consists ofmainlywhite people.In
America, it appears thatwhite peoplereceivebetteropportunities,advantages,respect,
and power over all other ethnicities. There isanair ofsuperiorityofwhite people over
non white people. This white privilege is something that has become a great part of
Americansociety due to thecombinationofvariousfactorsoveragreatamountoftime.
The question is: How can this inequality be eliminated. I believe that the only way to

equalize this is to give more opportunities of betterment to those that are not upper
class.Allshouldhavethesameopportunitiestosucceedinthisnation.

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