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Terrell Bennett
Mrs. Knudson
UWRT 1101

White Privilege
Is white privilege considered a form of racism? Most people of color would agree, but it
seems that white people fail to realize it. Some may ask what white privilege? is? Well white
privilege is a set of advantages that white people benefit from on a daily basis beyond those
common to all others. White privilege can exist without white peoples knowledge of its presence
and it helps to maintain the racial hierarchy in this country. White privilege occurs in stores, with
police officers, and jobs.
If two random people entered a store, one white and one of color. Which one do you
usually see being followed or asked, Can I help you find something? Usually its the people of
color. There have been countless videos on YouTube where black people film themselves being
followed by the store employees. This is called shopping while black. Black people cant shop
freely in stores because the employees think theyll steal something. But, you see a white person
come in the store they arent asked any questions and are not followed. They are able to shop
without somebody breathing over their shoulder. Now, if someone were to try and steal from the
store, who would have an opportunity to? That white person that just walked into the store has
plenty of time to steal whatever they want because no eyes are on them. Instead, all eyes are on
the innocent black person who just wants to shop just like the white person. That white person
may not realize it, but they just benefited from their white privilege.

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Everyone around the world knows about all of the police brutality that has been occurring
lately against blacks. Just to name a few we have Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, and Eric
Gardner who were all black and murdered by the police. Michael Brown was gunned down while
running away from a police officer, Sandra Bland was hanged in her cell, and Eric Gardner was
choked to death by a police officer while he screamed, I cant breathe. But, whats the common
factor out of all those murders? The answer is that those who were killed were black and the
killers were white police officers. The white privilege in these cases is that the police officers
were never charged with their murders because they claim it was self-defense. But because it was
a black vs. white altercation, the judges sided with the white man. On the other hand there are
murderers such as the Colorado Movie Theater Killer, George Zimmerman, and Dylan Roof who
were all white and taken into custody without a scratch on their body. White policemen treat their
own color with respect while arresting them even though they just committed a mass murder.
Dylan Roof even got a bite to eat at Burger King after being taken into custody. This is just
another example of white privilege.
When it comes to jobs if a black person and white person are competing for the same job,
in most cases the white person will get it. Studies show the names on resumes who sound
ethnic are not even going to get interviewed. If companies are recruiting for diversity this
means that they are not diverse to begin with. So they will recruit one black to work with their
100 white men just so they can call the company diverse. I know you have went into some stores
and restaurants that have little to no diversity in their companies. White privilege allows white
workers to get a job before blacks and keep one longer than blacks all because of skin color.
All of those examples just goes to show that white privilege and racism still exists.
Though many white people dont realize it, they have the advantage to do a lot more and get

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away with a lot of the things as opposed to non-whites. Then they try to defend themselves by
saying, but I didnt ask to be born white or youre just being racist. Although they are wrong
about non-whites being racist towards them, they are right that they didnt choose to be born
white just like people of color didnt choose to be their color. But, by being born white you
automatically benefit from institutionalized racism and discrimination. Dont argue about it, just
accept it.

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