Understanding Racism. Hephzibah Strmic-Pawl
studied how White privilege sustains racism.
Description of the Theory
White privilege answers this question: If people of color are encountering racism, what are Whites experiencing? White privilege explains the “other side of racism,” the benefits and resources given to Whites and that are denied to people of color. White privilege is a “relational concept. It positions one person or group over another person or group. It is a concept of racial domination that enables us to see this relationship from the perspective of those who benefit from such domination.”2 White privilege permits insight into who benefits from racism and how they do so; only by looking holistically at both the discriminatory and the beneficial nature of racism can the problem be fully addressed. Within this theory, race is defined as “a socially constructed category for the purpose of controlling, dominating, and exploiting some for the benefit of others,”3 and racism is defined as “subordination of people of color by white people.”4
Often, Whites think racism is defined by individual hateful actions that come from “bad people” and do not recognize racism’s operation on the systemic and structural levels. White privilege theory, however, explains that racism against people of color and its corollary, White privilege, operate on a systemic and structural level as well as the individual level. Thus, White privilege is given to all Whites, not just White, wealthy, heterosexual men as the stereotypical image of White privilege recipients. Whites of all different classes, sexes, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and other intersecting identities receive White privilege, albeit how and to what degree White privilege is experienced vary across these intersecting identities. Whites receive White privilege whether they desire it or not, and they benefit from it whether they acknowledge those benefits or not, as, unlike people of color, all Whites are “born to belonging.”5 These benefits cannot be given away, and good intentions don’t erase them, because White privilege is accorded not by an individual’s behavior or beliefs but because of the status of “White” in society, or what is often referred to as “Whiteness.”
Whiteness
To understand White privilege requires an explanation of the meaning behind “White” or what Whiteness represents. Whiteness is the power accorded to those deemed White. In the United States, Whiteness originated with plantation slavery, when “White” became synonymous with free and “Black” with slave. Policies in the United States then continued to place power, resources, opportunities, and achievements in the hands of Whites. Such practices and ideologies have given Whiteness special status, so that being “White” has been the way toward success. People from all racial and ethnic groups have fought to be identified as White, including Irish, Italians, Mexicans, Chinese, and Blacks who had a light enough skin tone that they could “pass” as White.6 For those who were denied White racial status, many sought White approval. George Lipsitz explains this “possessive investment in whiteness” in how “the power of whiteness depended not only on White hegemony over separate racialized groups, but also on manipulating racial outsiders to fight against one another, to compete with each other for white approval, and to seek the rewards and privileges of whiteness for themselves at the expense of other racialized populations.”7
Another defining aspect of Whiteness is the lack of awareness of race, of power, and of privilege; “to be an American and to be white is to be told a million different ways that the world is your oyster; it is to believe, because so many outward signs suggest it, that you can do anything and be anything your heart desires.”8 The constant and consistent valuing of Whiteness leads most Whites to understand this treatment as “normal,” and they are therefore unaware that their racial status is according them benefits. Yet the relationship between Whiteness and privilege is of a constitutive nature; “without racial privilege there is no whiteness, and without whiteness, there is no racial privilege. Being white means to be advantaged relative to people of color, and pretty much only that.”9 Thus, there are direct reinforcing links between “White,” “Whiteness,” and “White privilege.” White is the term used to identify a group of people who share phenotypical features understood as “White,” Whiteness refers to the power given to Whites, and White privilege denotes the benefits that Whites receive because they are White.
Facets of White Privilege
Given that much of White privilege scholarship relies on an autobiographical, self-reflective approach, the theory has not been neatly constructed into components. However, there are clear themes in how Amico, McIntosh, Rothenberg, and Wise systematically analyze White privilege, or, as Rothenberg says, there is “a kind of anatomy of privilege in all its complexity.”10 There are five main experiences that characterize White privilege: (1) opportunities received, (2) lack of authority enforcement, (3) a White ethnocentric curriculum, (4) racial segregation, and (5) a pattern of laws throughout time that benefit Whites. It should be noted, however, that though these five experiences help outline the theory of White privilege, they do not encapsulate all the varied and nuanced ways in which Whites experience their racial privilege.
Opportunities Received
A hallmark of White privilege is the “invisible” opportunities that Whites receive; these can be small, micro daily interactions or larger life-course markers that make it easier to move from one stage of life to another. For example, Wise reflects on how theater activities in school gave him a much-needed outlet in life, but his consistent assignment to key roles had more to do with the use of White roles rather than his acting ability.11 Rothenberg describes how her family’s White network got her into private school and away from more poorly performing public schools. Her father’s network also aided her acceptance into the University of Chicago, and her parents helped buy her house by providing the down payment. Without the White networks, a perception of worthiness, and her family’s wealth, Rothenberg would have gone without these educational and housing opportunities that affected her entire life course.12 Whites receive privilege via the opportunities open to them through their networks, wealth, and other resources, as well as their perceived worth. This assignment of value and respect to Whiteness connects to the second main area of privilege: lack of authority enforcement.
Lack of Authority Enforcement
White privilege theory notes how Whites are presumed to be innocent, or if they are found to be deviant, the penalty is either insignificant or nonexistent. Wise recounts numerous times when he did not get into trouble, even though he was clearly violating the law: drinking and doing drugs as a teenager and, even more severe, his fake identification business that helped him and his underage friends drink at bars.13 In another instance, a police officer chose to help Wise break into his car when he had locked himself out of it. Rather than the officer assuming Wise was illegally trying to break into a car, his Whiteness accorded him virtue; “for whites, innocence was presumed until proven otherwise, while for blacks, the presumption of guilt was the default position.”14 Lack of authority enforcement is also a common theme among a list of privileges that McIntosh delineates: She can shop without being followed around; she can be sure her children’s teachers will tolerate them; she can be sure that if she is pulled over by a cop, it is not because of her race; and she can be late to a meeting without the tardiness reflecting on her race. McIntosh notes that several privileges allow her “to escape penalties or dangers that others suffer.”15
White Ethnocentric Curriculum
White privilege also shapes what is considered knowledge or even epistemology. In an analysis of the major disciplines, such as history, philosophy, and science, the curriculum is Eurocentric, in that it focuses on the contributions and knowledge production of Whites. For example, Rothenberg had the following realization when she began teaching philosophy:
Implicit in my syllabus was the notion that wisdom was the special attribute of one