Whites are still privileged in this country.
Today, whites with a felony on their record are more likely to be hired than blacks with no record. That is the world my sons have been born into. They can get a felony conviction and STILL have an advantage over a black man with no criminal record. Just because of the color of their skin!
What we have now is a more subtle kind of discrimination. Nobody is racist (right?), but the white guy just happens to usually get the job over the black guy.
It is very hard to fight to fix this problem in our society when people keep saying it doesn't exist.
The problem is real and it must be delt with and talked about and studied and faced. We can't just put our heads in the sand and pretend that whites are not privileged in this country because we elected Obama. We all wish that were true, but it is not.
The effects of slavery and Jim Crow are still with us. The civil war is only 4 generations from my mother...
I trace my ancestors back to the time of slavery and they were farmers (some of them with slaves), sliversmiths, ranchers, doctors, and lawyers. I still have family heirlooms from these people in my home right now. Pieces of silver, a table, photographs... All of these people owned homes and other property that they passed down to their children, giving their children a huge advantage over the children of slaves. Four generations later, those advantages of having been free and white in the 1800's are still being passed down to the next generation, as my children inherit the property and privilege that comes with being white in this country. Certainly, some white people have left nothing to their children, and some white children have squandered the inheritence that they did get...But they STILL have white privilege (like a better chance of getting a job) because of who their family was 4 generations ago...because of the color of their skin.
And the same is true of the discrimination and poverty that has been handed down in the four generations since slavery. Certainly, many black families have been able to create wealth and aquire property and attain education....but they STILL carry their 'not privileged' status them, and have a disadvantage when looking for jobs and housing because of who their families were 4 generations ago...because of the color of their skin.
None of us can pretend these things are not true.
All of us should be working to end white privilege, because as long as it exists, we are all not treated equal in this country. Our skin color should not have anything to do with our chances of getting a job.
We have a ways to go.
The disease is NOT cured.
