17 Deplorable Examples Of White Privilege

[alarimer]

169. You may believe it, but it actually isn't true.

There are many, many factors beyond anyone's control that affect who gets hired and fired, for example. In blind studies, applicants with a "black" name (or one that is perceived to be) are less likely to be hired than one with a "white" name. Men are more likely to be hired in similar tests than women. A person's weight affects whether or not they will be hired, etc.

It's called implicit bias. We all have it. I do, you do, everyone here does. It's pretty much unconscious and we are mostly unaware we are doing it, but it is there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_stereotype

And there is such a thing as stereotype threat, in which people who are reminded of their status do worse on tests. So, no, in many ways, we are not "master's of our circumstances." People who are born impoverished tend to remain that way through life, no matter how many Horatio Alger stories we may tell ourselves. Not to say it doesn't happen, but if you are born poor and minority, you have many cards stacked against you from the beginning. Not that it can't be overcome, but it is more than "pulling yourself up." No one "builds it themselves". No one.

And all "white privilege" (which I agree is an inartful term) says is that whites have built in advantages that others do not. It doesn't mean wealth necessarily.