What is White Privilege Really?
Ben Fader '21 Editor in Chief
For centuries now, a problem has contaminated our world. An “invisible force” (Cory Collins) that has brought advantages to the Caucasian race to this day is outrageously still being ignored. However, recent acknowledgement of white privilege within school curriculums has also sparked parental protest.
Recently, a unit revolving around the focus of white privilege was taught as part of the normal world history curriculum in public high schools. Several parents were furious when they learned of this unit and immediately took to social media posts in an attempt to protest this. Referring to the new lesson, junior Nina Cooper thinks that “It’s important to understand the different roles in history and keep trying to stop the unjust system. I think that parents want to take it out because they don’t want to acknowledge the idea that they may have privilege.” This is a fantastic point because this is definitely a real thing in our society. Some individuals (including these parents) may be embarrassed or scared of the fact that they do have privilege over others, and may just be trying to hide it in any way that they can. Cory Collins is convinced that the people of today misinterpret the real meaning of white privilege in his article “What is White Privilege, Really?” White privilege isn’t this glaringly racist attitude that every white person on the planet has towards those of color. It also isn’t this single-minded idea that as a white person, they are better than everyone else and have authority and priority over the other races. It is the ability to not get judged, stereotyped or put in any immediate danger just by stepping outside of your front door in the morning. This is what the parents don’t understand. They think that by protesting the teaching of white privilege, they are protecting their children from hearing that their close ancestors are racists and that they have racist tendencies. But in short, the action that needs to be prevented isn’t the teaching of white privilege… it is the attempt to stop such teaching by the parents themselves. Instead of condemning children to live in ignorance, the updated curriculum provides kids with the opportunity to learn more about the issue that their parents are trying so hard for them to never hear. Those who don’t learn about the past repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Although the “invisible force” of white privilege has significantly diminished over the past hundred years, its prevalence is still engraved in our society and its elimination is one of the most important actions we have left to take as people in this country. The parents can shy away from the problem as much as they want, but nothing ever changes until we face the facts. Ignoring something that was just a way of life for hundreds of years doesn’t result in a disappearance of the matter. Hopefully the dissenting parents can change for the greater good of our community and our world as a whole. |
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 26TH 2020 - A group of protestors gather after multiple cases of violence towards African Americans in New York. E. MCGREGOR/LIGHTROCKET/GETTY
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