Kayden Johnson explores the concept of white privilege in American society in a paper for their First Year Seminar class. While acknowledging that as a white male they have not directly experienced racial barriers, Johnson recognizes that looking at how other races are affected shows some truth to the idea of white privilege. White people are able to go through life without facing racial obstacles that can prevent economic or academic success as minorities such as Black and Hispanic people regularly do. White privilege means white people experience everyday situations, like shopping or interacting with police, in a more neutral way while minorities often face negative reactions. Though white privilege cannot be fully removed, steps can be taken to promote fair and equal treatment of all races without advantages based on skin color.

1. Kayden Johnson
Dr. Harold Blanco
First Year Seminar
28 February 2016
White Privilege
As a white male individual I cannot come outright and declare that such a thing as “white
privilege” exists because I have not directly experience it. However, when I look at how other
races are affected differently by common attributes of society I have to accept that there may be
some truth to the concept after all. White people go on through life in a much different way than
most other races do, in the sense that they do not have to overcome any racial barriers or
obstacles which prevent them from succeeding economically or academically. Other races such
as Hispanics or Blacks experience everyday life differently because they are constantly labeled
and falsely accused of pertaining certain characteristics due to their ethnic heritage or simply by
the color of their skin. White people do not have this issue because they have the privilege of
sidestepping interactions such as these since they are considered the “majority” of society while
every other race is considered the “minority”.
White privilege is a concept that explores the idea of why white people experience
everyday situations with a more neutral reaction while other races commonly face a negative
reaction. For example, a white person can shop in a gas station with no supervision from the
cashier or clerk inside the store, but when a black person comes in and shops they receive
immediate supervision and are sometimes kicked out of the store for suspicious activity. In
addition, white people who come into contact with law enforcement face an extreme leniency
from the officer compared to black people who are responded with immediate aggression and
hostility from law enforcement.

2. There are other attributes that come with having white privilege that involve common
aspects of society. White people have the advantage of being perceived as more dominant than
other races because of their financial and academic superiority to the other races. Other races
who achieve a similar status of financial or academic prospering are perceived to have achieved
their success partly due to their race rather than wholly on their hard effort and perseverance. For
example, a black student who gets accepted into Harvard is praised for his achievement to be
admitted to such a sophisticated school, however, his achievement will be perceived as a need
for the school to meet a quota on the amount of black students they allow into their school. If a
white student gets accepted into Harvard, everyone praises him for his hard work and attribute all
of his success to his intelligence rather than the color of his skin.
When white people come into contact with other white people, they treat each other in a
completely normal manner. But when white people come into contact with people, there is a
noticeable change in treatment. White people have created the privilege of treating each other
equally while segregating the same equal treatment to people of color. This happens in almost
every case in which a white person directly makes a connection with someone of another race.
The main reason for this is due to stereotypes white people have labeled people of other races
with. When a white person approaches or is approached by a black person, they examine their
outward appearance and make a decision on whether that individual is an illiterate street criminal
or the opposite, an intelligent character who forged his way out of the ghetto and made
something of himself. When white people are approached by other white people they don’t feel
the need to make these judgement calls before their interaction.
White privilege is not something that can be removed from society, as it is a concept that
applies to the majority of people in America. However, we can take the necessary steps to find

3. ways to treat each other fairly and appropriately, without segregation, in order to further unite
this country and provide a solid foundation in which everyone can be treated fairly and equally
without unequal distribution of privileges or advantages to advance a particular race’s success.
Works Cited
White Anti-Racist Activism: A Personal Roadmap by Jennifer R. Holladay, M.S. (Crandall,
Dostie & Douglass Books, Inc., 2000)