White Privilege: Inherited Or Inherent

The Understanding of “White Privilege” And The Opinion Of Its Effect

To understand and define “white privilege,” one has to accept that being born with white skin is no more than an inherited trait like being born with brown hair or blue eyes. There is no data to support that being born with white skin gives any human being inherent privileges after their birth. Simply put, “white privilege” is an unspoken and mostly un-realized notion that develops after birth, as a result of having white skin and living in this society in the U.S.

A spoken notion is expressed publicly, as to an inherent right to lead the other races with entitlements is also considered “white privilege,” but more often easier to label as “racism.”

However, this serves to address mainly the unspoken notion, while acknowledging the spoken. “White privilege” sets the tone for how generally speaking, people with white skin color do not necessarily consider themselves “superior,” but they may consider people with black or darker skin tones as inferior. And granted, this can be some of the most self-proclaimed “non-prejudiced” people we know! This tone can be due to various subconscious and self-denied conscious justifications.

Some contributing factors are “self-imposed” intimidation and fear of the unknown of obvious trait and custom differences, inherited parental opinions in a young one’s environment and/or the fact they simply out-number especially the black people in the U.S. The visual outcomes to this notion are in an intolerance, but moreover complacency to the lack of every-day considerations, courtesies, inclusions and even the way policies and laws are drafted. They undoubtedly result in inequality. And as a note, the outright spoken notion results can be seen in sharing what would be considered demeaning discussions, jokes and most unfortunately, physical violence and death.

Recently, black and white people (and those “of any color” feeling the same) began to protest the death of George Floyd resulting from the force of a white police officer’s knee holding him down after being taken into custody. Many white people say “I just don’t understand what white privilege is,” or “I have never felt or been privileged any more than anyone else, and I cannot help it if I was born white,” or “I am not a racist and I do not see color.” A white person recently posted on social media: “I guess I never had any of that white privilege, ’cause I have worked my ass off from the time that I could to get where I am today.” It is this true lack of understanding and overcast of not necessarily being superior, but the belief “the field is a level one for all,” along with outright violent behaviors witnessed disproportionately against black people that sent people opposing these views to the streets. Black people carry signs saying things such as “my skin color is not a weapon” while all the protestors, including white people cry out things such as “black lives matter.”

Large numbers of white people currently being deemed as the great, great grandchildren of white slave owners, and white baby boomers that were too young to protest in the 1960’s civil rights movements, along with their grown children that have joined the protests. They were the adults, child-witnesses or the offspring of these now “all-adult” generations, and it should be noted, these generations are products, so to speak, of desegregation while growing up. They feel they have continued to witness and live in a world of social inequality and injustices towards their black and brown friends and family members.This has led to the statements and discussions that are making the protests of 2020 being described as “feeling different.”

A valid promise of hope is when a white individual or group truly admits they do not understand the term “white privilege” asking for its meaning and impact. It represents the desire to find an understanding and perhaps facilitate a change, and hopefully one of positivity and productivity. It also provides an opportunity for an individual or group, be it white, black or other to begin the discussion to afford this understanding through defining “white privilege” and share in the desire to reach similar goals. These shared goals should be to afford an acceptance that not only does “white privilege” exist, but it has huge negative effects on the lives of the currently focused upon black community and can create a significant deficit in our society as a whole. (It is recognized this also includes any people of color as this is an issue as well.)

It is those that have already defined for themselves the term “white privilege” as something that black people use for excuses for their own self-imposed inequities with examples given that they “survive on free governmental hand-outs,” or “they will always be lazy.”
These examples give way to a complacent or moral justification for an incident or a “killing.” Of course, there can be other factors for this self-justification, as presented previously such as inherited teachings of outright superiority and acceptable racism. But no matter what the cause, the outcomes of the initial perceived violent social injustice may at any time tip people to the boiling point of outward anger expressed through riots initially and on-going protests. That is exactly what happened in 1956 with the beginning of the civil rights movement and presently, in 2020.

The video of a police officer using not only an approved written training maneuver to extend a force that can subdue (and obviously result in unconsciousness or death if used long enough) on another person with very little effort, should they be any color, brought to everyone’s attention the result of police brutality. There were gripping things that came to mind to those watching this for the first time that included the look of defiance on this officer’s face, the apparent complacency of the three surrounding officers, and the fact another black man previously in 2014, Eric Garner, and now George Floyd were captured on video and were heard saying “I can’t breathe” just before their death. In George Floyd’s case, viewers saw his lifeless body rolled over on the pavement, and to be loaded into an arriving ambulance, all the while hearing a news announcer say that George Floyd was officially pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

If anyone had a moment, even after the fact, when they realized that by-standers were watching along with one utilizing their phone to video the incident, but for probable and even justifiable reasons of fear that they did not intervene…

If that moment created feelings of helplessness and despair for what was witnessed, that is the claim of the same feeling black people feel every day. It is not that they experience what George Floyd did, it is the constant possibility of it and what thoughts and measures they need to take in their daily lives to prepare for it to prevent it. And this is not only for themselves, but for their children and the way they feel they have to acknowledge and instruct them in their upbringing and the feelings of anger and helplessness this creates. This is referred to by black people as “the talk.”

To further describe and hopefully provide additional clarity to the meaning of “white privilege” and its impact, the following examples are accounts of incidences from black people that have become transparent in the days following Mr. Floyd’s death and during the resulting protests:

A black man leaves his license and registration on his dashboard so his hands can stay on the steering wheel if he gets pulled over for any reason, simply because he is black and feels he will not be treated the same. He also teaches his son to do the same.

A young black female college student hesitates to cross a street alone in broad daylight even if a driver that happens to be white waves that it is “ok” to cross. This is due to a previous incident when she began to cross the street under the same circumstances, and she dropped a book midway. While reaching down to retrieve it, the driver revved his motor while inching his vehicle toward her calling her a “n*gger b*tch” as he quickly drove off.

A well-dressed black mother and daughter go to look for an apartment for the daughter with a new job in that town and are quoted an unusually unreasonable rent and terms and find out later the daughter’s white roommate was quoted $200 less and offered deals not mentioned to them for the same apartment, the same day.

A black mother cannot rest until her teen-age son arrives home from an appointed errand in the middle of the day from jogging…literally only running up the street to a small grocery for her.

A black man has to “think twice” before answering the request of his white neighbor to collect mail and packages from the neighbor’s mailbox or porch while he is out of town. His thoughts immediately turn to what another person may say and possibly do, like reporting him as “a black man stealing packages from another house,” versus simply trusting that one neighbor is helping another neighbor.

If you are a white person and feel absolutely no privilege just for being white or you have been raised in an environment that tolerated or taught that white people are superior in numbers and therefore in intelligence in regards to other human beings on this planet, and you raise no questions about “white privilege,” then you probably will not affect change. However, if you are saying things like “I just do not get what “white privilege” means and you are seeking the answers, then you can affect change. And the question is “will you?

Will white people be able to understand that the first step to understanding the negativity of “white privilege” and the inequality it brings is an unspoken notion.

Will white people acknowledge and allow black and brown people to continue to express some of the continued inequality concerns that have resulted in statistics such as those seen during the recent pandemic? This being the higher numbers of covid-19 flu occurrences in the black communities resulting in more deaths determined by leading healthcare experts, that are due to pre-existing conditions directly relating to unequal and poorer healthcare deliveries in those communities.

Are the expectations on the part of white people unrealistic, as it relates to black people, that received more civil rights than ever before just 60 years ago compared to the previous 400 years of outright abuse, injustices and oppression?

An essential question is, “do we, as individuals, awaken every day to plan and live our day to receive the optimum joy and productivity with consciously thinking about where we will be geographically, who will be comfortable communicating with us, when should be back in the safety net of our own home, and the frustration of why we have to even think about all this as it relates to our skin color?” Or do we awaken every day to live out our day to receive the optimum joy and productivity as it relates to simply who we understand ourselves to be as an individual?

Black people and those that support them and understand unspoken “white privilege” do not protest asking for free dollars, sympathy, and every-day freedoms for those of color. They protest with a message that the freedoms they experience are still laden with prejudices and pre-existing beliefs from white people that think and say they should “bring themselves up by their own boot-straps,” like they have, and that they should just work harder to attain the same opportunities that white people have “earned.” They are asking all people to realize and make the necessary changes to allow them to be afforded the same attitudes so they CAN pull themselves up with a 60-year history of civil rights versus the absence of the same injustices throughout a lifetime of one being white.

From the moment of their birth, a human white baby sounds the same as a human black baby and their conception is the result of the same act between two people. The only thing different is what color and culture their parent(s) are and where they live. All lives matter at that moment with all being on the same level playing ground for that one instant. From then on, it is up to the world to assure them that ground remains level, so they may live out their lives with the same opportunities equally, without unnecessary doubts and fears. But if that ground becomes unleveled at any given moment, the balance can only be achieved if the world acknowledges the problem, seeks partnership through transparent communication, and moves swiftly to reach the desired shared goal of balance and equality for all humans.

Author: Cindy Teague-Kelley

June 12, 2020

Born in Louisville, Kentucky and resides in Richmond, Kentucky — Not affiliated with any organized groups/organizations —

Retired Registered Nurse and Entrepreneur

Note: This article is the result of a strong belief that the written word is a most powerful tool to address and enhance one another’s understanding and/or opinions and become a part of our history individually, as well as, collectively.