highly restrictive immigration law of the Naturalization Act of 1790, discriminatory housing and mortgage polices, and the lack of enforcement of the Fair Housing Act.23 Amico also addresses racist practices, such as restrictive immigration laws, the genocide of indigenous tribes, and the oppressive use of Chinese immigrant labor to build railroads.24 And although not directly alluding to laws, McIntosh notes how the history of the United States speaks to the experiences of Whites in a positive manner: “When I am told about our national heritage or about ‘civilization,’ I am shown that people of my color [Whites] made it what it is.” She points out that she “can remain oblivious to the language and customs of persons of color who constituted the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.”25 White privilege has been enshrined not just in ideology but in the very laws that created and sustain the United States.
Confronting and Accepting White Privilege
When presented with White privilege, Whites often become hesitant to accept the information or develop White guilt. In the first regard, a primary reason Whites express hesitance is because they believe in the myth of meritocracy—that only those who work hard are appropriately rewarded—but White privilege exposes the falsity of this ideology. If Whites accept that they were given some systematic benefits in their life because of Whiteness, they must also believe that their life’s accomplishments were aided by White privilege. Acceptance of this fact often leads to conflict with one’s identity as White.
In addition to the myth of meritocracy, Amico outlines seven additional reasons why Whites generally have a hard time accepting the existence of White privilege: (1) the master narrative of U.S. history, (2) the myth of race, (3) residential segregation, (4) individualism, (5) obliviousness, (6) racial identity development and cultural competencies, and (7) an individual’s own racism. Amico says that these reasons can be compounded by four emotions: (1) a feeling of being threatened; (2) family loyalty; (3) fear, shame, and guilt; and (4) feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness.26 There is a series of reasons and emotions, often overlapping and intersecting, that hinder Whites’ recognition of their privilege, which is only evidence of the strength of privilege to obscure the truth.
When Whites do accept White privilege and realize that they are the recipients, a second outcome of confronting White privilege is White guilt. Whites feel guilt for the unfair advantages given to them and recognize that their opportunities and accomplishments are, at least in part, due to the unearned and unmerited bias afforded to those who are seen as White. A step further in the understanding of White privilege reveals that the unearned opportunities given to a White person also means that unmerited disadvantages were given to a person of color. When Whites come to grips with the years, decades, and centuries of benefits given to Whites and the corollary discrimination faced by people of color, guilt arises from being a member of the “White race,” often because there is no clear way to rid oneself of these privileges.27 However, as discussed later, the objective of White privilege theory is not to encourage Whites to feel guilty but to have this revelation lead to combating racism. Furthermore, White privilege theory posits that Whites can experience personal benefits from confronting their privilege. White privilege can keep Whites from having authentic relationships with people of color, can keep Whites ignorant about history, and can keep them from recognizing how they may be perpetuating a racist system. Therefore, confronting one’s White privilege can lead to empowerment, confidence, healing, and community building.
How to Challenge Racism
To fix White privilege, Whites need to accept that it exists, that racism is structural and real, and that Whites have the agency to do something about it. Part of this effort can include a call for curricula to become much more diverse; knowledge and education in the United States are still largely Eurocentric, and a targeted effort to include the history, knowledge, and perspectives of people of color is needed. On the micro level, Amico suggests that Whites ask themselves a series of questions: What happens when they encounter people who are “different”? How has White privilege kept them isolated from others? When were they first aware that they were a member of an ethnic group?28 Such questions can help White people interrogate how their race and privilege have played roles in their lives. Once individuals realize that they have White privilege, they can use that privilege to intervene. For example, they can use it to educate other Whites about their privilege or address a racist incident when it occurs. It can also be used to support organizations and policies that work for racial justice. As noted at the beginning of this chapter, part of the intent of this theory is to get Whites to become active antiracists. In fact, Amico argues that acknowledging White privilege means nothing without action:
All my learning—about white privilege, systems of privilege, the history of white supremacy in American culture, the separate worlds of white people and people of color, the internalized white supremacy in myself, and so forth—is all for naught if it does not translate into action; action to change myself, my behavior, my worldview; action to dismantle systems of privilege, action to promote social justice and real community.29
The recognition of privilege can help challenge racism, but, as Wise suggests, there also can be dire consequences to Whites if they do not confront this privilege, because Whiteness presents unrealistic expectations of success:
It strikes me that unless we get a hold of this, unless we begin to address the way that privilege can set up those who have it for a fall … we’ll be creating more addicts, more people who turn to self-injury, suicide, eating disorders, or other forms of self-negation, all because they failed to live up to some idealized type that they’d been told was theirs to achieve.30
In this vein, White privilege is hurting Whites because they are given unreal and corrupted expectations of achievement and status. Thus, challenging White privilege is good not only for addressing racism but also for cultivating healthier environments for Whites.
By the Numbers
Fifty-six percent of Whites—compared to 73% of Asians, 69% of Blacks, and 61% of Hispanics—say that being White helps a little to a lot in a person's ability to get ahead in the United States.
White workers are more likely than Blacks and Latinos to have a good job, even when educational attainment is the same; 75% of Whites with a bachelor's degree or higher are likely to have a good job, compared to 68% of Blacks and 65% of Latinos with the same educational credentials.*
Between 2009 and 2015, 27% of White students admitted to Harvard were legacies, the children of faculty or staff or children of parents who have donated or plan to donate money to Harvard. The acceptance rate for all legacies was 34%, compared to Harvard's acceptance rate of 4.89%.
Sources: Arcidiacono, Kinsler, and Ransom (2019); Carnevale et al. (2019); Horowitz, Brown, and Cox (2019).
Evaluation
Methodological Benefits
White privilege is an analysis of racism that uses the perspective of Whites, which is a particularly powerful methodological approach. Whites have long been analyzing racism via studies on communities of color, so for Whites to look inward has provided novel insights. The overall method of these scholars is to be brutally honest about their personal lives and to invite people to see how transparency about White privilege can be liberating. This approach is engaging and can be particularly successful in getting Whites to think about White privilege in a manner that does not immediately put them on the defensive.
These scholars also tend to take a life-course perspective, thereby showing how White privilege operates from
