to major life chances, and from personal family matters to professional lives. If the analysis had centered on only a certain part of life, there would have been many more opportunities to deny the all-encompassing nature of White privilege. Taking this holistic approach to analyzing White privilege from the perspective of a White person who has experienced it gives unique and powerful insights into the “other side of racism.”
Methodological Limitations
Amico, McIntosh, Rothenberg, and Wise all note that it is time for White people to take a look at themselves and how their lives have benefited from racism. Rothenberg says that her book Invisible Privilege “grows out of a deeply felt need to reflect in a more personal way on what it means to be a privileged white woman coming to terms with that privilege.”31 Wise realizes that, on some level, he had not been honest with himself concerning his relationship to race/racism: “My racial identity had shaped me from the womb forward. I had not been in control of my own narrative. It wasn’t just race that was a social construct. So was I.”32 McIntosh notes that her self-reflection came about after her frustration “with men who would not recognize male privilege.” She continues, “I decided to try to work on myself at least by identifying some of the daily effects of white privilege in my life.”33 And throughout his book Exploring White Privilege, Amico uses personal vignettes that provide real-life examples that effectively expose White privilege in a personal manner. Although on some level this approach is effective by connecting with people through real-life personal examples, there’s no systematic analysis of data or clear way to analyze whether these reflections are honest, reliable, or generalizable. This method of analysis makes it difficult to replicate to evaluate its applicability. In addition, because most of the information is personal, it is just that—information relative to the individual who experienced it; however, this can be mitigated by providing contextualizing information. For example, sometimes the reflections are complemented by information on racist laws, racial statistics, or information from other sources that confirms these personal reflections. Amico in particular offers important macro-level data on White privilege, which is complemented by personal anecdotes, rather than the other way around.
Theoretical Benefits
White privilege fills a significant gap in the analysis of racism. Prior to this concept, the majority of theories on racism focused on the discrimination people of color received. White privilege successfully moves the focus of the problem to the perpetuation of Whiteness and how Whites, knowingly or unknowingly, participate in and benefit from racism. Moreover, White privilege does not reduce racism to a problem of individuals or a “few bad apples” but pushes Whites to see that racism is a society-wide problem. This theoretical approach of White privilege puts the responsibility squarely on all Whites to recognize that meritocracy is a myth and that ending racism requires White participation. Amico calls upon Whites to confront their “internalized sense of racial superiority,” because if Whites are not a part of the solution, they are a part of the problem.34
Another theoretical benefit is that these scholars analyze how White privilege varies in relation to other intersecting identities, such as class, gender, and religion, but is not negated by them. Wise comes from a relatively poor Jewish background but clearly argues that these other marginalized identities did not make him immune to receiving White privilege. For example, as a child, Wise angrily stood up to a teacher who told him to listen to a Christian group, and as he reflects on his audacity in confronting the teacher, he notes:
It was white privilege that made the difference, far more so than some inherent courage on my part … it was predicated on the privilege that allowed even a lower-income white kid like myself to feel certain enough about my rights so as to challenge those who would abuse them … it was equally about the way that even Jews, with our historically inconsistent and situationally contingent whiteness, can still access the powers of our skin in ways that make a difference.35
Wise recognizes that he was oppressed in relation to his class and religious status, but his Whiteness still prevailed in providing the confidence of knowing he could stand up to a teacher without the threat of significant consequences. Rothenberg addresses how being a woman and an Orthodox Jew created barriers for her, while simultaneously White privilege mitigated some of those barriers and provided unique opportunities in other ways.36 The intersectional approach that details oppression received in one area (class, gender, etc.) along with the simultaneous experience of White privilege counters the potential criticism that Whites who have other intersecting oppressed identities do not receive any White privilege.
Theoretical Limitations
The White privilege theory centers Whiteness in the discussions of how racism is perpetuated by Whites; this explanation is of theoretical import but can also run the risk of, ironically, putting Whites at the center of the conversation. Academia is largely a White enterprise, and knowledge that is validated historically has and continues to come largely through White producers. White privilege scholarship has been largely produced by White scholars, and therefore these White scholars become more validated to speak on racism because of the White privilege they have. Certainly, White privilege scholars recognize this conundrum; Tim Wise is known for addressing this issue during his talks when he notes that he gets large speaking engagements partially due to his White privilege. But White privilege theory needs to be careful not to reify the very problem that it aims to analyze and deconstruct.
Another drawback of White privilege theory is the conflation of macro-level systemic issues and micro-level individual experiences of privilege. For example, White privilege examples include the micro-level, individual experience of a White person who is not followed around in a store and the macro-level, systemic problem of the disproportionate incarceration of people of color. Of course, the macro level and micro level are interconnected, but White privilege attempts both to represent an individual experience that is a consequence of a system and to represent the system itself. White privilege can be used to articulate micro- and macro-level Whiteness, but White privilege does not theorize systemic racism well. strmic-pawl addresses this theoretical limitation of White privilege and argues that systemic racism is better conceptualized through the framework of White supremacy37 (see Chapter 3 on White supremacy).
Conclusion
White privilege turned the focus of racism to bring attention to how Whites both actively and passively benefit from racism. Moreover, the importance of critically analyzing the pathologies of Whiteness as a negative consequence of racism pushes the conversation forward on how racism is detrimental to all. The theory of White privilege continues to be used, both in theoretical terms and in practice, in popular media, on educational campuses, and in racial training programs.
Reflect and Discuss
1 How is White privilege the “other side” of racism?
2 How are White privilege and Whiteness connected? How do White people, as individuals, fit into this equation?
3 How does White privilege vary in important manners—yet also remain prevalent—across class status and gender identity?
Diagram 2.1 White Privilege
Key Terms
Race: “A socially constructed category for the purpose of controlling, dominating, and exploiting some for the benefit of others.”38
