Tim Wise and the idea of "privilege"...

Hey guys! So Tim Wise seems like a very controversial man, the kind you either love or hate. As for privilege, I think it is very real is our society and before the video and seeing Tim talk about everything, I really had never thought about it before. I honestly think it is so unreal that in our day and age, white people can automatically be looked at as privileged just because of the color of their skin. As Tim said, most of us are completely unaware of the idea of "privilege" because it is what we are given without ever really knowing. Someone is would be titled as "privileged" is not always a racist or prejudice person. Caucasian people get their wealth from their families either all ready being wealthy or through inheritance, while minorities have to work hard to get to the status of what people other people don't even realize they have. I think that our society is just so oblivious to the world around them half the time, that people, maybe in high school, should get more education about this whole theory.

Media is the central source of where we get our pre-conceived ideas of race and gender. They are typically the ones that put the stereotypes in our heads. The thing that makes me so angry about media portrayal of race, usually African Americans, is that when they go out to get an interview they always interview the guy that looks like he came straight out of the "hood." So then we they show that interview on television everyone tends to believe that is what all African American people are like and this is completely false in every single way. Every single friend of mine that is a minority or of a different skin color is educated, comes from a great family, and dresses just like any other person walking down the street. The same goes for the media in Oklahoma, for instance, when a tornado hits a town in Oklahoma a reporter goes out and finds the most white trash, unintelligent person they can find. When people from other states see these interviews they come up with the stereotype that people from Oklahoma are low class, unintelligent people and obviously this isn't true. There might be a fair share of people like that, but it doesn't count for all Oklahomans.


The one drop rule totally applies to society today because even President Obama is considered fully black when he is both black and white. I have a friend that is half Asian and half white and everyone always asks her where she came from, and normally she just tells them her home state.


As for examples of privilege in every day experiences here is a list of what I have found:
1) People look at minorities in nice cars differently than they do of people who are white
2) Not many people of other races besides white are top executives or managers of huge corporations
3) I see more people of other races being pulled over by police officers lately than people who are white
4) People of other races who pay with large amounts of money or a black American Express are looked at differently as if they were questionable.
5) People on the front page of the newspaper are usually white unless it is President Barack Obama and his family
6) People of the caucasian background can worry about racism but know deep down inside that they probably aren't being looked at differently for the color of their skin.
7)The people that live around a household of white people never try to make them feel unwelcome
8) Lastly, white people are normally never asked where they are from unless people are wondering why they have a different accent

Refection:

The thing with making people more aware of white privilege is that people need to WANT to be informed and usually people don't really care to be informed. When people have all ready make their mind up on an idea or theory, they are pretty hard to persuade otherwise. I had no idea about white privilege just, maybe because I'm a caucasian woman and never thought about, and also because I was never educated about it. I think that it should be in the high school curriculum to educate students about this because otherwise it is taken for granted. The American youth are going to be more persuadable than older adults because as students, and mostly college students, we are more willing to consider all different kinds of point of views and theories without judging like an older person would. I feel like people in states other than those that are Southern would be very open to learning about this topic. The reason being is that Southern states are still very racist for some reason, and people up North like in New York City are very used to a wide variety of minorities,cultures, and situations and would be more open to learning about white privilege and how it affects them. I hate to say it, but it seems like Oklahoma is still very racist and it kills me to think that because I have lived here my whole life.

Here is a video just for your viewing pleasure, it's been all over the news! Have a nice day!