White Privilege Through the Eyes of a Minority

As an Ethnic Studies Major, one of my favorite topics of discussion has to be the concept of 'white privilege.' Growing up as a multi-racial female in the diverse city of Aurora, Colorado, I must admit that I didn't always acknowledge white privilege as the majority ethnic group where I grew up tended to be of Hispanic descent. But upon moving up to Fort Collins, Colorado to attend Colorado State University, I experienced a culture shock. With 89% of the total Fort Collins population being made up of Caucasian residents (2010 US Census), white privilege becomes a much more visible social construction in the everyday lives of minorities.

Before I go any further, I would like to (hopefully) clearly and respectfully layout what exactly this 'white-privilege' is and why it's so damn important to talk about. Privilege is itself, "a special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste." (Steele, 2015) In the case of white privilege, this benefiting 'class' is the Caucasian population in the United States.

In the video below, Tim Wise, an anti-racism activist, describes how 'white privilege' first developed and provides contemporary examples of white privilege to bring it into context for those believing that we live in a post-racial society-that is, a society where race no longer affects our everyday lives and social interactions.

 In the context of my own personal experience of living in Fort Collins, the benefits of white privilege are working against me in the very slightest actions of my everyday routine. For example, I cannot walk to class without other (Caucasian) students looking over their shoulders at me as if I were about to mug them. I also can anticipate on a regular basis, that if there is an empty seat next to me on the bus, it will remain empty and fellow (Caucasian) bus riders will stand on the bus rather than taking the available seat next to me due to my skin color. Now, this may sound dramatized and even a bit ridiculous, but the sad fact of the matter is that both of these instances occur in my life on a regular basis. What may be even more sad is the fact that I can't even talk about feeling "othered" and outed as a minority to fellow Caucasian colleagues or co-workers without them asking me to explain exactly how my experiences could be any different than their experiences living in a predominantly white community. Why is this exactly?

According to Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, author of "Racism Without Racists," minimization- the idea that discrimination is no longer a central factor affecting minorities' life chances, is reinforced in our society. This frame of what is known as "color-blind racism" or "racism without racists" accuses minorities of being hypersensitive and using race (playing the race card) as an excuse for their life experiences.

The idea of 'white privilege' is a very difficult concept for many Americans to digest in a contemporary "post-racial" (not really) society. While issues of race may seem to occur to a lesser degree, being multi-racial in a society made to see a very binary: white or non-white identity can be hard. Hopefully I have peaked your interest on the issues of white privilege enough that you would like to look into, and maybe even better educate yourself and others on the issue as well. For more information on being bi-racial in America, a very interesting Huffington Post discussion is posted below, along with Tim Wise's discussion on white privilege, and the Fort Collins census to give a little perspective on being a minority in a largely Caucasian town.

Feel free to leave comments, concerns, suggestions, and questions in the comment section!
Knowledge is Power!

Huffington Post on Being Bi-racial in America:
http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/archive/segment/524f11e178c90a74fa0002b8?cps=gravity_3541_-1544811536283823882

US Census for City of Fort Collins:

http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk

Tim Wise on White Privilege: