Joshua Minton's Online Pulpit : Is There Such a Thing as White Privilege?

I remember back when I wrote an opinion column in my college newspaper and I got into a heated e-mail debate with another columnist, a black dude whose first name was Jason but whose last name escapes me, about White Privilege.

He had written an expose about White Privilege and how it was still prevalent in our society. The quote from wikipedia about White Privilege is: “an invisible package of unearned assets which I [as a white person] can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious.” The sociologal thesis is that there are hidden sets of societal codes which open opportunities for individuals with white skin which would not open up for those with darker skin.

I remember arguing from the standpoint that since I myself didn’t seek to be treated differently because I was white that White Privilege didn’t exist for me and that objective reality was the only measure of validity when it came to ascertaining the truth of the White Privilege thesis.

His argument back was that the privilege was the part I didn’t see, the behind the scenes ether which opened up opportunities I simply took for granted as the hand of fate but which would not necessarily have opened up for someone with dark skin.

To me, the problem with sociology is that it doesn’t lend enough credence to the influence of the individual, choosing instead to focus on how people act in a conglomeration. And I don’t know if its just a stubborn hinderance to my understanding but I can still see the smoke whiff of this line of reasoning in my weltanschauung (you’ll find it apparent in my recent exchange of ideas with Infidel753).

So what do you think? Does white privilege exist and does it really affect our society that greatly if it does? Is there any way to solve the problem if it does exist? And if not, why bother wasting our time on it?

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