White Culture and White Privilege
Identify core symbols, norms, and labels in white culture.
Some symbols help to define the white culture. One of them is the names of the people where most of the white people have the name joseph yonder. This is one of the most common names among the whites. The last name of the white people is likely to be Jewish or German with names such as Michael and David. One of the worms of white people is that they enjoy eating vegetables than the other races in the USA. The only other product that is consuming more than vegetables is dairy products. They have a higher rate of attending bars and performing art than the other races. Whiteness is used as the label for the whites in the USA, and the distinction between them is described in terms of height and plumpness (Samovar et al., 2014).
What are some perceptions shared by white people?
One of the perceptions of white people is that being white does not mean invisible privileges. In some cases, they view being white in the lens of not only being white but also being a liability. They feel that minorities are getting more privileges and thus prejudiced by minority groups. Some perceived that being white is not as positive as they white to represent blandness (Samovar et al., 2014). They perceive that attention given to the minority groups denies them their opportunities, such as education, due to affirmative action.
How do these perceptions differ from those of other cultural groups?
The perception of white people differs significantly from those of other races. For example, the case of O.J Simpson, who had killed his wife, 77% of whites believed he was guilty, and 72% of blacks believed he was innocent. This shows that the perceptions vary from one race to another (Samovar et al., 2014). the blacks feel that the whites have more privileges than they do, for example, in the stop and frisk policy where the blacks and minority races were more targeted than the whites. Furthermore, most of the whites think that race relations in the USA are not as bad, while many minority races think it is terrible.
Define white privilege. What societal privileges do you think European Americans have greater access to than other cultural groups?
White privileges refer to advantages that are inherently possessed by white people based on their race in a society that is characterized by racial injustice and inequality.
The white people access several privileges that other racial groups do not have great access to, such as access to justice. Most of the Judges are whites, and therefore the whites have greater access to justice. Additionally, the whites enjoy the English being the language of the set, and there is no other language of instruction (Prieto). The whites have greater access and positive portrayal in media, they are likely not to be stereotyped, and they have greater access to the benefit of the doubt that other races (Devos & Banaji, 2005). This means that they are less likely to be suspect of crime than other races. They have greater access to compassion, and thus they have higher chances of surviving a mistake.
What societal privileges do you think heterosexuals enjoy that gay men and women do not?
There are benefits that heterosexuals enjoy that are not available to other groups of people. The heterosexuals enjoy the benefit of recognition. They have the freedom to express their affection in most social situations and not hostility from other people. They have the benefit of leaving as partners without having to hide. They have the benefit of being to express their pain when their relationships end either through death or separator and get social support, and they have more significant benefits for role models in the relationships. They also have a positive media image that they can identify with, and they can be around people of their sexuality most of the time, which is not the case with other groups.
What societal privileges do men enjoy that women do not?
Some of the befits that men enjoy include having greater autonomy, in the workplace, they do not expect coworker to think they were promoted because of their gender or they were promoted because of their gender, they have a greater privilege of making decisions and can work with no or limited sexual harassment. They have the privilege of walking at night without having to worry that they will be raped, and men can decide not to have children, and nobody will question their masculinity. They have the privilege of balancing between the family a career without being called selfish.
References
Devos, T., & Banaji, M. R. (2005). American= white?. Journal of personality and social psychology, 88(3), 447. https://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~mrbworks/articles/2005_Devos_JPSP.pdf
Prieto, L. Engaging Students: Issues of Cultural Privilege. Promoting Student Engagement, 230. http://www.units.miamioh.edu/saf/reslife/reslife/EDL301/Week5/CulturalPrivilege.pdf
Samovar, L. A., Porter, R. E., McDaniel, E. R., & Roy, C. S. (2014). Intercultural communication: A reader. Cengage Learning.