We are privileged in many ways. Having a roof over our heads, eating a hot meal daily, and having access to a hot shower are some of the ways that we are privileged. However, the spectrum is way broader than just these few things, let’s look at the big picture and how white privilege affects people of color. I like to think, it is that if your appearance, finances, and able ability is not a burden then you are privileged. In more ways than one being privileged may lessen the feeling of oppression. Marilyn Frye asks the question “what is the difference between being miserable and being oppressed?” I think being miserable one may feel unhappy, also, sometimes an individual can create their own misery, whereas oppression can be caused by society which causes someone to be treated differently than others.
Many of us face oppression while the primary oppressor’s are white man, it is known that the oppressed are black women, black men, and other people of color, this tells the reader that white privilege and oppression are closely related. The lighter your skin color the more privileged you are hence the reason white men seems to run away with that title. Some unintentionally practice white privilege without even realizing that they are doing it. But because they were born into this world of privilege it becomes normal to them and they fail to see any other way of life. White privilege has worked for them for centuries causing them to build empires on the backs of the oppressed. Additionally, because of white men being born with such privilege and not being affected they are blind to their advantage. Peggy McIntosh, states in the article White Privilege Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, “I have met very few men who are truly distressed about systemic, unearned male advantage and conferred dominance.”
Imagine living and walking while black. “On the other hand, anything but the sunniest countenance exposes us to being perceived as mean, bitter, angry, or dangerous” (Marilyn Fyre). This may result in us being arrested by the police, where often people of color wind up dead.
This question was also posed by Marilyn Frye, “What is the difference between frustration and oppression?” Frustration is when someone loses their patience with a particular person or thing this feeling may also cause them to lose their cool whereas in that case oppression is where you are being held back from achieving your goal because of your gender race sexual orientation disability etc. Being oppressed can feel like being imprisoned within oneself. It is unfortunate that in two thousand and twenty-one we are having this conversation. I wanted to believe that the world was in a better place, and we had moved away from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries where how you looked matter. These articles tell me that my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will all experience white privilege in their lifetime, and unfortunately being people of color, they would suffer more than the average person, especially the black women.
