Sociology

Introduction
White privilege is a complex social phenomenon in which racial inequalities are conceptualized. These inequalities are however focused on the advantages associated with the whites as opposed to the other races including the blacks and the coloreds. The theories associated with white privilege assert that the whites usually do not see anything sinister and sees everything as normal as opposed to being advantaged. Such assumptions have elicited discussions focusing on the disadvantages faced by other racial groupings and what needs to be done in order to bring them at par with the whites. This however orchestrates racial inequality as an issue that does not include the whites. In addressing racial inequality, it is important to bring the whites on board as a group that enjoys the related social advantages as opposed to a normal situation. This paper will look at the concept of white privilege from both perspectives in an effort to come out with a winning formula that will see racial parity be restored.

History
Racial preferences have a long history in the US starting from the colonial era. Racism was somehow institutionalized by the state which came up with repugnant laws to perpetuate the practice. In the 17th century America indentured slaves was a common practice as the European indentured servants were brought to the US which was then a British colony to work in the plantations. This was the pioneer source of forced labor as was practiced by the whites. Most of the indentured servants were however fellow whites who were serving their prison terms working for the Lords who owned huge plantations in the US. Towards the end of the 17th century, the indentured servants in Virginia and Maryland protested only to be replaced by the African slaves. The lower class Europeans begun to enjoy new rights, entitlements, and opportunities from the owners of the plantations and in exchange, they were supposed to give support to the plantation owners and also police the increasing number of slave population (California Newsreel, 2003).

The Naturalization Act of 1790 only recognized what was called as free white persons as eligible to be naturalized as US citizens. This only benefited the white Europeans and not the other racial groupings. There are certain privileges that are associated with citizenship which includes voting rights, holding office, and holding property among others. This is the century that saw the passage of Alien Land Laws in California and other states which allowed for the reservation of farm land for white citizens. The Asian immigrants were locked out since they were not eligible citizens due to their status and thus could not own or lease the land. The immigration limitations also hampered any opportunity for the non-whites. The racial limitations on naturalization remained in place until the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952, but the white racial preferences on immigration issues remained intact until 1965 (California Newsreel, 2003).

The white Americas have continued to enjoy privileges in many matters with great assistance from the US army. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 for instance resulted in the forceful relocation of the Cherokee, Creeks, and other Indian groups in the East to the West of Mississippi River in an effort to create space for the white settlers. In 1862, the Homestead Act was enacted and this caused much relocation than the previous one with the acquisition of the Indian territories west of the Mississippi. In a nutshell, 270 million acreage of land was acquired and converted to individual ownership most of who were white (California Newsreel, 2003).

In the South which witnessed racism at its peak, the government never adopted General Shermans plan that would have divided the plantations amongst freed slaves as a matter of reparations. Only monetary compensations were made but again to the slave masters in compensating for the lost property. The end of the slavery marked the beginning of a legacy that seem to last a life-time. The legacy was to be reflected in both the impoverished conditions of the black Americans and the prosperity associated with the white slave masters. For the more than two centuries of free labor, the slave masters are said to have accrued well over 1trillion at the expense of the slaves. In the South, the Jim Crow laws that were rife in the 19th and early 20th century affected the black people much as discrimination in jobs, neighborhoods, school, and hospitals prevailed (California Newsreel, 2003).
Recent trends in Perpetuating white Privilege

Certain legislations have continued to be passed directing wealth to the white race and continuously bringing life opportunities at their doorsteps. The 1935 Social Security Act granted millions of employees some safety net that could guarantee them some income upon retirement. The Act however, did not include domestic and agricultural workers. This category of workers was predominantly African Americans, Mexicans, and Asians. Their income was so low that they could hardly save for retirement. They had no wealth to pass to their children and instead, the children had the responsibility of looking after their folks in old age. In the same year, the Wagner Act granted the Unions the power to collectively bargain that worked to enable millions of white workers to advance to the middle class in a period of 30 years. The same Act allowed the unions to disregard the non-whites denying them accessibility to well paying jobs. They were also denied protection from the unions and associated privileges such as healthcare, job security, and pensions (California Newsreel, 2003).

The New Deal program commonly referred to as the Federal Housing Administration is responsible for the generation of the wealth that most whites enjoy presently. This program made it possible for the average white Americans to own homes. A national neighborhood appraisal was set by the government that tied eligibility to mortgage on racial connotations. Those communities that had been integrated in the US were seen as a financial risk and thus did not qualify for the home loans. This happened in the 1934 to 62 when the federal government supported the 120 billion for home loans. The program benefited the whites in their majority as it is estimated that 98 of the money went to the whites. Such programs resulted in the new racially segregated white suburbs coming up around the country in the years after the WWII. Subsidies from the government to support the municipalities helped in the development and enhancement of these suburbs that in turn fuelled commercially oriented investments. Suburbs were tied to the Central Business Districts of the cities by freeways that often passed over destroying the vigor of the non white neighborhoods. Nowadays, mortgage applications for the blacks and Latinos is still low with studies showing that these people are 60 more likely to be turned down when they apply for the mortgages (California Newsreel, 2003).

White Privilege
White privilege is a very complex aspect of social phenomenon. All the people that belong to the white race have white privilege of some sort. White privilege is usually takes certain general patterns depending on the context and other aspects regarding an individuals identity (Jensen, 1998). Most whites however are not conscious of the existence of the white privilege and it looks normal in regard to the preferential treatment they get. According to Jensen

Perhaps most importantly, when I seek admission to a university, apply for a job, or hunt for an apartment, I dont look threatening. Almost all of the people evaluating me for those things look like me--they are white. They see in me a reflection of themselves, and in a racist world that is an advantage (Jensen, 1998, Para 10).

Jensen is not alone in this as most white people thinks that they are living in a colorblind era where there are no racial connotations. The white privilege can be attributed to the unconscious mind knowing that the whites are brought up to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that we work to benefit others, this is seen as work that will allow them to be more like us (McIntosh, 2010, Para 8). McIntosh goes further to liken the white privilege thing to an invisible package of yet to be earned assets that the whites are presented with. A situation presented in a sociological class with mixed race under the guidance of their tutor had a white student claiming that the black Americans do not maximize on the opportunities that they are presented with as she claimed to know a black American who was doing pretty well (Pjazzypar, 2009).

To understand the existence of the white privilege we need to reflect on the little this that happen unnoticed that in reality shows reflects on the existence of racial privileges. What the current white population is doing is but just reaping the rewards of racial preferences that were accorded to their parents who are long gone. Christine Sleeter gives her expelling example drawing from her grandfather who was a painter and a wallpaper hanger but was able to buy property, renovate, and then sell at a profit. Despite the grandfather having only second grade education, he was able to acquire property and do well in life, thanks to the New Deal programs. She recognizes the presence of white privilege and roots for multicultural education as the only best way of solving the problem. To her multiculturalism should go further than knowing and appreciating of the other races culture but should address the issue of accessibility to the opportunities presented by the society in which case quality education should be made available to everyone in spite of the racial differences (Rethinking Schools, 2010).

White privilege can be traced in trivial things that we usually let pass without a second thought. Tim Wise gives a good insight of what can be referred to as white privilege. He elaborates that white privilege is to be found in such matters as careless use of vulgar language that is common to the whites and generally defending actions that are an eyesore to the public. He uses the Palins example to put across his facts by drawing from the events that hit the family during the 2008 Elections. He points out to actions like Bristol Palin getting pregnant at a tender age of 17 can be viewed as a private issue that should not bother anyone outside the family. Wise continues to point out to several incidences that the Palins were engaged in without raising controversy (Wise, 2008).

Conclusion
Living in denial that white privilege does not exist is a fallacy. Preferential racial treatment for the whites has resulted in typical white families basking in wealth believed to be more than eight folds in comparison to the any typical African American family. The familys net-worth provides a base for the succeeding generation and therefore those privileged will have access to good opportunities in life as the cycle is perpetuated. The privileges that were enjoyed by the whites have been able to be passed out to their generations resulting in the existence of the well gap between the races that seem never to be ending. Many whites have always denied that racial preferences have never affected the American society. They even accuse the non-whites of using the race card in advancing themselves. There should be color-blind policies aimed at uplifting the minority groups that were disadvantaged by the racial preferences accorded to the whites of yester-years. It is unfortunate that color-blinded ness is used to bolster the unjust advantages that color-coded practices enable the whites to long for accrual.