Critical Reflection Paper: Racism and White Privilege

“I’m colour-blind.” “Racism doesn’t exist anymore.” “I have a black friend, so I’m not racist.”  I have heard all of these statements first hand from white people.  Is it possible that people can be truly colour-blind?  Does racism still exist?  I will argue that white privilege and racism are still quite alive in our society.


There are four main types of discrimination through which racism is perpetuated in society.  They are: internalized racism, institutional racism, cultural racism, and everyday racism.  I will explore the types of racism listed above later in this paper with examples from Peggy McIntosh’s article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”.  All four of these types of racisms directly interact with the idea of white privilege.  White privilege can be defined as “the unearned advantages of being White in a racially stratified society", and has been characterized as an expression of institutional power that is largely unacknowledged by most White individuals, (Neville et al.:10).
Internalized racism (colloquially known as red-neck racism) is a term that describes an individual’s belief that one’s race is truly superior to racialized groups.  A good example of this is seen in statement 22 of Peggy McIntosh’s article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”: “I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.”  The internalized racist thought here is that an individual was hired solely on the basis of race.  The employee who feels this way may think that a racialized individual does not deserve the job because he or she is inherently inferior.   
Institutional racism can be defined as “the ways in which institutional policies and practices create different outcomes for different racial groups” (Glossary for Racial Equity).  In other words, institutional racism is the systematic reproduction of racism.  A good example of this is statement 2: “If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would like to live,” (McIntosh: White Privilege).  This statement is tied to the idea of redlining in real estate.  Redlining is an illegal practice still sometimes used by lenders, which discriminates against borrowers based on race.  Financial institutions would literally draw a red line on a map around the neighborhoods in which they did not want to offer financial services, giving the term its name (Redlining).  The practice of redlining effectively segregates racialized groups into neighborhoods that are less favourable than others. 
Cultural racism can be defined as “aspects of society that overtly and covertly attribute value and normality to white people and whiteness, and devalue racialized individuals,” (Glossary for Racial Equity).  A good example of this is seen in Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies”, statement 12: “I can go into a book shop and count on finding the writing of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods that fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser`s shop and find someone who can deal with my hair.”  I have heard from a number of international students that it is very difficult to find someone to cut or style their hair.  To this, a white student responded, “Maybe they were just really busy? I don’t know, why else wouldn’t they be able to do it.”  Evidently he did not understand the cultural difference in style, and the biological difference in hair type that produced an issue in finding a hairdresser to suit various hair types.  This problem is directly attributed to our culture valuing “white” hair over other types of hair.  Many hairdressers are taught only to deal with “white” hair because that is considered normal. 
      Everyday racism can be defined as racism that is seen in everyday situations that are impacted by the existing racist ideologies.  An example of this is “I can swear, dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to bad morals, the poverty, or illiteracy of my race,” (McIntosh: White Privilege and Male Privilege…).  There is a preconceived notion –with its roots in internalized racism- that racialized groups have an inferior intelligence.  This belief is fallacious because race is a social construct and therefore is not an inevitable result of biology, but instead is highly contingent in social processes. 
      Is there a solution to the problem of racism?  Many people believe that there is no solution to racism and that it will continue to exist because we are biologically predisposed to categorizing everything into schemas.  I disagree with that viewpoint; I think that it is possible to find a solution to racism.  Race is a social construct, so consequently it requires a social solution.  I think that through education and modeling behaviours, we can shed the primitive tool of discrimination that is racism.  As a society, we need to address the different types of racisms and put in place a plan that will eliminate racism.  Affirmative action and work place sensitivity training are good starts for dealing with institutionalized racism.  Education surrounding diversity in the school system is a good plan for dealing with internalized racism, cultural racism, and internalized racism.  
     Racist ideologies do, in fact, still exist.  They exist in institutions and in people’s minds while remaining largely hidden.  No one is “colour blind”. And despite the vehement protests from certain individuals, racism still exists.  Education is the key to the eradication of racism.  Racism is a topic that can be explored deeply and from a number of different perspectives. 

Sources
Glossary for Racial Equity. Retrieved from http://www.evaluationtoolsforracialequity.org/termRacial.htm

McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See  
       Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies”. Race, Class, and Gender 1992. 

McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”. Peace and Freedom July/August  
        1989.

Neville, H., Worthington, R., Spanierman, L. Race, Power, and Multicultural Counseling Psychology:   
       Understanding White Privilege and Color Blind Racial Attitudes. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 2001.                                       

Redlining. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/redlining.asp#axzz2B6kQgMDT

Useful Links
http://thisiswhiteprivilege.tumblr.com/ A modern look at white privilege.

http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html Peggy McIntosh's article on white privilege.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/youth-and-tell/201106/the-color-fear-xenophobia-and-racism-in-the-suburbs Elizabeth Donovan's article on how racism impacts children.