White Privilege

Before I even read these articles, I already knew the positions in which the authors would take. I do agree that whites, including myself, have had it easier than minorities. However, the stances they take in my opinion are obtuse and over the top. Perhaps I am approaching this too blatantly, but if our class was assigned readings with opinions on both ends of the spectrum, my conclusions on the matter would be less arbitrarily decided. Seeing refreshing new viewpoints, whether it be from the college student from UT that Robert Jensen argues with, or someone with more prestige, gives us an abundance of intellectual resources in which we can compare and find the best solutions to our social problems.

As I have already stated, I admit there is an unearned white privilege. Many of the white advantages Peggy McIntosh and Robert Jensen list are true. Yet, what I don't understand is why the solution has to come in the form of affirmative action and criticism of SAT scores. Affirmative action promotes racism because it IS being discriminate; forcing people to see that blacks are "weaker" than whites so they must be compensated just like the elderly is compensated with Medicare. Interested by Jensen's comment that the SAT is still written for whites, I dug up some articles online. I found that in the 2009 scores, Asians have outscored the Whites in the Writing Section, which ironically has been stereotyped as their weakness. While many Asian families endorse rigorous study habits in their children, I think it is safe to say that it is possible to do well on the SAT with the proper study habits regardless of color. Thus, it is important to take preparation and education quality into consideration when looking at the test's average, which applies to every ethnicity. Eliminating racism is not an easy task, but we must be sure not to inadvertently promote it in the process.