Paper Topic:

White privilege

White privilege is a term that has caused much controversy in America Basically , what it boils down to is that white people have ultimate privilege without even knowing it . White people have privileged not to be judged for the actions of other members of their race . They have privilege to buy the products they need to function well and to get their needs met , like hair products and make-up . White people never have to worry about racism or that they will have to speak for the entire race . They can see themselves represented

on television , in movies , in magazines and everywhere else . However , white people do not like to talk about white privilege or even acknowledge it . As Rothenberg says , Perhaps there is a strong desire to deny the impact of racism because recognizing it might demand that we talk about white responsibility , white complicity , white privilege (Rothenberg 6 However , people assume that one can tell both race and ethnicity from just looking at a person , and this is impossible . Race is a social construct made by humans , and should not be a factor in making judgments about people . Human beings have used the social construct of race to determine not really who is white but who isn 't . Those who are white receive all the benefits of white privilege . In the movie Crash , the benefits of white privilege are played out again and again by the characters and they way they are judged or not judged by others

In one of the very first scenes , white privilege is shown and toyed with . Two young black men are walking down the street , and when they are passed by a white couple , the white woman is visibly fearful . They discuss the episode

Anthony : Look around ! You couldn 't find a whiter , safer or better lit part of this city . But this white woman sees two black guys , who look like UCLA students , strolling down the sidewalk and her reaction is blind fear . I mean , look at us ! Are we dressed like gangbangers ? Do we look threatening ? No . Fact , if anybody should be scared , it 's us : the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people , patrolled by the triggerhappy LAPD . So , why aren 't we scared

Peter : Because we have guns

Anthony : You could be right (Crash

Anthony is right in the fact that these two black men are well dressed and look like any other people on the street except for the fact that they are black . Nobody is fearful of young white men or women walking down the street . No one clutches their purses when a white person walks by . However , the movie explores this concept and then the two black men pull out guns and carjack the white couple , which leads some to believe that their theory had been right all along . It really gives the reader further excuses to judge on the basis of race . However , the concept of white privilege is clearly...

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