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Tatiana Klett

Professor Lori Bedell

English 137H

6 November 2017

What Really is Privilege?

Last week, I walked down the street and entered a CVS to purchase a band aid for a cut

on my hand. As I left I pondered the idea of the word privilege; I ‘walked’ to the store, entered

the store as a white female and purchased a band aid that was “nude” colored, the color of my

skin. One hundred years ago, few people were talking about this concept. It would have been

rare for anyone to consider that one might experience certain advantages in society because of

their race, color or gender. Today the idea of white privilege, male privilege, and ability privilege

are common topics. While privilege is now a common topic, it is interesting to observe how

often people who benefit from certain privileges refute and even deny that they have experienced

any benefit from their race, gender or other preferred characteristics. Through the recent

formation of several significant movements, including- The Black Lives Matter Movement, The

Feminist Movement (third wave), and significant creations in pop culture, we have seen an

evolution of the original definition of privilege as being defined as having monetary wealth.

Privilege is now more broadly defined to also include various characteristics and encompasses

the present reality that those who are considered “privileged” today often either acknowledge or

deny benefiting from their status.

It all began in the 1930s when W.E.B. Du Bois wrote “Black Reconstruction in

America,” discussing the idea of “psychological wage”, where poor whites had an advantage

over poor blacks just because of their white skin. He highlights a key point, that privilege does
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not just have to do with money (Myers). This was the first time in history where citizens were

forced to acknowledge and understand that white privilege existed and strongly impacted

minority groups in America. Over fifty years later, in 1988, Peggy McIntosh, a female scholar

from Wellesley, published an article that listed forty-six ways in which she experienced white

privilege. McIntosh starts off her article with why she decided to construct a list of her

privileges. This introduction clearly illustrates the importance of society finally becoming aware

of the idea of privilege, far beyond an economic standpoint. She writes, “As a white person, I

realized I had been taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage, but

had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an

advantage” (McIntosh). McIntosh further transforms the idea of privilege from solely wealth

related to advantages you are born with. She and Du Bois are the two catalysts for this shift in

both the concept and definition of the word privilege, especially with regards to white privilege.

As this shift in the use of the word occurs, we see popular culture further influencing the

concepts that McIntosh and Du Bois helped shape. First, America is introduced to a popular

television show, “Soap” (1977-81), a comedy where a white family hires a black butler, Benson.

Benson, who is played by Robert Guillaume, speaks with the Washington Post in 1979 and

describes how carefully he went about playing the role of a black butler in a white household in

the late 1970s. He says, “Through my own feisty personality I think I avoided a demeaning

stature on 'Soap.' Even though the producers and I had our differences over the years, no one

wants this to be a throwback to the 1930s and 1940s images of blacks on the screen." He later

says, “For all black people, I want the character to look as though he's not uptight about

prejudiced white people. As long as they know their place, they can have their prejudices. I'm not

threatened by every prejudice that occurs. We need that kind of stability as people" (Trescott).
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Guillaume’s character was groundbreaking for American television in the sense that a black

butler was the hit character on a well known television station, ABC. Guillaume even received a

role in the spin-off television show, “Benson,” because of how popular his prior show had been.

Benson and Soap helped lay the foundation in television history to not only include

African American lead characters, but to also send a message to viewers that the world is

changing and racial problems are everyone’s problem. “Diff’rent Strokes”, a television show that

came shortly after Soap was another enlightening show that helped address the discussion of race

and privilege in America. A comedy where a wealthy Manhattan white man, Mr. Drummond,

adopted his deceased housekeepers two black children. Just watching the first few minutes of the

first episode we see race and privilege addressed when Mr. Drummond says, “Boys, listen. I am

going to open up a whole new world for you. I’m gonna see that you have the same advantages

that I had growing up. You’re gonna go to the best schools, the finest colleges . . .” (“Diff'rent

Strokes Season 1 Episode 1 Movin' In”). Mr. Drummond is directly addressing his privilege and

trying to relay that these two Harlem boys will also benefit from his societal privileges. The only

difference is that the boys will still experience America as black boys, no matter how much they

benefit from their new lives as the children of a wealthy white man. Though this show was a

strong stride towards making people more aware and addressing race and wealth in America,

people still responded negatively towards the show. People were unhappy about the comedy,

several white supremacists responded by harassing the actors for their participation (Rossen),

further emphasizing the state of America in the 80s.

Not only do we see the use of television shows in the late 1900s addressing the idea of

privilege, but we continue to see television shows today that reflect this societal issue. A popular

television show created in April of 2017, “Dear White People”, features several African
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American students at a primarily white, fictional, Ivy League university. There was a significant

response to the show, both positive and negative. Many white people responded with backlash,

they felt the show was anti-white people and some even threatened to boycott Netflix, the

television streaming company that released the show. An article in Teen Vogue includes positive

responses to the show, “. . . people aware that the show is only intended to spark discussions

surrounding racial issues by depicting a black girl's experience on a predominantly white college

campus were quick to respond. They have thought up creative and poignant ‘episode’ concepts if

there was indeed a Dear Black People. Twitter users have shared ideas including, ‘Dear black

people... I'm sorry for undermining your experiences with my racial privilege’” (Wiest). This

show, one could argue, is the first of its kind. It calls out racial privilege, especially on college

campuses. Dear White People is invaluable in that it successfully talks about the privileges we

are all aware of, but rarely speak of. As a white woman watching it, I will admit I was

uncomfortable at times, but it was this sense of discomfort that made it resonate with me. It not

only called out my privileges, but made me understand how my privileges impact not just

myself, but the world around me too. No one can watch that show and deny the issues it

addresses- white, male and economic privilege.

Political hip-hop becomes popular in America during the late 1960s and early 1970s,

influencing the discussion of privilege and causing many to face the harsh realities of American

social norms in the late 1900s. Artists like “The Last Poets” and “Gil Scott-Heron” called

attention to systematic racism and societal racial problems in America after the Civil Rights

Movement. The Last Poets influenced hip-hop dramatically by turning poetry into rap which

would later be listened to by all demographics. Formed right after the death of two strong black

rights activists, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, the men who collaborated together were
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fired up and upset by the current state of racism in America. The men who were involved in the

group were all poor, black men, negatively impacted by the racial oppression of blacks in

America and tired of the system that America worked so hard to protect (Otten). Gil Scott-Heron

used his music to also call attention to the racial divide in America in the 70s. His lyrics were

revolutionary, angry, and truthful. He was not afraid to call out the privilege of white Americans

and display his anger through song (Spivey). Artists like The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron

were not only revolutionary because they were successful African American artists, post Civil

Rights era, but also because they dramatically changed the direction of hip-hop and opened the

door for music to provide a forum for societal protest and enlightenment.

Not only did popular culture influence the concept of privilege, but so did several human

rights movements. The Civil Rights Movement (1950s-60s) targeted racial segregation and the

unfair treatment of African Americans because equality was not achieved one hundred years

after the freeing of the slave population. The Black Lives Matter Movement (2013) is a

continuation of fighting against the inequality that blacks face even fifty years after the Civil

Rights Movement. The Black Lives Matter Movement is not an attempt to tell society to value

black lives more than white lives, it is simply an attempt to tell the world that black lives matter

too. The Civil Rights Movement helped lay the foundation for the Black Lives Matter

Movement, which both impacted and solidified the shift in society's understanding of racial

privilege. African Americans are still the race that experiences the highest number of deaths by

the police force. Black individuals are thirty percent more likely to be killed by the police than

whites, even though thirty percent of black victims were not armed compared to twenty-one

percent of white victims in 2015 (“Mapping Police Violence”). Through recent statistics it is

clear that white privilege still exists and is flourishing. Examples occur with greater housing and
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employment opportunities, as well as higher safety and healthcare outcomes for white

individuals. Through the acknowledgment of the unique adversity that African Americans face,

we see the formation of both the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Lives Matter Movement,

helping to further demonstrate the consequences of white privilege.

Third Wave Feminism (1990s) is similar in that it points out the clear advantages that

males experience, while also expanding Second Wave Feminism ideals to include all women, not

just well educated, white women. An article by the Huffington Post writes, “The definition of

feminism and the goal of the Women’s March are actually one and the same: We demand to

have the same rights as white men have had since the beginning of our country” (Rand). The

very definition of feminism is to acknowledge and defeat privilege, an idea that would not be

possible one hundred years ago. Privilege was simply not recognized and the concept that certain

individuals experienced societal advantages because of characteristics that they were often born

with was not discussed.

In contrast today, society has shifted and embraced the discussion of privilege and the

impact that it is making on many groups of individuals, helping to drive change. Some of the

outcome has resulted in a force of negative upset, by primarily white males who feel as though

they are being targeted for things they cannot control. McIntosh writes in her article on white

privilege and male privilege, “. . . I have often noticed men’s unwillingness to grant that they are

over-privileged in the curriculum, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged.

Denials which amount to taboos surround the subject of advantages which men gain from

women’s disadvantages. These denials protect male privilege from being fully recognized,

acknowledged, lessened, or ended . . . ” (McIntosh). When she writes this she explains why it has

taken society centuries to finally talk about privilege in a different light. The taboo around the
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idea of benefits given to a certain demographic because of particular characteristics is why it

took so long for the shift to occur. An article written by Jay Sun exclaims opposing anger in an

article titled, “Stop using the Word Privilege”, where he furiously describes why the word

privilege is problematic. His reasons are not logical nor meaningful, for example he says, “White

male privilege has been done to death. I’m not getting into that. What I am getting into is the

notion that it’s proper to ignore somebody’s experiences or opinions just because they are more

privileged than you are. ‘You’re complaining about the price of gas? I don’t even have a car,

asshole!’” He tries to defend his point by completely missing the meaning of the word privilege

and why it is so important to acknowledge its existence. Sun uses the argument that white men

are targeted because of something they cannot change and therefore they are not to blame for

their unearned benefits in life, entirely missing the opportunity to recognize privilege as being a

way for society to acknowledge and act on the inequality and unfairness that privilege fosters.

Those who do experience certain benefits because of their race, gender, or physical state are not

being undermined, but rather being held accountable for certain pushes forward that others

simply do not have.

Some political steps have been taken to acknowledge and address privilege. One such

step is affirmative action. Affirmative action is “an active effort to improve the employment or

educational opportunities of minority groups and women” (“Affirmative Action”). First seen

after the Civil Rights Movement in the sixties, President Lyndon Johnson signed an Executive

Order in 1965 which pushed the employment of minorities in an attempt to increase the number

of minority employees as a whole. After this, universities and colleges adopted affirmative action

and the number of Latinos and African Americans slowly rose. Though there was a positive

increase in the number of minorities enrolled in universities and colleges, campuses are still
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largely white populated, reflecting still the need for policies like affirmative action (“Affirmative

Action Overview” ). We can see that the shift in the understanding of privilege in the late 1900s

helped to better the state of minority groups and further move towards equality in the United

States. Once people began speaking about the inequality that particular groups face, action was

taken to help decrease the gap created centuries ago.

All in all, the word privilege shifts majorly during the 1900s through the awareness that

pop culture and social movements provided. Instead of being upset by the word, we should

embrace the awareness that it brings and use this newfound awareness to improve our

understanding of why our country is the way it is. Through the shift of the word privilege

meaning more than just economic privilege, we see an improvement and awareness that never

existed before the late 1900s. People today have a better understanding of why certain

demographics have been lifted up throughout history, while others have been unfairly oppressed

and the importance of addressing the disparities which this has created. To end the analysis of

this significant shift in our nation's view of privilege, I would like to quote Peggy McIntosh, a

strong female leader who impacted the present idea of privilege, “For me, white privilege has

turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I

must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true, this is not such a free country;

one's life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of

their own” (McIntosh).

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Works Cited

“Affirmative Action.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster,

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affirmative%20action.

“Affirmative Action Overview.” Affirmative Action | Overview, National Conference of State

Legislatures, 7 Feb. 2014, www.ncsl.org/research/education/affirmative-action-

overview.aspx.

“Diff'rent Strokes Season 1 Episode 1 Movin' In.” YouTube, YouTube, 21 Dec. 2016,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMEgIuJezRM.

“Mapping Police Violence.” Police Violence, mappingpoliceviolence.org/.

McIntosh, Peggy. White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See
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Correspondences through Work in Women's Studies. vol. no. 188., Wellesley College,

Center for Research on Women, Wellesley, MA, 1988.

Myers, Ella. “Beyond the Wages of Whiteness: Du Bois on the Irrationality of Antiblack

Racism.” Items, Social Sciences Research Council, 19 June 2017, items.ssrc.org/beyond-

the-wages-of-whiteness-du-bois-on-the-irrationality-of-antiblack-racism/.

Otten, Christine. “The Last Poets: America in Poetry from Black Power to Black Lives

Matter.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Nov. 2016,

www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/21/the-last-poets-america-in-poetry-from-black-

power-to-black-lives-matter.

Rand, Jennifer. “The Third Wave Of Feminism Is Now, And It Is Intersectional.” The

Huffington

Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 4 Jan. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-third-

wave-of-feminism-is-now-and-it-is-intersectional_us_586ac501e4b04d7df167d6a8.

Rossen, Jake. “13 Things You Might Not Know About Diff'rent Strokes.” Mental Floss,

14 Mar. 2016, mentalfloss.com/article/65158/13-things-you-might-not-know-about-

diffrent-strokes.

Spivey, Ayano. “Gil Scott-Heron's Influence On Rap And Hip-Hop.” The Odyssey Online, 30

Aug. 2017, www.theodysseyonline.com/gil-scott-herons-influence-rap-hip-hop.

Trescott, Jacqueline. “Robert Guillaume.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 13 Sept. 1979,

www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/09/13/robert-guillaume/70b941ff-884c-

4b65-bde9-c2532909042e/?utm_term=.b60114401fc8.

Wiest, Brianna. “'Dear White People' Backlash Spurs Ideas for 'Dear Black People'.” Teen

Vogue,
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TeenVogue.com, 25 May 2017, www.teenvogue.com/story/dear-white-people-backlash-

spurs-dear-black-people.