White Privilege Research Paper

“Ignorance of how we are shaped racially is the first sign of privilege. In other words. It is a privilege to ignore the consequences of race in America.”
Tim Wise Race and white privilege has always been socially constructed into our culture and history. Before the 1600’s European’s and Africans would be seen living next door to one another, they were able to marry one another without color being an issue and interact with one another in society. There was no such thing as segregation during the early days. It wasn’t until after Bacon’s Rebellion that race started becoming an issue and white privilege started forming in the United States In 1600’s and up the government increased their racial classification to make it so that if a white
However the laws started to make whites fearful and it became harder for them to question and challenge anything that the government said or did because they could end up being punished for it. With the creation of slavery and racial segregation white privilege started taking place. White’s started seeing themselves as the superior race. They were able to bear arms, right of self- defense, could own farm animals, they were able to beat on any black that did not show respect to them despite the fact that they did not have ownership over them. Women were staying out home more and if they were to start working outside of their home then their family would lose their standing in society.
Beverly Daniel Tatum’s Defining Racism was interesting to read because she uses her own experiences with race to define what it is within the United States. She talks about how we are unaware of racism and prejudice and its existence in society and our culture. I did not grow up on being racist or prejudice, as a child I had no idea that there was any short of racial issue going on. By definition my parents were anti- racism, they taught me to treat others the way I would want to be