White Privilege in America’s Public School System
Brooke Muggenthaler
English 170
The term of white privilege mysteriously worked its way out of American society ever since the civil rights movements which occurred in the middle to late 1900s. White privilege, although a seldom used expression today, continues to appear in society and the government chooses to ignore it. The American public school system fails when it permits racial inequalities. White privilege exists in and haunts today's urban and suburban schools. The harsh and brutal differences between inner-city and uptown schools include: (1) spacing in classrooms (2) materials granted, and also (3) quality of surroundings, teachers and education.
The granting of “equal rights for all people” in the constitution makes it easy for America’s white citizens to ignore the idea of white privilege. Peggy McIntosh, author of the 1988 selection titled, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, stated that she saw white privilege as unearned benefits given to whites while they remain oblivious to the advantages they receive (McIntosh, 1). McIntosh, a white woman, created a list of 50 ideas she believes are true solely for whites. Although white privilege typically concerns the benefits white people receive, it also informs society about the disadvantage our black and brown neighbors experience. As McIntosh said, “We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth or luck. Yet some of the conditions I have described here work systematically to over empower certain groups” (McIntosh, 3). Today, America’s white children learn about racism as a resolved problem, when in reality, schools need to work harder than ever to diminish the insensitive differences between the urban and suburban schools.
White privilege within our public school systems prevails as an extreme issue and...