Life is like a mind game. Points of view come from real places. The array experience shapes a version of the truth specific to an individual. So, how can man and woman think the same? They have a completely different array of experience. How can the rich and poor see and value the same things? The same is true for religious folks and non-believers, but nothing more powerfully different than people from different cultures. Culture effects the way we see the world itself. Let’s say you are a White American, who’s ancestors built a University. Your child has worked hard in school, and earned the grades and particulars necessary for entrance into the that University, but, he was not accepted because the school had to make room for non-white students. How would you feel as the parent of this child?

It’s easy to look at the broader scope of things, and explain the many reasons why quotas are necessary in this Country; they are an attempt to smooth out all the isms that plague this society, such as racism, and sexism etc. However, that explanation does not address the feelings of the parent/s or the kid, who worked his butt off to get into the University connected to his/her heritage.

This is not reverse racism, it is a product of policy. And explaining it by examining the larger structural issue, doesn’t erase the feelings experienced by the people on the shit end of the policy. Every group of people will have this experience, its universal. No one group, race, or gender of people own this experience.

The White race has this notion that they have it so good in America, and the Black race has it so bad. But this notion is based on specific criteria. These specifics have become America’s most treasured attributes, good credit, upward mobility, financial security, access to better schools, favorable positions in the court of Law, the primary standard of beauty and success, the most diverse representation in the media, and the accepted idea that there are open doors for people with white skin.

The benefits Whites experience are the product of having white people in the power seats of law and influence; and social stratification. However, there is so much more to life that cannot be gained by economic power, social position and influence. The best things in life are not created by man. They are accessible through love, fair play and a commitment to family.

If American success was based on the fore mentioned things, Whites would no longer be in such a favorable position.

White Privilege, is the luxury of judging others through the lens of the white American. Determining what’s expectable, valuable, true & correct solely through the perspective of the white experience and cultural understanding.

It is the privilege of saying, “this is what it is, because we say so”. The privilege of saying, “this is who you are because we say so”. The privilege of saying, “this is how you should speak, because this is the way we speak and it’s correct, pronounce your words this way, or your intelligence is questioned.”

White Privilege, is subconsciously determining the social perception of others, through the experience of White America. Having the power to employ definitions according to your understanding is a privilege.