“It’s so much easier for them” (Blog Post #5)

“It’s so much easier for them” they say. Huh? So much easier for who? Who even says this and what do they mean? This may be a line that you’ve heard an African American say, or as a matter of fact, any ethnic minority. Maybe some of you already know where I’m going with this, but for those who don’t, let me elaborate and it’ll become a lot clearer.

In the system of racism, White and light-skinned folks are granted privileges or advantages by society just because of their race. For instance, White folks get to see their societal value reflected back to them continuously — from seeing their histories in school textbooks and positive media portrayals to having the advantages of safe neighborhoods, high quality education, high-paying jobs, access to good medical care, and greater health and well-being. Meanwhile, people of color experience a very different side of the world, one that does not value them in the same way as it values White people.

This can attributed to the concept known as “White supremacy”, which is the belief that white people superior to those of other races, and thus should dominate them. This belief in society can be confirmed through a number of outcomes and measurements — wage gaps, employment gaps, cultural influence, political power, economic power, incarceration rates, sentencing disparities, and the list can go on... Those arguments don’t need to be made here. These are established facts of the cruel reality we live in.

Now, let’s move on to White privilege which is a reference to the myriad of benefits bestowed on white people stemming from the aforementioned system of white supremacy. It is white privilege to be favoured by school authorities. It is white privilege that pro-Trump supporters (predominantly Whites) can climb the west wall of the Capitol without getting shot. Can you imagine how many Black lives would be lost if this crowd was predominantly Black??? And, it is white privilege to be consistently portrayed positively on the news. Look below! Even if a more serious crime is committed by a White it is under emphasised to highlight innocence. See, this is not even about the fact that Black people are more often presented as perpetrators, but rather the fact that white people are OVER-REPRESENTED as victims!

See where I’m going with this? So it is white privilege to walk into a room and be interviewed by someone who looks just like you. It’s white supremacy that made it so this is the usual occurrence. I’m sure you’re tired of these examples, but I hope you get the point. In short, white supremacy refers to this hierarchy system, and white privilege refers to its benefits. The two are inexorably tied, but not the same thing. Although these concepts are quite common, people sometimes confuse them, and often underestimate the impacts it can those who are not at this advantage.

So this is what they mean when they say it really is so much easier for them. It really is in many ways and alot of the times, White supremacists take it for granted because they are blinded to the other side. Treatment between White and Blacks vary so much, it really is a day and nights different. Why should we care about these concepts? Well because they are key drivers of racism. In reality, no one race should be better than another and this social hierarchy SHOULD NOT exist. Instead, everyone should be treated equal. Let’s see how many years more it takes to get to that stage of utopia… sigh