In the book, White Privilege (2005) Dalton, the author of chapter two, asserts that most White people fail to see or understand themselves in racial terms. Dalton makes a clear distinction between ethnicity and race. Ethnicity is one’s culture which describes aspects of their heritage, while race exist only in relation to another. For example, Blackness does not exist without Whiteness and the opposite would be true (p.16). With those differences, most people draw significant strength, pride, and understanding from knowing their cultural heritage (i.e. - Chinese-American, Irish-American, Native American, and etc).
The author purposefully makes the distinction between ethnicity and race because he believes that the quality of one’s life (at least in terms of the United States) is greatly impacted by these two categories. White is not an ethnicity, it is a physical characteristic given as an inherit birth-right, which comes with a set of advantages (p.18). A person of color in the United States is often times acutely aware that their race and/or their ethnicity will put them at a disadvantage. The author would claim that most White people are oblivious to the racial consequences for people of color because their Whiteness is the norm and White is the dominant group.
Within the larger historical contexts of the United States, I agree with the ideas that the author writes about. After speaking with a friend/colleague of mine, (who I believe identifies as German-American) I have begun to see this same topic from a slightly different perspective. She has shared some of her experiences as a blonde-hair, blue-eyed White girl in the predominately Mexican community of Dinuba, California. In Dinuba, she was the minority and considered the “other.” She would argue that the concept of White Privilege is situational. I have never considered this as being a reality for anyone who is White. In this context, she was the minority. Based on her personal experiences, she was at a societal disadvantage in the most immediate sense for that particular location and within the surrounding communities. Her story and those like it are important and should be considered when addressing White Privilege theory. I am paraphrasing but she would say that White Privilege theory needs to modified and updated for the future when Whites will be the minority (in terms of numbers).
I agree with her that she was the minority and at a disadvantage in Dinuba, however, I would contend that she was not the minority in sense of power as part of a larger people group within the context of the United States. As an adult, she could relocate to most parts of the United States and rejoin the ranks of the privileged. It is a far more uncommon experience that those deemed White in our society must survive the adversity of living in a community where they endure the perpetual disadvantage of being the minority. I would argue that her experience is unfortunate but rare for the majority of Whites in this country.
During our conversation, we both agreed that we would replace the terms minority/majority with dominant/non-dominant to accurately reflect the concept of White Privilege and so it can be utilized on a broader scale. When a particular group is the dominant group, they intentionally or unintentionally, do not see their privilege and possess the potential to marginalize the other. Whether intentional or not, the negative impact is felt none-the-less. For example, as a supervisor of an emerging program called Renaissance Scholars, I did not immediately notice how aspects of my identity could marginalize others. I am Black and Asian American but physically appear to be more African-American. The other staff person in the program happens to be African-American as well. When I was developing a student brochure for Renaissance Scholars, originally I put pictures of the staff and pictures of graduated students. Me, my staff, and the pictures I had of graduates were all African-American. When I circulated the brochure for edits, I received questions like, “Is Renaissance Scholars just for African-Americans? Do you have to be Black to be in this program?”
The Renaissance Scholars Program is not intended for Blacks but for high-achieving former foster youth and independent youth at the university. I did not realize how “my normal” was marginalizing others. Needless to say, I removed all photos of just African-Americans and intentionally found pictures of diverse student groups. I believe we all have prejudice and/or bias. We must be intentional about recognizing those bias and work toward being sensitive and inclusive, while respecting the differences.
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