Laissez-faire Racism - White Privilege and Laissez-Faire Racism

White Privilege and Laissez-Faire Racism

White privilege refers to rights or advantages, given to white persons beyond the common rights and advantages of non-whites. According to Dei, it is through white privilege that the differences in race continue to be defined. Many whites refuse to see the ways in which they continue to benefit from racist practices in the past and today. By refusing to acknowledge the hierarchy of race, class and gender in the United States, those in the position of dominance and power are able to downplay and ignore the realities of oppression. Dei explains that some of the benefits of white privilege include: the positive effects linked to having one's own race extensively and positively represented in the media; the idea that for the most part, your skin color will not prevent you from obtaining housing and employment; and, the knowledge that you will never have to educate your children about what it means to be "different" or negatively represented in society. The Laissez-faire ideas that race is not an issue helps to reinforce white privilege.