China News Service, June 10, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) report, the American African-American man Freud was killed by violent law enforcement by white police, causing protests and riots across the United States. Recently, a post by a white American professor who received over 2 million praises on social media has pushed the highly controversial concept of "white privilege" to people's eyes.
The BBC pointed out that the “white privilege”, the inherent right of white people to provide implicit benefits for them, provides the ground for the breeding of racial prejudice and racial discrimination, leading to conflicts among ethnic groups that are inevitable.
On June 8, local time, in Houston, Texas, the United States, people looked at Freud's body inside the church.
The article is excerpted as follows:
According to the report, in the first week of June, 2 million posts on social media were tweeted and 610,000 posts were reposted. He is an associate professor of archaeology at Texas Southern Methodist University and 44-year-old Mark McCoy ) Issued, he said that he was the same as Freud, because he was arrested by the police on suspicion of shopping with a $20 counterfeit banknote, but the ending is very different.
At that time, in 1994, McCoy was 18 years old. When he went to the store to buy things and paid for it, he handed out a 20-dollar bill. He was found to be a counterfeit bill. One night, he was sentenced to 6 months on parole.
Image source: Screenshot of Professor McCoy's social media account.
McCoy said: "This is white privilege." He said that from the perspective of white privilege, that is, I expected to be treated fairly when I entered the police station, and I didn't worry about things going out of control for a moment.
Dictionary definition
What exactly does "white privilege" mean? According to the definitions of the Oxford and Cambridge English Dictionary, "white privilege" means that in a society where multiple races coexist and racial inequalities exist, compared with other racial groups, white groups have innate rights just because of their skin color 1. Advantages not found in other ethnic groups.
These advantages are manifested in the distribution of social resources, such as education, medical care, employment, and law. The example sentence of the Cambridge English Dictionary is: "The concept of white privilege explains why white people are more likely to enter a society's legal and political institutions."
Critics believe that it uses skin color (white) characteristics to represent classes and ignores other series of inherent privileges attached to other power structures and various social attributes. Many people think it is offensive and offensive.
On June 1, local time, in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, the police and the people who participated in the demonstrations kneeled down to protest the violent law enforcement against American African-American men.
Ins and outs
When was the concept of "white privilege" proposed? The more general view is that "white privilege" was put forward by sociologist Peggy McIntosh in a 1988 article discussing white privilege and male privilege. She also listed nearly 50 kinds of privileges. Different forms of "white privilege".
The white privilege that McIntosh called "invisible, weightless backpacks" can penetrate all corners of society, including employment, education, medical care, and personal development as a part of the system.
One of the purposes of McIntosh’s conception is to hope that white people realize their inherent privileges, and realize that according to the concept of social fairness and justice, they have the responsibility to reduce such privileges as much as possible because of “white privileges” Caused the current situation of unequal racial and social relations.
What does " white privilege" mean?
British black rights activist Kehinde Andrews and American rap singer and social activist Fraues living in the United Kingdom believe that in a multi-ethnic society, enjoying white privileges does not mean that life is smooth and smooth Or, because they are white, life is bound to be better than that of colored people. But white privilege does mean that skin color will not make life harder, more frustrating and failing.
According to Fraus, "white privilege" means that white people do not always have to think about their skin color, which is a luxury for people of color. "White privilege" also means that you don't have to worry about being subjected to any form of racial discrimination or oppression because of skin color.
On June 3, local time, in New York, USA, after protests and demonstrations, text graffiti appeared on the sculptures and walls of the National Memorial in the Federal Hall.
"White privilege" and racism
The report pointed out that "white privilege" is different from racism, racial discrimination, white supremacy and reverse discrimination.
Racism is characterized by initiative, behavior, and choice, and it usually harms disadvantaged ethnic groups; white privileges are passive, inherent, and hidden interests, and many people often do not realize that they are enjoying these invisible assets. .
However, the social subconsciousness that has been established and passed on from generation to generation provides the soil and foundation for racial prejudice, racial discrimination, and white supremacy.
The report analyzes that especially in modern multi-ethnic immigration countries, racial relations are intricate, inter-ethnic relations and the relationship between ethnic minorities and white groups coexist, tension, contradictions and conflicts are inevitable. (Finish)