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Does white privilege exist? Does white privilege exist?
No, white privilege doesn't exist No, white privilege doesn't exist
Yes, white privilege exists Yes, white privilege exists
White privilege conflates individual circumstance with structural inequality White privilege conflates individual circumstance with structural inequality
White people commit suicide more frequently White people commit suicide more frequently
White privilege is just another name for racism White privilege is just another name for racism
There are no policies that deliberately benefit white people There are no policies that deliberately benefit white people
Other factors offer far more privileges Other factors offer far more privileges
White privilege is a political construct of the left White privilege is a political construct of the left
White privilege gives whites a financial boost White privilege gives whites a financial boost
White privilege is present in the justice system White privilege is present in the justice system
White privilege is present in the health system White privilege is present in the health system
White privilege is present in our education systems White privilege is present in our education systems
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Does white privilege exist?
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No, white privilege doesn't exist

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There are no policies that deliberately benefit white people

For white privilege to exist, there would have to be specific policies in place that explicitly benefit whites at the expense of other races. These policies do not exist.
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Context

To cite the existence of ‘white privilege’, there must be specific policies that benefit white people at the expense of minority groups. Those policies don’t exist. Therefore, white privilege does not exist.

The Argument

Policies are not implemented with the intent of benefitting white people. They are not race-centric. While it is true that these policies will sometimes disproportionately benefit groups living in certain geographies, from a specific economic class, working group, or demographic, because they are not implemented with the express objective of benefitting white people, they cannot be attributed to white privilege.[1]

Counter arguments

Firstly, real policy objectives are rarely articulated to the public. It is perfectly conceivable that there have been many policy objectives deliberately designed to benefit white people at the expense of other demographics. Secondly, there have been policies deliberately designed to marginalize and assault black communities. One example of such a policy was President Richard Nixon’s ‘War on Drugs’. Nixon’s domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman even admitted as such, saying that “we knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities." [2] Finally, privilege does not always stem from policy. It could be something as simple as seeing your race represented on television, or being able to buy cosmetic products for your skin tone.

Premises

[P1] Societal privilege is afforded through policy. [P2] No policies solely benefit white people. [P3] Therefore, white people do not have societal privileges. [P4] Therefore, white privilege is a myth.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Privilege does not always stem from policy. [Rejecting P2] The real beneficiaries of policy are not always recognisable. [Rejecting P2] Some policies have deliberately sought to marginalize people of colour.

References

  1. https://www.racefiles.com/2014/02/05/the-problem-with-asian-americans-and-racial-privilege/
  2. https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/index.html
This page was last edited on Friday, 17 Apr 2020 at 12:07 UTC

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